Mirad cual amor nos ha dado el Padre

“Mirad cual amor nos ha dado el Padre al hacernos hijos de Dios. Para ser llamados hijos de Dios. Para ser llamados hijos de Dios.”

That’s the refrain from a favorite song here based on 1 John 3:1. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”

The third Sunday in June this year was not only the third Sunday after Trinity Sunday, but Father’s Day as well. So the appointed Gospel reading, the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) was particularly fitting. It offers a portrait of God as Father. The father in the parable is longsuffering and merciful; he grieves at the loss of his rebellious son, but rejoices in reconciliation with him. Likewise, our heavenly Father does not desire our condemnation, but restoration of a right relationship with Himself. We may pray to God as our Father, not only because He gave us the gift of life by means of our earthly parents, but also reclaims us in baptism as reconciled children through the atoning death of Jesus.Our earthly father is not the template for understanding God; rather, God is the model for understanding what a father should be. Our Lord commanded us to pray this way in the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name."

Our earthly fathers are human beings—sinners, not perfect. Families and marriages often face many problems, so we may not have an ideal father figure, yet every father remains a gift from God to us. We should give thanks if we have a father figure in our lives, for this, too, is a gift from God. Paul tells us to honor our father and mother; it is the first commandment with a promise—that if we honor our parents, we will live a long life on this earth.

I also dealt with this theme in the opening devotion for our Father’s Day activity June 18 with Luz Maria´s afterschool tutoring students, before the games and gift-giving. As Scripture references I cited Matthew 7:7-12 and Ephesians 6:2-4. The students were invited to bring their fathers. Of those who attended, four brought their biological fathers and the rest brought their closest male relatives or their mothers. Of the biological fathers, only two were actually living with their children.

Lack of a strong paternal figure in the home is the source of many of Venezuela’s societal problems and a major challenge for our mission. Luz Maria and I began our educational project to try and help young people break the generational cycle of poverty in which many in the surrounding community have been trapped: The young women dropping out of school after sixth grade because of pregnancy before they are ready physically or emotionally to be mother and the young men drifting into alcohol and drug abuse and petty crime because of the lack of skills to find decent jobs. This situation has only gotten worse because of the political and economic problems that have gripped the country over the last 20 years and the availability of smartphones which make young people even more vulnerable to sex traffickers.And we have learned from experience that family formation is essential to church growth. That is, when believers marry, have children and bring raise the children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. The book of Acts informs us that entire households being baptized was typical in the early church (Acts 16: 14-15; 23-32). Having only his mother and grandmother to teach him the Scriptures may have worked for Timothy (1:5), but most young people find it difficult to persevere in the faith without the support of an intact family.

Sociological studies show that fathers set the trajectory for their children's religious participation, a cross-cultural phenomenon observed in western Europe, North America, and parts of the Middle East. A Swiss government study (conducted in the 1990s, published around 2000) established the baseline for western Europe: A child is much more likely to regularly attend church as an adult if the father attends regularly, compared to the mother’s influence alone. A smaller-scale US study found nearly identical results to the Swiss data, reinforcing that when only the father attends regularly, roughly 67% of children attend as adults, compared to a sharp drop when only the mother attends. A 2025 analysis of the Global Flourishing Study (covering 22 diverse countries) confirmed that father-child relations and early-life religious attendance are robust predictors of adult religious practice (prayer/meditation) across geographically and economically diverse nations. The study noted that while national contexts affect the strength of transmission, the link between early paternal involvement and adult faith is a "near universal aspect of religious socialization."

Therefore, we continue with our goals of involving both parents in Christian education as much as possible, encouraging home Bible study and prayer as well as regular public worship attendance, and teaching youth to look for a faithful spouse (in both senses of the term).

From celebration to tragedy

According to our historic church calendar, June 24 is the day to remember the birth of John the Baptist. It is six months before December 25, and Luke 1:36 says that John’s mother and Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, was six months pregnant when the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke than recounts how Mary went to visit Elizabeth and the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaped in joy at the presence of the child in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:39-45, a powerful pro-life passage). Luke 1:56 says that Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months and then John the Baptist was born, which would imply he was born later in the fall. But the martyrdom of John the Baptist is celebrated on August 29, so perhaps the earlier date was chosen to avoid confusion.

At any rate, since the 18th Century in Venezuela, the Nativity of John the Baptist has been linked with popular festivals in areas where people of African descent are concentrated. This is because on that date, African slaves would be given a holiday. The traditional festivities include music and dancing that have little to do with the Biblical John the Baptist, and rites that are thinly disguised survivals of African tribal religions. These festivities are most closely associated with the states of Miranda, Vargas, Aragua, Carabobo, Guárico y Yaracuy. Except for Guárico, all of these states are located along the Caribbean coast.

The annual celebrations turned to tragedy at 6:04 p.m., June 24, 2026. Two major earthquakes, 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude respectively, occurred 39 seconds and five kilometers apart. Because the John the Baptist events are tourist attractions, there were even more people than usual gathered in areas that are among the most heavily populated in Venezuela. The epicenters of both earthquakes were in Veroes, a municipality of Yaracuy state. The two earthquakes caused widespread damage across north central and northwestern Venezuela, particularly in the metro areas La Guaira (Vargas state) and Caracas (Miranda state).

According to the American Geographical Society: “At least 1,450 people have died since last week’s devastating twin earthquakes in Venezuela, with international rescue teams and local volunteers still digging through the rubble as part of frantic rescue efforts. Up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, according to initial estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The projections, based on the available population and damage analysis, include up to 2 million people in Caracas alone. There are currently over 70,000 people reported missing, over 3,150 people are injured, and 774 buildings have collapsed.”

La Caramuca is closer to the Colombian border than to Caracas in a country that has roughly the same surface area as Oklahoma and Texas combined or twice that of California. We were aware of the earthquakes, first of all because Luz Maria discovered, along with many other Venezuelans, that her Android cellphone has a earthquake alert feature. She received a text message just before the events. Some people with Android phones, including those in the affected areas, received the same messages, but others didn’t. Apparently it has to do with whether the phone has GPS activated or not. We also saw hanging objects sway without any wind, but there was no sensation of the earth moving under our feet (apologies to Carole King). There was not damage to persons or property in Barinas.

We thank God for the fact that, based on what we have heard, none of the scattered congregations of our national church, the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, were directly affected. There were reports of cracks in the walls of some church buildings, but these may have be pre-existing damage. Two of our largest congregations, Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) in Puerto Ordaz and Ascension in San Felix de Guayana, organized the collection of bottled water, foodstuffs and clothing to be sent to the affected areas. Members of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod may donate to earthquake relief efforts at this Web site (the Synod recommends not trying to directly ship supplies):

https://www.lcms.org/give/earthquake

Update: Global Lutheran Outreach is expanding its Venezuela Relief Program to help earthquake victims. According to James Tino, director of Global Lutheran Outreach:

"Since 2017, Global Lutheran Outreach has been operating a program called “Venezuela Relief” which regularly sends medication to thousands of people unable to afford or acquire medical help. The medicines are distributed through a network of Lutheran churches in more than 20 communities. With the latest shipment which is going out right now, a total of more than 9,800 patients have received life-giving and life-sustaining medicine, free of charge.


Venezuelan brothers and sisters need our help more than ever today. In response to the earthquakes, we are expanding our Venezuela Relief program. We are in communication with our network of contacts in Venezuela who have agreed to channel whatever funds are donated to the specific needs of those who have lost everything. For example, one of our contacts told us that baby bottles are an urgent need. Yes, regular baby bottles. Hospitals and medical clinics are using towels dipped in formula to feed the infants.


Go to Venezuela Relief on the GLO website to learn more. Your tax-deductible contribution, large or small, will help alleviate the suffering caused by this natural disaster and by the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. Updates will be given regularly on our Venezuela Relief website so that we can pray for those affected.

https://globallutheranoutreach.com/blog/venezuelarelief/earthquakes-in-venezuela/

On Sunday, June 28, I covered the "second table of the Law" in Luther's Large Catechism with members of Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas.

God's gift of life

Every morning we open the preschool with the national anthem, the Lord’s Prayer, a Bible verse and a song based on Romans 8:38-39. Once a week, the children hear a longer Bible story, followed by some sort of crafts project. The birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:57-80) was our Bible story for the week of June 24, because that is the date to remember John the Baptist’s birth on the historic church calendar (it’s six months before December 24, since Elizabeth already was six months pregnant when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive a child by the power of the Holy Spirit in Luke 1:26-38). 

The entire first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke is an argument for the biblical teaching that every child in his mother's womb is a gift from God and his life has value and purpose in the eyes of the heavenly Father. 

1. God chose a name for John the Baptist and his mother Elizabeth conceived and gave birth to her in her old age. 
2. God chose a name for Jesus before his birth and by the work of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary conceived and gave birth. 
3. When Mary visited Elizabeth, Elizabeth's son jumped into her mother's womb to greet the Child Jesus in Mary's womb.

In my meditation this week on the story of John the Baptist's birth, I had in mind the pending U.S. Supreme Court decision Dobbs vs. Women’s Health Organization, but did not suppose it would be announced on that Friday. With the LCMS Life Ministry, we may “rejoice that the truth of God’s desire for His creation was reflected in the court’s consideration and decision issued in Dobbs v. Jackson.” However, as the Rev. Matthew Harrison, president of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, reminds us, “Even though Roe v. Wade has fallen, states can still allow the killing of unborn children. Today we pray that more unborn will leap for joy in the womb, as St. John did. Today, even as we rejoice, we weep that U.S. policy continues to promote abortion globally.”

It is true that the U.S. federal government funds international aid groups that promote abortion on demand in other countries. But that may not be the entire reason for the current, unfortunate trend in Latin America. In February 2022, Colombia became the third Latin American country to loosen abortion laws in the past three years, following Argentina and Mexico. In December 2020, Argentina decriminalized and legalized abortion until the 14th week of gestation. In 2021, Mexico declared the criminalization of abortion unconstitutional, although access to abortion still varies depending on the state. Colombia made abortion legal during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Most Latin American countries still maintain strict regulation of abortion. Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, only allows abortion if the woman's life is at risk or when the pregnancy is the result of rape. El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Suriname ban abortions in nearly all circumstances. In Costa Rica and Guatemala, abortions are only permitted if it's to preserve the woman's health or help save her life. In Panama, the procedure is only allowed to preserve the mother's health or life in the case of rape, or fetal malformation.

Abortion in Venezuela is illegal in almost all circumstances. A 1926 law banning the procedure was modified to allow an abortion if the woman’s life is in danger. A bill seeking to decriminalize abortion in some or all cases is pending in the national assembly.

Of course, nearly all of these countries are Roman Catholic-majority nations, although not by as large a margin in the past. More than 425 million Latin American identify as Catholics – nearly 40 percent of the world’s total Catholic population. Yet identification with Catholicism has declined throughout the region, according to a Pew Research Center survey that examined religious affiliations, beliefs and practices in 18 countries and one U.S. territory (Puerto Rico) across Latin America and the Caribbean. For most of the 20th century, from 1900 through the 1960s, at least 90 percent of Latin America’s population identified as Roman Catholic. Today, the Pew Research survey shows, 69 percent of adults across the region identify as Roman Catholic. In nearly every country surveyed, the Catholic Church has experienced net losses as many Latin Americans have joined evangelical Protestant churches or rejected organized religion altogether.

John came neither eating or drinking

Even in the old days, few Venezuelans were devout, practicing Catholics. It is estimated that only 10 percent attended Mass even once a month. Popular religiosity was, and for many Venezuelans remains, a mixture of veneration of the saints and Mary as approved by Roman Catholic church; “folk Catholicism” or festivals and shrines not officially approved, but not forbidden by the church; and invocation of non-Christian deities. Nothing illustrates this more what ostensibly are celebrations of the John the Baptist’s birth that occupy a prominent place in Venezuelan folklore. The dances, processions and other festivities associated with June 24 are full of color and rhythm. During the time of slavery in Venezuela, African slaves were allowed time off from June 23 to 25, so the customs are particularly rich among the Afro-Venezuelans of Miranda and Yaracuy states.

However, people often do not know the true story of John the Baptist and its meaning, and the parties are occasions for idolatry (tribal gods in the guise of Roman church saints) and alcohol abuse.

John the Baptist led an austere life, neither eating or drinking to excess, according to Matthew 11:18 and Luke 7:33. In the context of these passages, the Pharisees had accused Jesus unfairly of being a drunkard and a glutton. Our Lord pointed out that although loved to make a great show of piety, but they were not comfortable with the earnestness of John, nor the graciousness of Jesus. They did not want to admit that they were sinners in need of a Savior, so they were not willing to accept the love and mercy of that Savior. Despite their differences in outward behavior, John and Jesus were not enemies. John said of Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, and Jesus said of John, “Among those born of women, there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11).

What it means to be a father

On Thursday, June 16, we celebrated Father’s Day with our preschool children. Sadly, many of the “fathers” present were really grandfathers or stepfathers. The lack of involvement of biological fathers in the home is a significant social problem in Venezuela. One reason for this is the economic crisis that has spurred many able-bodied men to seek higher-paying jobs outside the country. But even before the current crisis, many children in our community were caught in a generational cycle of poverty, due to lack of education or even motivation for education; out-of-wedlock births; and lack of either family or job stability.

Nevertheless, our Scripture reading for that day was Ephesians 5:21-30, where St. Paul says that the husband is the head of his partner, as Christ is the head of the church. That does not mean the man can rule over his family like a tyrant, for Genesis 3:16 says this distortion of the relationship between men and women resulted from the disobedience of Adam and Eve. On the contrary, as Christ is the source of life and salvation for the church, the father must be the source of provision and protection, material and spiritual, for his family. This passage from Ephesians has more instructions for men than it does for women. The Apostle cites the worlds of Genesis 2:24, especially for men, “For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”.

In the Old Testament lesson for the following Sunday, Deuteronomy 6:4-13, the Lord says through Moses, “Hear, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one: And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart. , and with all your soul, and with all your strength." Yet also, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart: And you shall repeat them to your children, and shall speak of them when you sit at home, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down. And when you get up." The weight of this responsibility falls on the man of the house, although in the absence of a male parent, the mother may take it up. Therefore each section of the Small Catechism is subtitled, “As the head of the household may teach it in a simple way to his children”.

So, on that Sunday, Father’s Day, we prayed for our earthly fathers, that God might give them the courage to follow the will of the Lord and the wisdom to guide their families in the regular use of His holy Word and the sacraments. Also to bless their daily work and give them health of mind, body and soul to provide for the material needs of their families. Amen.

LeadaChild alumna graduates from high school

LeadaChild, a Kansas-based mission society, has supported our education program since 2006. During that time, many of the children who received scholarships from LeadaChild to pay for school expenses completed high school rather then drop out after sixth grade as is all too common here. Yaneth Torres is the latest to receive her diploma. On June 6, we met via Zoom conference with Nury de Milian, LeadaChild director for Latin America, and other coordinators of education projects in Venezuela, to discuss distribution of LeadaChild funds for the next school year.

All because of an iguana

Power outages continue, especially as torrential rains and thunderstorms cause power lines to fall. But on the evening of June 20, we experienced not only an outage, but a tremendous spike that destroyed three security cameras, the digital video recorder (DVR) to which the cameras were connected, and two lightbulbs. The cost of replacing the damaged equipment was US $400. It was not because of a lightning strike, but apparently due to an iguana that jumped on the line. I passed on the opportunity to find out if fried iguana really tasts just like chicken.