A Taste of Venezuela

Traditional Arepas made with 

the famous Harina P.A.N. flour!

     Arepas, merengadas, empanadas, mini-lunches, pan canilla, cachapas....  ahhhh.... Now my son is angry with me...! He couldn't believe I had the fortune of all that good Venezuelan food while he missed it all. Yes, I agree... it's just not fair!

Empanadas de Carne Molida...
My wife's favorite!

     What makes it worse is that while I was enjoying all the good Venezuelan food that is now spread across Panama, our dearest friends in Venezuela itself are starving. Literally. Procuring food has become the number one pursuit in Venezuela as millions are struggling to find just a bite to eat. Only 1,061 miles from where I ate all of the above items the saints and the sinners of Caracas would have loved to have eaten just one of those items. My son wanted them because they remind him of what used to be "home". But all the little children that played with him no longer have a carefree life like they used to know.  

     We ask you to continue to pray earnestly for our friends and neighbors in Venezuela. It is in a state of total collapse. The Pastor of the church we started stays in touch with us regularly. He knows the stories of incredible suffering that millions are facing. Finding food is a daily nightmare in Caracas and across the country.

     In 2013, things started looking extremely bad for anyone that had wisdom to see it. The government instituted laws that prevented people from saving anything more than a few days worth of food at a time. Next, a fingerprinting registration system was instituted by grocery stores to fall in line with government prohibitions against "hoarding". The government began to pressure people to turn in their neighbors for any "suspected" hoarding or violations. You can imagine how that was used and abused...

     So, today, things have followed the natural path from those kinds of laws and philosophies until there is basically little food available. What is made available by the government is "entrusted" to the local neighborhood "revolutionary councils". In order to buy it from them, your name is checked against records to make sure you have not signed any petitions against the government. The tragedy is at an explosive point.

     In recent years, 1.8 million Venezuelans have fled the country in order to escape the increasingly difficult times. That's a telling figure for a small country that was supposed to be turned into a socialist's paradise by this time. There are virtually no medicines, very little food and no hope left for the people of this land we love so much. There is one hope for them though -- Jesus Christ. Please pray for a true spirit of repentance and revival to sweep this land!