Join us in prayer for every person whose life has been impacted in some way after two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit Venezuela at around 6pm local time on 24 June.
The number of people killed has already risen beyond 1,700, but tens of thousands more are still missing and the UN has warned that the death toll could reach 10,000.
Pray for search and rescue teams
Around 30,000 Venezuelan emergency workers and 2,700 members of international teams from 24 countries (including the UK) are believed to be involved in the search. Although the critical 72-hour ‘survival window’ passed on Saturday evening, a few rescues continue to be reported.
- Pray that anyone who may still be alive and trapped will be found in time.
- Pray for courage, strength and safety for all those working in the rubble, including the 86 search-dog teams, risking their own lives to find people trapped in collapsed buildings.
- Ask God for protection for their hearts and minds as they face incredibly traumatic scenes and also witness the grief of families and friends of loved ones they cannot save.
- Pray for medical personnel working to save lives and treat people with life-threatening injuries. Ask for calm heads, clear thoughts in spite of long hours of traumatic work, and the courage and strength to continue on.
Pray for those grieving the loss of loved ones
- Pray for supernatural comfort and peace as people come to terms with the sudden and traumatic loss of their loved ones.
- Pray for children who have lost parents. Ask God to be with them, holding them as they face confusion, fear and emotional pain. Pray that people will step in to care for them and show them love and kindness.
- Lift up all those who are awaiting the news of missing people. Pray for comfort, strength and peace as they live through unbearable hours of not knowing, but fearing and hoping.
Pray for everyone dealing with extreme emotional distress
- Pray for each person who endured the earthquakes and experienced or witnessed the devastation of buildings collapsing. Ask God to give them divine courage and peace, in spite of the circumstances.
- Pray for an end to the aftershocks that continue to cause renewed distress and send people rushing back out into the streets, terrified that more buildings may collapse.
- Pray for those afraid to return to their homes, even in some case to homes which have been assessed as structurally sound, because of the extreme fear this sudden horrific event has caused.