Samaritan’s Purse Working in Venezuela After Quakes
Responding After the Venezuela Earthquakes
- Five airlifts from North Carolina to Venezuela have carried nearly 500,000 pounds of relief materials.
- Our Emergency Field Hospital has seen more than 700 patients, including performing dozens of surgeries.
- Shelter kits, solar lights, and hygiene items are being distributed through church partners, and we are providing clean water through community filtration systems.
- More than 3,600 people are confirmed dead and more than 16,000 were injured. Tens of thousands remain unaccounted for. More than 18,000 are displaced.
Samaritan's Purse has been responding to the hard-hit city of La Guaira, Venezuela, after powerful earthquakes toppled large buildings, killing more than 3,600 people. Many thousands more are injured. Tens of thousands of people are still missing. More than 18,000 people are displaced.
Since June 27, our 767 cargo plane has made multiple flights to the Latin American nation delivering life-saving supplies. Aboard these flights were emergency shelter material, community water systems, solar lights, and blankets to provide relief to families who are suffering.
We also delivered an Emergency Field Hospital capable of treating more than 100 people each day and equipped with two operating rooms, a critical care unit, pharmacy, and laboratory.
Since the field hospital opened June 30, we have seen more than 700 patients, which included more than 35 surgeries. Most patients are being treated for infections and earthquake-related injuries.
More than 150 Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) members are on the ground working in Jesus' Name to care for the sick and injured and to serve alongside church partners as we continue to distribute supplies to hurting families.
Strongest Quakes in a Century
Back-to-back earthquakes rocked Venezuela within a minute of each other on June 24. Both tremors measured over 7.0 in magnitude; the second quake reached 7.5, making it the strongest to hit the country in over a century. Aftershocks continue, complicating search-and-rescue and relief efforts.
Hospitals in the hardest hit areas were strained before the quake, and now dozens are damaged and overwhelmed with people in desperate need of care.
“We plan on being there for some time. The need is huge. Multiple hospitals are damaged or overwhelmed, roads have been split wide open, and hundreds of buildings have collapsed. People are living on the streets—terrified of aftershocks. They need our prayers,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “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.”
Please continue to pray for residents of Venezuela, especially around La Guaira and Caracas. Pray for our response team and for their boldness while serving as the hands and feet of Jesus.
Franklin Graham Sees Relief Work in Venezuela
Graham encouraged residents from God’s Word as he visited earthquake-devastated areas where Samaritan’s Purse is serving struggling families in Jesus’ Name.
Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham was in Venezuela on Tuesday, July 21, to encourage families in the coastal city of La Guaira in the wake of June 24 back-to-back earthquakes that left thousands of people dead, injured, and displaced.
“We want the people of Venezuela to know that God hasn’t forgotten them. He hasn’t turned His back on them,” Graham said during his visit to our Emergency Field Hospital. “God loves them. He cares for them.”
Since our Emergency Field Hospital opened June 30, only a few miles from the epicenter, our medical staff have treated nearly 2,600 patients, which includes almost 200 emergency surgeries. To assist local clinics and pharmacies, we have provided medical supplies at five Clinic Restart Modules throughout the area.
“The need is tremendous. There’s no other place they can go,” Graham said. “Other hospitals not that far away were compromised, so they’re not able to take care of them, so they send patients to us. It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to share the love of Jesus Christ.”
Graham also met with local church partners who have been integral to our efforts and have helped distribute to families in need many of our relief supplies, including durable tarps, solar lights, blankets, hygiene kits, and hot meals. Our teams have also provided hundreds of heavy-duty family tents for use as temporary shelter for weeks and months to come. In addition, we have established two clean water points and provided more than 181,000 liters of clean drinking water.
Pastor César Mermejo, president of the Venezuelan Evangelistic Society and longtime partner with Samaritan’s Purse, greeted Graham with joy, expressing gratitude for our past work in the region and for our ongoing relief efforts since the earthquake.
“In the name of the country and people of Venezuela, thank you very much for the work that Samaritan’s Purse is doing in our country,” he said.
Graham met with local church leader Pastor Eusebio, a longtime partner with Samaritan’s Purse whose congregation lost three families and the church building to the earthquakes. His church has been meeting in a tent provided by Samaritan’s Purse. Pastor Eusebio’s church has also been helping us distribute hot meals to his community. Before the earthquake, his church had done similar ministry providing meals across six counties.
“The work that we have is to win souls for Christ,” Pastor Eusebio told Graham. “That is why the work continues.”
Graham had a special time of prayer for the pastor’s church and also prayed over his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and three of his grandchildren.
“It is a privilege to have you here in such a difficult time,” Pastor Eusebio told Graham. “In the name of the church and all the people of this community, thank you.”
Graham also met Pastor Manuel who was in a prayer meeting near his church when the earthquake hit. He said he took children and elderly members by the hands and ran to safety.
Pastor Manuel was another key church leader who provided connections to other churches and identified the areas of greatest need as our response began. Sadly, even as he serves, he is grieving the death of a nephew and the total loss of his home in the quakes.
“This is a time God has called me to serve,” he said. “I want to express on behalf of the community thanks to Samaritan’s Purse. Samaritan’s Purse was the first to arrive with tents and tarps. We are all thankful for the help you brought. There is a clear difference before and after.”
Pastor Manuel joined Graham as he visited a local baseball stadium where hundreds of families were living. This is one of the makeshift camps where we are providing tents and other aid to displaced families.
Graham encouraged Manuel as he looked out over the many hurting families.
“We will be working here for a long time,” Graham told him.
Please continue to join us in praying for the people of Venezuela as well as for local churches and our teams as we help so many hurting families. Pray that God would continue to open doors for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this country.
Two Survivors, Two Stories of Courage
Samaritan’s Purse continues to care for the people of Venezuela after twin earthquakes.
Carlos was at home when the first 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck, followed only 39 seconds later by a second 7.5 monster-tremor. Foundations tore; buildings toppled.
“I was at home with my mom. We were on the porch. It was a terrifying moment,” he explained. “I thought it was a plane that had crashed. When we looked out, there were many destroyed buildings.”
In a matter of seconds, multistory structures plummeted to the ground, transforming into mounds of twisted metal and concrete.
After the initial shaking stopped, Carlos’ thoughts turned to others. “I went out to help people, because my house was left untouched, but the other houses, the people—they needed help,” he says.
Carlos rushed to what was once a 14-story apartment building near his home to see if he could save anyone in the two stories that remained.
There, he found a child pinned between two concrete slabs. He instantly got to work pulling the child out. While rescuing the child, Carlos slipped and fractured his knee, but he kept moving, not noticing the severity of the injury because of the adrenaline.
“I saved a child who was buried under the rubble, and I think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever done in my life. It doesn’t matter that I hurt my knee or anything,” he said.
With immense sorrow, Carlos expressed how he wishes he could have saved more lives.
“I tried to help as much as I could. I couldn’t do any more,” he said.
Having an Unbreakable Spirit
The second earthquake, which ruptured across the state of La Guaira on June 24, was the strongest recorded in more than a century in Venezuela, leaving the country in a humanitarian crisis. At least 4,300 people lost their lives in the twin quakes and many more are missing.
By June 26, Samaritan’s Purse had a forward team in the country to begin responding to the crisis. Our Disaster Assistance Response Team is now running an Emergency Field Hospital, and we have provided water filtration systems and essential relief supplies to benefit many thousands of people.
Carlos was one of many quickly brought to the Samaritan’s Purse field hospital built in La Guaira. Our medical team treated his knee fracture, prayed with him, and listened to his story.
“There isn’t a person that we’ve interacted with here who hasn’t been enormously impacted by the earthquake,” explained Peter Holz, medical director for the Samaritan’s Purse hospital in La Guaira. “But the people of Venezuela have an unbreakable spirit.”
Carlos was grateful for the excellent treatment he received and the love he felt from the team. “The clinic, the care—there is no hospital like this in Venezuela because of the way they treat you here,” he said.
“God will provide for the families who have lost loved ones,” Carlos said. “We are going to rise from the ashes.”
Restoring Hope from the Ruins
In a nearby tent at the Samaritan’s Purse hospital, there was another man recovering from a similar injury. Like Carlos, his injury occurred while he was rescuing another from the rubble.
Jose had experienced many earthquakes in his 60 years, but when he felt the first earthquake hit at his home in Caracas, he quickly realized that it was stronger than anything he had faced previously. Fear filled him, but even as the earthquake intensified, Jose knew where to turn to for deliverance.
While his home continued to shake, Jose praised the Lord with his hands raised. “Thank You for watching over me and my family, because You say in your Word that You will take care of us.”
Jose and his entire family were on the 14th floor of their building, and even as the apartment, the furniture, and the walls shook, their home did not collapse. After the earthquake subsided, they knew that there were many who had lost everything.
Jose has 40 years of crisis response experience, beginning with his time in the military, then as a police officer, then as a first responder on rescue teams.
“The next day I told my children, who are active police officers, ‘Let’s go down and help.’ We are rescue veterans. I have taught my kids, and now, they are part of the police medical service,” Jose explained.
“What I love most to do is save people. I save lives, not take lives,” Jose said. The day after the earthquakes, Jose and his adult children were out with search-and-rescue teams, helping to save survivors trapped in the rubble and recover bodies so families can bury their loved ones properly.
“While we were doing that, there was an aftershock,” Jose said, “and during the aftershock, a wall shifted, and I pulled my leg hard and jammed it into another wall so I would not go down with the moving structure.”
Jose broke his knee, which led to his admittance to the Samaritan’s Purse Emergency Field Hospital. There he received not just surgery, but encouragement from Christian brothers and sisters
Becoming A Conduit for Christ’s Love
“Our goal is to show the love of Jesus to people that are in some of the lowest places of their lives. Medical care is just a conduit for us to show that love of Christ to people,” Peter Holz said.
From one angle, the Samaritan’s Purse response may look like a cluster of white medical tents, a water filtration system, or a truck of supplies, but from another perspective, it’s also a prayer of healing, a word of encouragement amid grief, and small acts of kindness.
“I love doing this work because I’ve been given so much in my life that I’m undeserving of and when I truly found the Lord, I had this deep desire to serve God and help others,” Holz said. Our entire team of dedicated medical professionals, builders, caregivers, WASH specialists, and others shares that desire as they bring comfort and hope to the people of Venezuela.
Samaritan’s Purse, alongside people like Carlos and Jose, continues to help in many ways. Even in Venezuela’s time of grief, the Lord is calling people to life through the Gospel. His work of restoration endures.
“Let us seek God, because God has an answer for many things that are yet to come,” Jose said. “My words are not going to bring back the dead, but the Lord is going to help us.”
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“And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in” (Isaiah 58:12, ESV).
Caring for Earthquake Survivors in Jesus’ Name
We continue to serve patients at our Emergency Field Hospital and provide emergency relief in the hardest-hit areas of La Guaira.
Maritza’s family was huddled around the television, thrilled to be watching the World Cup, when her sister received an alert on her phone: “Earthquake, earthquake, earthquake.”
Then, the walls started to crack. The ceiling caved in. Everything shook. It felt like the earth was giving way.
“The dirt started falling all over us. It just kept going—it didn’t stop, didn’t stop, didn’t stop,” Maritza said. “When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see anything. Dust was everywhere.”
Maritza realized that the rubble she was trapped in had, only moments before, been her walls and ceiling. Her home.
The roof of the eight-story building was in pieces on the sidewalk. The remnants of her apartment unit now sat in the basement parking lot. She knew she was injured. As she attempted to move among the heap of ruins she felt the sharp pain of broken bones.
Maritza had several broken bones and knew she needed medical attention, but the hospitals were overwhelmed with hundreds of other earthquake victims. Her hope was restored when she heard that Samaritan’s Purse had set up an Emergency Field Hospital near the coast in La Guaira.
Since opening on June 30, our field hospital has seen more than 700 patients and performed dozens of surgeries. Patients like Maritza are experiencing the love of Jesus Christ as our medical staff care for them in His Name.
Providing Physical and Spiritual Healing
When she arrived, Maritza cried tears of joy as she was welcomed by our staff and learned that our surgeons would be able to operate on her wrist and put her injured leg in a cast—at no cost to her. She was overwhelmed with gratitude as they listened to her story and prayed with her.
“All of them take care of you, and they pray for you. From the moment you walk in, you can already tell they truly work with love,” Maritza said.
Our medical team is joyfully coming alongside patients like Maritza to meet their medical needs. Most importantly, we seek to care for their spiritual wounds by telling them about the Lord Jesus Christ.
“We get to share the love and hope we have in Jesus Christ,” said nurse Kelly Arroyo. “We get to tell them that there’s a God who knows them, sees them, and has not forgotten them.”
Hope Restored
For two days after the quake, a man named Juan sat in utter darkness. Sharp pain shot through his ribs. He could feel the bruises that covered his body. Yet Juan grieved for another reason.
Just moments before the earthquake, and before he found himself tumbling through the debris from the fifth floor to the basement, Juan had been in his apartment celebrating his father’s birthday.
“He’s dead,” Juan said. “He was going to be 100 years old.”
Juan was rushed to a local hospital after rescuers pulled him from the rubble. He waited for five hours but could not be seen by physicians because of the high volume of patients needing help.
Juan was relieved when he arrived at our Emergency Field Hospital and learned that we could provide treatment. Our staff stitched up the cuts on his legs, prayed over him, and shared the eternal hope of the Gospel.
“I’m very happy for all the help that Samaritan’s Purse gave to me,” Juan said. “You are helping all my Venezuelan brothers here, and I love you.”
Providing Emergency Relief
In addition to medical care, our teams are providing temporary shelter tents for families who have lost everything.
“These are not typical pop-up tents. They weigh 125 pounds each, and they are resolute. These things will take storms; they will take the wear and tear of families living in them,” said Jon Stone, senior programs specialist. “We’re sending teams out to help construct them. They’re giving people a safe place to live.”
Through local partner churches we have provided shelter materials, solar lights, hygiene kits, kitchen kits, and blankets to hundreds of families. Churches are caring for both physical and spiritual needs as they share the Good News of Christ with families in desperate need.
“Can hope, faith, and goodness come out of a disaster? The answer is absolutely. People have lost everything, and they are calling out to God,” Jon said.
Please pray for our team as they continue to walk alongside victims of these devastating earthquakes. Pray that more Venezuelans will come to know Christ, and that they will connect with one of the many local churches ready to disciple and encourage them.
Medical Care and Critical Relief Continue
Samaritan’s Purse teams are receiving patients at our emergency field hospital as we continue to meet needs alongside local churches in hard-hit communities.
Javier was at work when the ground began to shake violently. While he made it out of the building safely, he was horrified to find that his apartment building had collapsed while his wife was there alone.
“There was no time,” he said. “We were in shock and we were disoriented because it was something that took us by surprise.”
Javier and many others have been waiting on word about loved ones missing since the two deadly earthquakes struck northern Venezuela just seconds apart in the evening hours of June 24.
The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes, the second of which was the most powerful to hit the country in more than a century, left thousands dead, missing, or injured in and around Caracas and La Guaira. Many families remain displaced and wandering debris-filled streets amid hundreds of frightening aftershocks.
Survivors like Javier continue to wait on word about loved ones who are still missing since the tremors.
“I’ve spent three sleepless nights here waiting for an answer with all the hope in the world, praying for God’s help,” he said, looking at the crumpled apartment building. “We are devastated.”
Airlifting Relief in Jesus’ Name
Following two 767 airlifts to the region days after the quakes, Samaritan’s Purse has opened an Emergency Field Hospital and is receiving patients.
Our 56-bed hospital, equipped with two operating rooms, a critical care unit, a pharmacy, and a laboratory, will help relieve the already overwhelmed healthcare system.
Multiple health facilities collapsed, and remaining hospitals have been inundated with casualties.
“We set up here not only to address the immediate need of the trauma that’s occurred, but we’re also going to be here for a couple months operating this field hospital to really support the overall health of the La Guaira state,” said Peter Holz, hospital director on the response.
These relief efforts meet physical needs and provide opportunities to share the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“We believe that God would have us help our neighbor, and our neighbor is Venezuela,” Peter said. “We’re here not only to help heal the physical, but we also want to share with them the love of Jesus through our work.”
First Patients Treated at Our Field Hospital
Mariana was one of the first patients through the door. She was enjoying a quiet afternoon in her apartment when the building started swaying back and forth. Before she could find cover, a concrete wall collapsed on top of her.
“I went several days without any medical attention, and I could see my injuries weren’t getting any better,” she said.
When she arrived at the field hospital, our team welcomed her with open arms, tending to her infected wounds, performing an X-ray on her foot, and prescribing antibiotics. Team members also prayed for Mariana before she left and scheduled a follow-up visit.
“I am truly grateful for the attention and understand that the Lord brought you to this place to help our people,” she said.
Serving in Jesus’ Name Alongside Local Churches
We also have many disaster specialists on the ground providing shelter, water, solar lights, and blankets to many hurting people.
Working with a network of local church partners, our team has also started distributing essential relief items to the hardest hit communities.
Eusebio, pastor of a local congregation, was grateful to receive emergency shelter tarps, solar lights, blankets, and hygiene kits to help his community.
“We felt like there wasn’t going to be help from anywhere or from anyone,” the pastor said. “Then suddenly Samaritan’s Purse showed up. God knows our hearts.”
Cecilia, a faithful member Eusebio’s church, was overwhelmed when she received the relief items from her church’s parking lot. Because her home sustained severe structural damage, Cecilia and her seven family members have been sleeping on the ground in the town square. She is thankful to use the tarp as shade from the scorching sun and protection from the rain.
“I’m very grateful because we are seeing the hand of God in this situation,” she said. “Thank God that help has come.”
Clean Water for Cutoff Communities
Our water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) teams are setting up two desalinization units near the epicenter of the quakes, each able to produce 400 gallons of clean drinking water per hour.
“Without clean water, you have disease,” said Bruce Clounie, WASH Program Manager. “The water filtration systems are able to take water out of the ocean and make it clean, fresh drinking water.”
Please continue to lift up those affected by the earthquake and for our team on the ground.
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