Former ISM Arizona Student Puts Her Name Against Pastoral Corruption in Gainesville

A former student from the previously established Arizona branch of the Ignite School of Ministry (ISM) of Ignite Life Center (ILC) of the Florida Multicultural District (FMD) of the Assemblies of God (AG) has come forward. 

This makes nine people from, or formerly from ILC who’ve detailed their experiences at the congregation, with seven being anonymous. 

Three people from the church have been arrested for committing sex crimes against underaged children: (1) convicted child molester Gabriel Hemenez; (2) head pastor Mark Vega’s son, alleged rapist Christian Vargas; and (3) former associate pastor Jose Cruz’s son, alleged statutory rapist Noel Cruz.

A Gainesville Police Department Supplemental Report shows Jose Cruz and Mark Vega tried to cover up reports of sexual misconduct committed by their sons. 

Three ILC survivors are suing ILC and FMD for allegedly covering up the sexual abuses Hemenez committed against them.

Vega attempted to start an ISM campus in Arizona in 2017, sending one of his pastors, Azael Nunez, and his wife, Yaneidy Nunez, to Arizona; however, the school shut down after roughly three years due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

Natalia Moncayo started attending ISM Arizona when she was around 20 years old in 2018 before leaving after her graduation. 

Unlike most ISM students previously interviewed on GnvInfo, Moncayo did not begin attending under difficult life circumstances. “Most of the students had God redeem them from something so Mark would manipulate them into thinking it was his doing,” said Moncayo. “He’d make them think that they owed their lives to him. But what happened to me was I was there because I just wanted to be there for my spiritual growth, and I didn’t find a lot of that there.” 

Between COVID and ISM Arizona closing in-person campuses before she graduated, Moncayo did about half of the curriculum online. She only visited Gainesville for her graduation ceremony. She called the Arizona ISM campus “secluded” and said that Vega and a few other main staff pastors would visit a few times a year.  

Moncayo clarified that Azael Nunez didn’t have his own church building, saying, “I was living on a campus in Phoenix and attending Way of Life Church....We were staying at a campus called American Indian College. It was also a sleep-away…. [Azael] would preach at the chapel at the university and sometimes at Way of Life Church. He would also preach at other churches, but the main church was Way of Life, and we had a building on campus where Ignite would have our devotionals or paperwork, but that was all we did there, and he would always leave at the end of the day.”

Moncayo described how Vega would control the life choices of ILC congregants by claiming God directed him to tell them what to do. “This guy, Joey, Noel’s dad, they were directed by Mark; supposedly God spoke to him. These people were living off the government in New York, and somehow Mark called them to move to Gainesville, and this poor man Joey was so brainwashed that he did that. He spent all that money getting down here from New York. Because of Mark, they bought a new house that they’re still paying off. Now with the Noel case, they might lose the house. I don’t think Joey has a college degree, so he wouldn’t be able to get a stable or high-paying job. All this was directed by Mark…. I’m also aware Eric and Maria Godinez bought a house because Mark completely directed them too. I don’t know if the kids they have were directed by Mark, but if so, that’s scary. I know one of the pastors, Adolfo Gomez, recently sold his house because of Mark, and I’m assuming that he’s going to be directed by Mark to buy a house with—I don’t know what money, but that’s how these people work.” 

Moncayo said Azael Nunez was in a similar situation to the other pastors at Ignite, saying he sold his house to move back to Gainesville after ISM Arizona shut down, at Vega’s will. “I know [Azael] admitted it didn’t work out with Arizona, and last I heard there were no plans to reestablish….Azael removing [mention of] ‘ISM Arizona’ from his personal website’s bio is a sign that the guy still has common decency and feels guilty. Many students who trusted him have been hurt. It must hurt him, at least I hope. Azael had convinced his sister to send her sons to his house for the summer internship. He and his wife were supposed to be taking care of them.”

Azael Nunez recently left ILC, moving to a different AG church in North Carolina. Moncayo commented on his departure. She called Azael and Yaneidy Nuzez  “cynical and psychotic” for smiling in the same room as alleged rapist Christian Vargas, Mark Vega, and multiple children for a goodbye photo. 

Moycayo went on to say, “A friend of ours mentioned that Azael and Yaneidy called her and mentioned they were fearful and overwhelmed with the abuse from Mark and Lisa, so they cowardly left.” 

Moycayo said that after finding out about the child sexual abuse coverups, she contacted AG leadership in Springfield, Missouri, but they told her they wouldn’t be able to do anything because of how AG regionally divides their churches. 

GnvInfo reached out to Assemblies of God CEO Doug Clay shortly after releasing a report with comments from whistleblowers calling for him to respond to the sexual abuse coverups at ILC. He hasn’t responded.  

On Halloween, 2021, Vega posted a picture on Instagram of Clay that shows them sitting diagonal from each other at a table. Above them is a television posing the question, “How to handle and talk about controversial issues with others?”

On the morning of August 17, GnvInfo reached out to Doug Clay on X (formerly Twitter), as he had not been contacted on the app prior and had been actively posting throughout the week. It didn’t appear there was a way to message him directly, so he was contacted in a public comment section. He has not handled this controversial issue by talking about it.  

AG has reportedly told multiple concerned congregants that it is FMD’s responsibility to hold ILC accountable, however, ILC isn’t registered with FMD, only affiliated. This means Vega got his credentials through FMD and is an FMD pastor of AG, but ILC is not under the direct command and oversight of FMD. However, FMD does have some responsibility over ILC in “overseeing camps.… outreaches…. [providing] ministry opportunities, avenues of fellowship for ministers and constituents…. and [recommending] ministers for national credentialing.” This has led FMD to the position of co-defendant in three active civil lawsuits against ILC, accusing the church of covering up Hemenez’s abuses against the Plaintiffs.  

Moncayo said that FMD being a defendant in the civil lawsuits means AG national leadership has a responsibility to step in. She said AG CEO Doug Clay and other AG leaders have been silent for political reasons. “It's very sad how AG is scared of all the politics that surround these issues….  That’s the big issue, how they would look politically. Even if they’re doing something morally wrong, they’d be more scared of what they look like.”

Moncayo made calls for Gainesville activists to take radical action against Ignite. "Honesty, burn the place down,” she said jokingly and sarcastically with no intent or desire for this to happen. “That would be wonderful, or throw eggs at it, or toilet paper. It is disgusting how these people think they can get away with it…. Scientifically, if there is a rapist, mentally they’ll keep raping. Just like how murderers keep murdering.” 

Moncayo’s full interview may be released in the coming week.