Ignite Life Center Head Pastor Travels to Barueri, Brazil For Evangelical Church Conference
BRAZIL. On Friday, Ignite Life Center (ILC) head pastor Mark Vega posted on his Instagram story that he is traveling to Barueri, a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, for a church conference with the Convention of Evangelical Churches Assemblies of God in the State of São Paulo and Surrounding States (CIEADESPEL).
The promotional image Vega posted is in Portuguese. The header, “União De Jovens Adolescentes” translates in English to the “Union of Young Teenagers.”
Three people from ILC have been arrested for committing sexual abuse against minors: (1) former employee and volunteer Gabriel Hemenez; (2) Vega’s son Christian Vargas; and (3) associate pastor Jose Cruz’s son Noel Cruz.
Hemenez has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually abusing children at an Ignite Summer Internship in 2021. The pastor’s son’s cases are ongoing, and they are awaiting case management hearings.
Between criminal and civil courts, ILC has been accused of trying to handle the sexual misconduct of all the arrestees internally.
Vega posted pictures on his Instagram story indicating he is flying without familial company.
The promotional image Vega posted shows the conference will be held at Sports Gym Manoel Caetano da Silva in Barueri.
Among the ministers speaking alongside Vega are CIEADESPEL’s President Pastor Moisés Rodrigues.
The speakers also include Brazilian Assemblies of God pastor Nerildo Accioly. His social media indicates he has a substantial following in his region, with 154,000 Instagram followers. He primarily focuses on selling Christian Pentecostal books.
The speakers go on to include Sérgio Kadosh, the senior pastor of a church in Praia Grande, Brazil, Kadosh Ministries of the Assemblies of God (ADKA).
This isn’t the first time Vega has made efforts to establish influence in Brazil.
Last February, the Youth Department of Brazilian Church Assembleia de Deus Nova Aliança (Adna) Central, located in Mato Grosso state capital Cuiabá, held a conference in collaboration with the Ignite School of Ministry (ISM). The original website for ISM was taken down, however, a new website is up and running with Vega now trying to promote online-remote ministry learning.
The event ISM held with Adna Central was titled “The Call Matters.” It hasn’t been independently verified if Vega attended the event in person, however, it appears he did, as he is on promotional materials.
Vega promoted the event on his Instagram, alongside the Adna Central Youth Department’s Instagram. Vega captioned the post, “Ignite opens up in Brazil - A prophecy fulfilled after 16 years,” indicating the possibility that he began his pursuits in Brazil as early as 2008.
A day after the event at Adna Central ended, video creator Elifaz Ismael De Souza posted a video on his Instagram in which he tagged ISM's official Instagram account. The video is captioned “Future home of Ignite Brazil” and shows someone driving onto a piece of property with a wide building.
Last March, an anonymous whistleblower from, or formerly from ILC raised concerns about the church building a presence in Brazil, stating, “I attempted to message a dozen people from Brazil and was only able to get into contact with one person. The person said that they would tell the pastor of their church, but I don’t know if they did or not.”
Over a dozen articles pertaining to ILC from Gainesville Public Information Services can be accessed on the following page.
Edited Aug 6, 2025: Fixed formatting errors.
