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When two massive earthquakes devastated Venezuela on 24 June, killing thousands and displacing millions, it was Christian aid organisations that arrived before most overseas aid, with field hospitals, food, water, and medical teams. Yet Christian relief work remains largely unrecognised by a world that sometimes views it with suspicion.

We hear little of the relief work of the global Christian community.

Certainly, the world values the response of organisations such as Global Empowerment Mission to disasters wherever they may occur.

Christian Aid Organisations Marginalised

Sadly, the relief efforts of Christian organisations are sometimes surrounded by controversies.

Who can forget the criticism from elected officials, religious leaders and LGBT groups in the liberal city of New York at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020? Doctors and nurses from Samaritan’s Purse treated more than 300 New Yorkers, after Mount Sinai Health System invited the group to help save lives in the city.

Apparently, they were unnerved by past statements from the President and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, Franklin Graham, on Islam and homosexual issues, as well as by a requirement that the organisation’s employees be Christians who oppose same-sex marriage. The result was that the field hospital in Central Park was dismantled and relocated to Covid-affected areas in Africa.

What is not recognised is that Christian aid organisations are often the first to respond to disasters and to be on the ground to distribute aid, provide medical services and offer Christian comfort to people. Take the recent Venezuelan catastrophe.

Venezuelan Earthquake Catastrophe

Back-to-back earthquakes rocked Venezuela within a minute of each other on 24 June. The first quake reached 7.2 magnitude, and the second, a magnitude of 7.5, making it the strongest to hit the country in over a century. Aftershocks continued, complicating search-and-rescue and relief efforts.

More than 2,300 people (and still rising) are confirmed dead and many thousands more are injured or missing. Hundreds of buildings have collapsed. People are living on the streets — terrified of aftershocks. The United Nations reported an estimated 1.8 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, including some 680,000 children.

Hospitals in the hardest hit areas were strained before the quake, and now many are damaged and overwhelmed with people in desperate need of care. “They need our prayers,” said Franklin Graham. “It’s heartbreaking to see the suffering and loss. We love the people of this country, and we want to do all that we can to help in Jesus’ name.”

Christian Aid Response

In response, several Christian aid organisations have hit the ground in the affected areas — even before most overseas aid has arrived. Samaritan’s Purse responded on 27 June, and sent the ministry’s 767 cargo plane with life-saving supplies, including an emergency field hospital, set up in the hard-hit city of La Guaira.

The emergency field hospital is capable of treating more than 100 people each day. It is equipped with multiple operating rooms, a critical care unit, pharmacy and laboratory. Samaritan’s Purse has also airlifted emergency shelter material, solar lights, and blankets to provide relief to families who are suffering, as well as dozens of disaster response specialists.

Relief efforts have also arrived from Operation Blessing, a global Christian humanitarian organisation, bringing immediate relief and long-term solutions that demonstrate God’s love in action.

The senior director of Operation Blessing’s global disaster response team described how they are providing help in Venezuela.

“Food, water, and shelter, and medical — we’re taking a bit of everything; so, some water equipment, some filtration equipment, some chlorination equipment to sanitise, and, you know, clean water, that’s gonna be top priority. We’re bringing our doctor from Brazil and putting together medical teams,” he explained.

Also bringing the love of Christ to devastated Venezuela is Convoy of Hope, an international Christian non-profit humanitarian organisation that works to provide food aid, empower women, and respond to natural disasters. Teams are utilising mobile kitchens to distribute tens of thousands of hot meals, safe water, and essential supplies to displaced families sleeping on the streets.

World Vision, a Christian humanitarian, development, and advocacy organisation, activated its emergency response team just hours after the powerful earthquakes, and is conducting rapid damage and needs assessments to determine the most urgent humanitarian priorities.

The humanitarian organisation will distribute food, hygiene, and menstrual dignity kits in communities devastated by the two powerful earthquakes. In addition, they will provide psycho-social support to help children and their families cope with trauma. The response will prioritise child protection, food security, water, sanitation and hygiene.

All four organisations are committed to assisting survivors during the long recovery process.

Christians throughout the world have been asked to continue to pray for residents of Venezuela, especially around La Guaira and Caracas.

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Images via screenshot of YouTube/Operation Blessing.