Very often international missionaries volunteer to spread the gospel in politically unstable countries with a clear understanding of existing problems and dangers that may face them once within a country’s borders. But what happens when unexpected situations arise?
Even though a violent political standoff between the people and government of Venezuela led to numerous deaths, closed businesses and a ruined national economy last year, International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries have tried incessantly to win more souls for Jesus Christ.
“One of the questions that we have faced with Venezuelans is why we as North Americans are still here,” said Joe Powell, IMB coordinator of mobilization for Venezuela. “It has given us opportunities to explain that we are different from U.S. business people or embassy personnel. It has been a witness in many of the poor areas especially to have the missionaries continuing their witness even with the difficulties.”
Through nationwide strikes, a coalition of Venezuelan business executives, union leaders and civic organizations attempted to shut down the economy and depose President Hugo Chavez, according to The New York Times. Chavez, who is considered to be “a dictator in a democrat’s clothes” by many nationals, was briefly deposed and restored to power causing the strikes to begin almost a year ago.
Although the strikes have ended, the president has not resigned. Numerous businesses have closed costing the country about $50 million per day. Venezuela’s oil output has been cut severely disrupting fuel and food supplies in one of the world’s major oil producing nations, The New York Times reports.
“Caracas has been one of the hardest hit cities in the current crisis,” said Rich Hutchens, an Alabama Baptist IMB missionary who coordinates strategy for the Venezuela/Aruba, Bonnaire and Curacao cluster. “With its 6 million inhabitants and being the center of government, the majority of the protests, concentrations, marches and lamentably deaths have taken place in this capital city (and) ministry has most definitely been affected.”
New ways to minister
Political unrest in Venezuela has caused the country’s missionaries to make a few changes in their witnessing strategies, yet they continue to find new ways to minister to the lost.
“At the beginning, the effect was largely self-imposed,” Hutchens said. “We were cautious with the deployment of our missions personnel because the situation was unstable politically. Access to certain areas was restricted because of marches and counter-marches.”
One of the main barriers of the nationwide strike is gasoline shortage caused by the country’s crippled oil industry, which has caused missionaries to reduce travel by personal vehicles, according to Hutchens. Many missionaries have had to change their mode of transportation from driving to walking, riding bicycles and using public transportation.
“We live in a city of 400,000 people tucked away in the mountains,” said Forrest Bohlen, a member of the Andean agriculture team in Merida, Venezuela. “Before the strike most of our ministry was to farmers in small mountain towns anywhere from one to seven hours away which have no evangelical churches. With the difficulty in getting gas, it has been almost impossible to visit these areas for the last two months. We are trying to stay in contact by phone and have made a couple of trips recently by public bus.”
Powell’s group has also felt the effects of depleting gasoline supplies. “It has taken us anywhere from two to 12 hours to fill a car with gasoline,” he said. “The work with some indigenous groups has been stopped in some areas, because they could not get gasoline to travel up and down the river where the groups are found.”
Instead of seeing the gas shortage as a hindrance, Baptist missionaries in the country have considered it a new opportunity for ministry.
“This experience of waiting in line has given us time to improve our prayer life, devotional readings and opportunities for getting to know the Venezuelans that we have spent the time with and to get to witness to them and give out tracts,” Powell noted.
With people waiting to get gas in lines stretching miles long, some churches have developed a ministry to the patrons using a special gospel tract written by one of the Venezuelan missionaries titled, “No One Likes Having to Wait.”
“It points to the fact that God has been waiting for us to recognize His love and sacrifice, and respond to Him in faith,” Hutchens noted.
Another problem attributable to the unstable oil industry is scarcity of other types of gas. “Most Venezuelans use small bottles of gas for cooking,” Powell said.
“One or two burner hotplates were supplied in one area because cooking gas was not available or became too expensive for the people to purchase,” Powell continued. “This gave us an opportunity to express God’s love, not just say it.”
Security for missionaries and education for their children are some of the other problems caused by the political unrest in Venezuela.
For the first time in 51 years, the National Baptist Convention of Venezuela had to postpone its annual convention.
Despite the difficulties caused by the strikes, Venezuela‘s missionaries are seeing many people come to Jesus Christ.
Although marches and protests continue and gas lines still stretch from several blocks to several miles, Venezuelan church planting teams have begun re-initiating ministries in the low-income areas around the cities as well as on university campuses, Hutchens said.
“They have reported a new openness to the gospel, and almost every contact presents an opportunity to talk about the Lord,” he said.
“Having seen the worst that men can do, and even the failure of the best intentions, Venezuelans are now searching for answers that lie more at the core of life. New ministries have emerged during these days, some focusing on relationships with neighbors in the communities where missionaries and nationals live.
“We (missionaries) share the truth of the gospel, that until human nature is changed by the new birth you can’t expect a lasting solution to any problem,” Hutchens said. “The answer lies in Jesus Christ.”
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