Gainesville Pastors Who Didn’t Report Sex Crimes Host Youth Conference in Brazil

Ignite Life Center (ILC) pastors Mark Vega, Esther Omeben and Nick Bruce hosted a youth conference in collaboration with Brazilian church Assembleia de Deus Nova Aliança (Adna) Central towards the end of last month. 

Dubbed the “Ignite Conference,” the event is affiliated with “Ignite Brazil,” a ministerial school ILC opened with Adna Central. The Ignite Brazil Instagram and comments from pastors at the Ignite Conference show the program is a new branch of the Ignite School of Ministry (ISM). 

In the United States, the only active website for ISM advertises online school. Another active website for a program titled the Ignite Ministerial Institute is currently marketing courses. 

A promo poster for the Ignite Conference features Vega’s wife, Lisa Vega, and ILC public relations manager/pastor Nicole Gomez; however, they did not attend the event, evidenced by them not appearing in any social media posts from the conference, and a promotional post only featuring Mark Vega, Omeben and Bruce. 

Arrests and Coverups:

Since July 2023, three people from ILC have been arrested for sexual abuse against minors: (1) convicted child molester Gabriel Hemenez, who is currently facing new charges; (2) alleged rapist Christian Vargas, who is the son of Mark and Lisa Vega; and (3), Noel Cruz, who is the son of former associate pastor Jose Cruz and was sentenced for a lesser offense.

According to a Gainesville Police Department (GPD) supplemental report, the minor victim in Noel Cruz’s case told her parents she engaged in sexual activity with him, along with Christian Vargas. The victim’s father contacted Mark Vega, and they organized a private meeting with Jose Cruz. Along with them, the meeting was attended by the victim, Chrisitan Vargas, Noel Cruz, Omeben, Bruce and Lisa Vega. The meeting took place at Mark Vega’s residence, and he reportedly said that “jail would not resolve the issue.”

The meeting took place in November 2022, but law enforcement didn’t find out until the mother of the victim’s friend contacted authorities, prompting the victim and her father to be interviewed by police, the supplemental report states.

All the adults were mandated to report the sexual abuse, but instead they left the law out of it. Despite this, Sgt. John Pandak, the supervisor of the supplemental report, told GnvInfo there’s “no probable cause to charge Mark Vega with anything.” In the same interview, Capt. Paris Owens disclosed that Mark Vega used to be the chaplain for GPD.

ILC has been sued several times for not properly handling reports of child sexual abuse. Court documents in one of the settled lawsuits show ILC admitted they “did not report that Gabriel Hemenez was the subject of sexual abuse suspicions, rumors, reports, and/or complaints to law enforcement prior to February 2023.”

The law firm representing the plaintiffs in the majority of the civil lawsuits, Horowitz Law, recently published a press release that states ILC pastors “knew the dormitories were not safe for children because another minor girl had been arrested for sexually abusing multiple children in the dormitories in February 2018.” 

Ignite Brazil Background:

In February 2024, ISM hosted a conference titled “The Call Matters” in collaboration with Adna Central. In a Facebook post where Mark Vega shared a promo poster for the event, he stated, “Ignite opens up in Brazil - A prophecy fulfilled after 16 years.”

In June 2024, Mark Vega announced Ignite Brazil in a live-streamed sermon, saying it's to help youth in the country obtain credentials with the Assemblies of God. 

Pastor of Adna Central, Edvaldo Jose Gonzaga de Melo, made an announcement for Ignite Brazil in December 2024. 

Nicole Gomez didn’t attend the Ignite Conference, but she is involved with Ignite Brazil, attending the first day of class with Mark Vega, along with Adna Central pastors Melo and Joelson Moabes, Instagram posts show.

Ignite Conference:

Adna Central live streamed several Ignite Conference sermons, indicating Mark Vega, Omeben and Bruce were in Brazil for the event from July 25 until July 29.

Nick Bruce’s sermon:

During the first sermon, held on July 25, Bruce tells the crowd of young teenagers and parents, “I was told that there was some fire in Brazil. I was told that there was a group of young people who didn’t care about where they came from—who didn’t care about what society considered normal. They wanted to have an encounter with God.”

Bruce told the crowd, “I work in healthcare. I’m in nursing school. One of the things we do whenever a patient comes in is they all have a wristband that identifies them… Many times they hide because they don’t wanna face reality, they don’t wanna face their sickness… There are some things that you can’t hide anymore.” 

Talking more about his background, Bruce said, “I’ve come from a broken home. I had an abusive father. In fact, the government was going to take all of my brothers and split us apart. I was an angry young man rejected by my family. Rejected by church. I was told I’d never amount to anything… The most important thing is that regardless of all my struggles, I was marked.” 

Bruce told the audience that some of them were “broken” and “ashamed” and that they need to “bring things they’ve been hiding into the light” to heal.

“When you bring those things into the light, that’s when your life is transformed,” said Bruce.

Bruce went into the crowd and told the audience that if they struggle with “smoking” or “pornography,” that it will be “broken with the power of Jesus.” Bruce goes on to lay his hand on some of the teenagers’ heads.

Esther Omeben’s sermon:

During another sermon, held July 26, Omeben, who is standing in front of a large screen with the words “Ignite Conference,” states, “You’ve been branded to bring a generation out of bondage. You might say, 'What am I branded with?' I’m not branded with an Ignite shirt. I’m not branded with a stamp from the church. I’m not branded by anything else.” 

Omeben went on to invite several Ignite Brazil leaders and students up on stage so they could be “anointed.” 

Mark Vega’s sermon:

In Mark Vega’s sermon, held July 27, he tells Mobales, “You are the perfect person to lead the Ignite School of Ministry the way you’re doing.”

Mark Vega told the crowd in Brazil, “Consider investing in the ministry school. It will transform your life. Something that we are implementing now is gonna be classes… live classes with Esther, myself… Nick… Nicole. We’re gonna be teaching via Zoom until we transfer those classes live.”

Mark Vega goes on to speak directly to the girls in the room, stating, “Listen, ladies, so you don’t fall for that clown that’s tryna get with you. Why? Because you’re a woman of God. When they come into the room tryna look all bad—looking clean—looking you up and down like you some hoe—like you some prostitute—like you gonna give it up because he thinks you’re like a regular girl around the streets.” 

Mark Vega told the girls that if a guy asks for their phone number, they should tell him their “breath stinks” and say, “You can’t handle me; I’m a woman of power.” 

Mark Vega went on to address the males in the room, saying, "Here comes Jezebel, here comes Delilah, tryna get your attention," referring to women in the Bible who are often characterized as seductive or sinful. 

Mark Vega told the guys in the room that if a woman tries to seduce them, they should tell her, “Sin makes you ugly,” and “You’re talking to a man of God; you can’t handle me.” 

Mark Vega goes on to say, “Some of you girls have become too cute, wanna be Kardashian. Now you wanna be a Deborah…” He goes on to encourage the crowd to read their bibles, saying, “That’s the only way you get out of homosexuality. That’s the only way you get out of fornication.” 

Getting into the topic of discipleship, Mark Vega tells the crowd they should leave their Christianity behind to become “disciples.” 

Mark Vega said, “You know why we have Ignite School of Ministry. We’re not interested in Christians. We’re looking for disciples. We don’t want everybody. We don’t want you coming to the school of ministry if you’re going to waste our time.” 

“Don’t worry about the finances,” Mark Vega added. “If it’s God’s will it’s God’s bill.” 

Mark Vega told the crowd, “Today you change your Christian garments. They’re nothing but filthy rags. Today you pick up the armor of a disciple.” 

Mark Vega began telling the “Holy Spirit” to “move” before placing his hand on the head of several audience members’ heads, saying he is “turning them into disciples.” 

Mark Vega took a break from preaching but came back the same day, the Adna Central YouTube channel indicates. He told the crowd that he “gives them greetings” from his wife and his son. 

Mark Vega talked about the background of ILC and the church’s connection to Brazil. “Ignite has been around 19 years. We’ve graduated 2,000 students—almost. We’ve had a lot of churches—churches of 10,000—churches that have millions and millions of dollars—churches that said, ‘We want your program in our church.’ But the Lord always said, ‘No…’ Because in 2007—18 years ago—one of our students when we started was a young man from Brazil. His father was a pastor. Today, he is a multimillionaire. He is a builder… a contractor, and he lives here in Brazil.”

Mark Vega went on to say that the "Spirit of God" got a hold of the student and that he said, "Ignite will be in Brazil."

“We never cared about money. We never cared about crowds; we wanna follow the cloud,” said Mark Vega in front of a large crowd. 

Mark Vega told the audience that some of them came into the conference the day prior suicidal and broken, but they left “transformed” and “delivered by the Holy Spirit.” 

“I’m used to preaching to young people,” said Mark Vega. “I'm gonna tell you, I see a church full of young people.” 

Mark Vega goes on to talk about his birth, “My mother had nine kids with an alcoholic. He used to beat her. He stabbed my mother twice. My mother took an iron and stuck it in his head and almost killed him. She almost went to jail for that… My mom was very beautiful. Nine kids, and she did not weigh more than 130 pounds… She kicked that man out of her house. She didn’t know Jesus. At the age of 41, she met this man who worked on airplanes. He lived across the street… [They both] did not know Jesus. They started talking, and I was conceived in sin. At the age of 42. I was her tenth baby… She almost died; this was in the 70s… The doctors said, ‘Lillian… we have to save him or we have to save you.’ The doctor said, ‘This is very dangerous.’ My mom always said she didn’t know how to spell church. She was a broken woman. A woman that had been used by men… She said it was 3 [am], and she had to make a decision by 5 [am]. She said, ‘God, I don’t know if you’re real, but I promise, if you save me and my son, the first church I find on the way home—I will dedicate him and the rest of the nine.’ She said as soon as she prayed a doctor came in. His face was covered. She said his eyes looked Oriental. She said he started caressing her hair and whispered in her ears… ‘Lillian, have the baby; he will be your blessing.’ She has the baby [and] all her numbers regulated."

Mark Vega said that after his birth, his mother asked for the doctor who told her to have the baby. Medical staff told her there wasn’t an Oriental doctor in the building and that she was in a Jewish hospital. 

Mark Vega said his mother went on to raise him and his siblings going to a Pentecostal church, saying they didn’t have a lot of money and that his mom cleaned homes to get by. 

On July 29, Mark Vega held another sermon and talked about following God’s will and how psychological trauma relates to insecurity, but he didn’t offer a lot of information compared to his previous two sermons.

The Ignite conference also featured a theatrical performance about battling sin, with the actors appearing to be Ignite Brazil students. After the show, one of the actors made the following statement:

“Our church is free from this, but there are false pastors out there… In the end, there is only one true Shepard. There is the good Shepard… Perhaps, these corrupt pastors have forgotten they’re shepherding what is not theirs. Perhaps, the lost sheep have forgotten that they have a good Shepard they can count on… Today, you were marked by a different brand. Today, you were marked by the truth. Today, you were marked by Jesus. Today, you are His property.”