Since two earthquakes devastated northern Venezuela on June 24, pastors in the affected area have had no time to rest.
Just hours after the earthquakes reduced thousands of structures and buildings to rubble, pastors and members of their congregations began to serve their communities in any way possible. Some joined rescue teams that worked day and night to free people trapped beneath the wreckage. Others opened the doors of their churches to provide shelter and food for those who had lost everything in the blink of an eye.
The scale of the devastation is heartbreaking. According to official figures, more than 6,500 people have died, and the United Nations estimates that more than 50,000 people are still missing.
After two months of serving those affected and offering a listening ear amid the devastation, these pastors had not processed the trauma and grief building in their own hearts.
Many lost family, as well as members of their congregations, but they immediately threw themselves into serving others.
At the invitation of the Evangelical Council of Venezuela, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association brought Respiro [Breath] to Caracas, the nation’s capital. Planned specifically for these faithful servants of the Lord, this two-night retreat and conference was designed to give pastors and their wives a place to rest and be renewed through time in Scripture, prayer, and worship.
“We opened the doors of our church the very night of the earthquake to serve meals and provide shelter,” Pastor Alexis Paz and his wife, María, shared. Although they lost 30 members of their church—including their 44-year-old son and 20-year-old grandson—the couple had no time to process their loss before they began responding to the endless needs of their community.
Pastor Carlos Daniel García described the memories of the past two months as blurry flashes filled with pain.
“We have been clearing rubble, delivering food, delivering medicine, hugging children, hugging mothers who lost their children, people who were left without their families,” he said.
“Honestly, I wasn’t going to come,” Pastor García continued. “I was completely focused on ministry, and I said, ‘Lord, I have so much work to do here in La Guaira. How can I go?’ But the Lord helped me understand that it was time to rest.”
One of the speakers who encouraged the gathering through the Word of God was Pastor Jaume Torrado of Spain. He reminded attendees that even in their weakness and weariness, God sees them and desires to restore them so they can continue in their ministry.
“The Lord will not break a bruised reed, and a smouldering wick he will not quench,” he said, referring to Isaiah 42:3. “Even if you are a broken reed, the Lord wants to heal you. … How can we sustain others? How can we walk alongside them? Only if our own hearts have been healed and restored.”
Throughout the event, the pastors poured out their hearts before God and prayed for one another.
“I can’t even begin to describe how grateful we are for this event,” García said. “This tragedy placed such a tremendous burden on us because we have been working in the ministry since the very first day. We see this as a time of rest that God is giving us to release our burden and receive the Word of truth.”
Beside him, his wife, Rosana, spoke about the physical and spiritual relief she experienced through the retreat.
“Although we have been working and sharing the Word with those who are brokenhearted, with those who have lost their families, here I was able to see how much we need this too.”
Rosana shared that simply leaving her city—the area hardest hit by the earthquake—helped her see things from a different perspective.
“I even slept today. I slept like I hadn’t slept in months,” she said.
Pastor Alexis Paz and his wife, María, shared what the event meant to them. Their church’s small kitchen has been preparing as many as 450 meals a day.
“After this tragedy, many organisations have brought supplies, but feeling this embrace and hearing these words telling us that we are not alone—what we are experiencing here right now … we really needed it.”
