07/03/2024
With roots in Cherokee County, this Venezuelan ministry is on pace to turn the world upside down for the Lord.
Venezuela Now, a Christian U.S. nonprofit created to reach the lost of Venezuela, was founded by a Cherokee County native, Dr. Warren Lathem.
So what could a Cherokee County “Chicken Catcher” and Venezuela possibly have in common? Warren was raised in the very homogeneous community of Lathemtown in Eastern Cherokee County. In the mid-1960s, his work catching chickens was one of the few jobs to be found in the county, which then claimed to be the poultry capital. His experience of life in Latin America was confined to Speedy Gonzalez cartoons.
The story of this ministry began when a young Venezuelan pastor came into his office in 1994 and asked Warren to teach him. In 1996, he, Dr. Lathem’s son, Ray, and 108 others were killed in the ValuJet crash in Miami. Carlos and Ray were returning from a mission trip to Venezuela.
Warren first traveled there in 1998 to preach an evangelistic crusade. That resulted in the beginning of an expansive ministry.
He and others first founded the Wesleyan Seminary of Venezuela. This undergraduate theological school has trained more than 1,000 new clergy and lay leaders. In partnership with the International Leadership Institute, another Georgia non-profit, they have trained more than 6,000 Christian leaders in Venezuela. The seminary has been the incubator for hundreds of new ministries. Here are a few of the most prominent ones.
1. The Methodist Church of Venezuela was founded in 2007. Eleven small churches bound together to launch this new denomination. Today it has about 60 churches in Venezuela and has planted several more in other countries including the U.S. with an excess of 10,000 members. At their last annual conference in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, 2,500 participants worshiped and worked together for three days.
2. The Wesley Medical Centers were birthed by a seminary graduate in 2014. Six centers will serve 25,000 patients this year. The latest addition is a very modern mobile clinic which just began its work serving very poor communities. Venezuela Now provides all medicines, equipment, supplies and facilities.
3. Una Esperanza (One Hope), a ministry of the Medical Centers, provides prenatal and postnatal care for very poor women and children. About 150 young mothers are served each month. Fifty children a month are given infant formula because they are orphaned or their mothers cannot produce milk.
4. 150 Feeding Stations were established by the churches providing meals to the poorest folks. Since starting this, more than five million meals have been served; this year, they will serve about one million meals. This ministry often partners with another Cherokee County ministry, SERV International. President Steve Kasha was a student of Dr. Lathem.
Most recently, Venezuela Now has opened five Christian elementary schools and plans to open two more in the fall of 2024. Venezuela’s educational system has been devastated by economic and political realities.
As many of you know, millions have immigrated from Venezuela. To date more than 7.7 million have fled the country. This has created a crisis in other countries such as the U.S., but also in Venezuela. Every aspect of life in Venezuela has been impacted, especially education, medical care, business, and churches.
This fall, the seminary is launching a remote learning program, Panorama, to train a new group of young pastors in the most basic tools needed to lead the church where often a vacuum of leadership has been created by immigration.
What has Warren Lathem gotten out of this? “It is the most significant ministry of my life. The last 25 years have opened new doors for service I never dreamed of,” he said. “It’s a long way from the poultry industry of Cherokee County to the humble home of a Venezuelan single mother. But it has been pure joy.”
Today Warren and Jane Lathem have a Venezuelan daughter-in-law, Lim, married to their son, Jared. The couple serves as pastors at the New Beginnings Global Methodist Church in Kennesaw. They have four wonderful Venezuelan-American grandchildren.
Warren, retired at 72, spends his days writing. He has published 15 books. When he is not writing, he is raising money for this ministry. This year, Venezuela Now needs to raise about $1 million. That keeps him busy.
To find some of his published works, go to www.lulu.com and search Warren Lathem. One book of special interest to Cherokee County is “Tears Did Not Fall.” It is a recounting of the life of a boy in the 1950s and 1960s in Lathemtown. Available in print or ebook.
Venezuela Now, Inc.
PO Box 2855, Acworth, GA. 30102
404-502-5678
[email protected]
www.venezuelanow.org
