In Venezuela’s Amazonas, Chief Becomes Adventist Thanks to a Radio Program

An indigenous tribal chief and his family living in the Venezuelan jungle surrendered their lives to Jesus thanks to a Seventh-day Adventist radio station. Norberto Chipiage, chief of the New Millennium communities in Atures, Amazonas State, listened to the gospel message broadcast in Spanish from the Adventist radio station in Puerto Ayacucho, according to Ybraham Mujica, local church pastor and radio program host.

“By God’s grace, Chipiage listened to a message of salvation on the Plenitud 104.1 FM radio station,” Mujica said. “After a year of listening to ‘The Present Truth’ radio program together with his family, the chief called the station.”

After Chipiage, 37, called the station, Mujica and local church elders Idelfonso Castro and José Puerta went to visit him and gave him and his family Bible studies. Norberto accepted the Adventist faith, got married to his longtime partner Nayla, and was baptized along with her and their six children in the Caño Carinagua River in early June.

“Chipiage had a bad health condition that wouldn’t allow him to walk around,” Mujica said. Physicians had been trying to help him but to no avail. “However, after he listened and then accepted the Adventist message, he’s on a steady path of recovery.”

According to Chipiage, the radio program topics that most caught his attention were the truth about the biblical Sabbath, biblical health principles, the Bible teaching about the sanctuary, the Ten Commandments, and the three angels’ messages.

He shared that he had accepted Jesus in his heart years ago and had been attending another Christian denomination for some time. But after going deeper into Bible study, thanks first to the Adventist radio program and then to personalized studies with Mujica, he decided to join the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Chipiage himself was instrumental in sharing what he had learned with his family, including the truth about God’s holy day.

The New Millennium communities encompass 80 families distributed in four local communities, leaders reported. Chipiage had led one of the local groups and now oversees all four, they explained.

It is not the first time that the local radio station has been instrumental in drawing people to Bible studies and the Adventist Church, Mujica said. Even though it needs a new office and broadcast equipment and has a lean staff, the station is spreading Bible truth across the area.

After the Chipiage family’s baptism, the chief felt so thankful to God that he decided to donate a house that can be transformed into the first Adventist church in the area, Mujica said.

On July 1, the Chipiages enjoyed the first communion service at the new venue, Mujica added.

Amazonas is one of 23 states in Venezuela. Even though it covers almost a fifth of the nation’s area, it has just 0.3 percent of the country’s population.

The original version of this story was posted on the Inter-American Division news site.