David & Jerrine Berkey
BACKGROUND
A mutual interest in serving the Lord in Latin America attracted David and Jerrine to church development ministry in Venezuela. David, a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, accepted Christ as a boy and attended Scottsdale Baptist Church. In 1983, he completed a bachelor of arts degree in music from Arizona State University. Using the Spanish he had learned at ASU, David made two short-term trips to Central America. While there, he recognized a great need for discipleship and leadership training. David then attended Dallas Theological Seminary, where he met Jerrine.

Jerrine was born and reared in Dallas and trusted Christ as her Savior during high school. She earned a bachelor's degree in social work at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. A few years later Jerrine took a summer missions trip to Mexico, which confirmed her interest in missions. David and Jerrine were married while attending Dallas Seminary. Jerrine completed a master of arts degree in biblical studies, and David received a master of theology degree.

The Berkeys spent the summer of 1988 in Caracas, Venezuela, under WorldVenture's short-term program. In January 1990, they were appointed by WorldVenture to serve in Venezuela. After spending a year studying the language in Costa Rica, where their oldest daughter, Adriana, was born, the Berkeys arrived in Caracas in August 1992. They worked in a variety of ministries while helping start a new cell church.

In January of 1997 David began serving as pastor of the Iglesia Bautista Internacional de Caracas, IBIC (International Baptist Church of Caracas). That same year, the Lord blessed the Berkeys with another little girl, Laura. In September of 1999, the Berkey family welcomed another daughter to their family. Caroline was born in Caracas as was her sister Laura.

In 1998 José Tenorio began serving full-time as associate pastor and "got his feet wet" in pastoral ministry. And in August 2001, José began serving as senior pastor while David served as associate pastor. It's the Berkeys hope to see this church grow to the point of being able to plant daughter churches for the furtherance of the Lord's work in Venezuela.

CURRENT MINISTRY
The International Christian Fellowship (ICF), an English-speaking church in Caracas, was started by WorldVenture missionaries Rick and Diana Wilson in 1996, and later pastored by Rev. Dan Bowers for 2 years. Due to the unstable political and economic climate, many members of the congregation were transfered out of the country so the church was not able to keep supporting a full-time pastor. In October of 2002 David accepted an invitation to serve as interim pastor.

In 2003 ICF began sharing their meeting place with a daughter/sister church, the Confraternidad Cristiana Internacional (CCI). In April of 2004 ICF merged with CCI. Services and activities are all conducted in Spanish. The church is now renting office space in an area of Caracas called "La Trinidad".

David has used his training in music to teach and involve young musicians in worship music. Jerrine devotes herself to making visitors and friends feel welcome. Along with being the mother of three energetic girls, she has hosted and participated in cell groups, women's discipleship groups, and a craft and Bible study outreach to her neighbors. Currently, she directs the weekly Ladies Bible Study and teaches the childrens Sunday School

FIELD
With 5 million people, Caracas, Venezuela is home to one in every four Venezuelans. It is an explosive city suffering from the inevitable growing pains of too much, too many, too fast. Spiritually, Caracas is an unchurched city. While 96 percent of Venezuelans are Roman Catholic, less than 10 percent attend Mass regularly. About 3 percent are evangelical Christians and an estimated 50 percent or more Venezuelans consult with and seek the help of occultic practitioners. In recent years, political and economic instability has caused Venezuelans to search for security in their lives. For many, this national crisis has been the key for opening hearts to the good news of Jesus Christ.
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