wfn.org | LCMS - Eight Missionaries safe, Venezuela 'calm, but tense'

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
Board for Communication Services

LCMSNews -- No. 24
April 19, 2002

Missionaries safe, Venezuela 'calm, but tense'

By Paula Schlueter Ross

Eight LCMS missionary families are safe after a coup and violent uprising in
Venezuela that ousted and returned President Hugo Chavez to office last
weekend.

"Missionaries stated that while the situation was quite tense over the
weekend, there were no reports of injuries to missionaries or to Venezuelan
Lutherans, and no reports of damage to church properties," said Rev. James
Tino, area director for Venezuela and the Caribbean with LCMS World Mission.
  Tino, who is based in Miami, is communicating with Synod missionaries via
telephone and e-mail.

Missionary Mark Kempff, who lives in Caracas, where at least 25 people were
killed and hundreds were wounded in the uprising that followed Chavez's
ouster, described the city on April 16 as "calm, but tense; calm, but
without peace."

Although there is "some sense of [normalcy] ... we recognize that there is
still a lot to accomplish before real peace is a reality."

Caracas, as of earlier this week, was "work as usual," Kempff said, with
"stores all open, street vendors everywhere, people on the street, normal
heavy traffic, banks all open, schools working, cleanup and rebuilding going
on."

Still, Kempff cautioned, "'back to normal' does not mean that things are
stable and developing toward understanding and peace.  The tension in the
air is because the government is still in a very unstable and undefined
situation; the military has gone through a very humiliating experience; the
opposition feels like justice has not been done; and the Catholic Church got
caught in the middle and lost some of its credibility.  The road to recovery
will be long and painful.  No one is sure who will do the healing."

While an evacuation plan is in place, according to Tino, LCMS World Mission
has no plans to evacuate missionaries at this time.

Also serving in Venezuela, in addition to Kempff, his wife, Ruth, and their
children, are Rev. Rudy and Ramona Blank, Don Ellcey, the Rev. Richard and
Maritza Schlak family, Ted Krey, the Rev. Henry and Ruthie Witte family,
Dale and Sandra Saville, the Rev. Arthur and Elide Boone family, the Rev.
Dan and Kathy Conrad family, and Cory Brasel.

LCMS members can help, Tino said, by praying for "competent leadership for
Venezuela during this difficult time" and "that the Lutheran churches would
be a beacon of hope in a nation in need of hope."

Christ's message of forgiveness, peace and hope "can be shared with those
around us, even if it begins with just a few," said Kempff.  "Christ is the
source and foundation for restoration, forgiveness and peace.  And put into
action, powerful results are possible."

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