Venezuela Earthquake

Venezuela – Aid is Joyfully Received

8 July 2026

More than a fortnight on and the suffering in Venezuela continues following two powerful earthquakes.

However, the Methodist Christian Community in Venezuela is providing support to those affected. Methodists in Britain and Ireland have stood alongside this response by providing a £15,000 solidarity grant through the World Mission Fund.

Working with Nelson Largo’s metalworking business in Maracaibo, the local church has provided bed frames and mattresses for those in need.

The help is joyfully received:

To support responses like this, please give to the World Mission Fund.

Methodists in the UK respond to Venezuela’s humanitarian emergency

Recent reports indicate that around 1,450 people have lost their lives and more than 3,100 have been injured, with numbers expected to rise as rescue teams reach more affected areas.

Communities, especially in coastal and urban areas, have suffered significant loss of life, homes and livelihoods. Many families remain separated from loved ones, with thousands still missing, and large numbers displaced.

Emergency responders and volunteers, supported by international partners, are working tirelessly to rescue survivors and provide urgent aid. At the same time, local systems are under considerable strain, and access to safe shelter, healthcare and basic services remains a pressing need.

For churches and faith communities, this is a moment to stand in solidarity through prayer, compassion and practical support. The scale of the crisis is immense, and the need for sustained assistance—both immediate and long-term—will be significant.

Our Partner Church in Venezuela, the Methodist Christian Community of Venezuela (CCMV), is already responding with courage and compassion. Working alongside local churches and organisations closest to the worst-affected areas, they are helping to coordinate relief efforts and bring practical support to those in greatest need. Representatives of the church are travelling today to one of the affected areas, Junquito, where they will connect with another local church and coordinate relief efforts with local shelters who are housing hundreds of people.

Methodists in the Britain are standing with the CCMV through a World Mission Fund solidarity grant of £15,000, enabling this vital work to continue. Together, we are offering not only practical help but also a visible sign of Christ’s love at a time of deep suffering.

This support will provide essential items such as food, water, medicines, blankets and inflatable mattresses, for the hundreds of people who have been left without homes. In the midst of loss and uncertainty, this partnership is helping to bring relief, dignity and hope to communities who need it most.

Please join us in continued prayer for Venezuela. We invite you to reflect and pray using this poem written by the Revd Leonardo E Paredes, Vice-President of the CCMV:

In the face of such fragility, love comes into view,
hatred hides, differences grow transparent…
Lies are uncovered, hope rises again from another cardinal direction.
Plans disappear—and new ones emerge…
The word “God” feels closer: in the rubble, in the orphan, in the tears, in the pain,
in the one who risks their life to find life.
And it no longer matters whether life lasts 80 years or 40—
when a single minute is enough to give the very best we have…

Leonardo E. Paredes
28 June 2026

Contributions to the World Mission Fund makes it possible for our Partner Churches to respond quickly and compassionately in times of crisis. This enables the Methodist Church in Britain to stand in solidarity with our Partner Churches and organisations around the world.

Find out more about the World Mission Fund and how you can be part of this work of hope, and give today.

Prayer for the people of Venezuela

Though the fig tree does not blossom
    and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
    and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
    and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
    I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the LORD, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer
    and makes me tread upon the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17–19 (NRSVUE)

We come boldly before your throne of grace to ask for your mercy and love, oh Lord, thank you for your mercy upon the beautiful nation of Venezuela

We pray for all of those who have fallen victim to this terrible earthquake. We pray that you comfort them, that you provide for them, that they would know that you are with them, that you never leave them or forsake them.

We pray, Lord, that you would be their strength, that despite the situation they find themselves in, they would draw hope and courage, strength and encouragement from the support they receive from neighbouring countries, from churches, and from their own government within Venezuela.

We pray, Lord, that those who have survived the earthquake would be sustained by your grace, that they would receive provision, comfort, and peace, and that they would continue to hold on to hope in the midst of such difficulty and loss.

We pray that any people who are waiting to be rescued would be sustained and that your Holy Spirit would guide the rescue workers to their location.

We pray for the Methodist Christian Community in Venezuela. We pray that you would give them wisdom to respond in the most effective way possible to this tragedy, sharing the love and hope of Christ Jesus with affected communities.

In Christ’s name we pray.

Amen.