More than two weeks after devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, a Samaritan's Purse emergency field hospital in La Guaira continues operating at full capacity, treating patients who lost homes, families and livelihoods in the disaster.
The two earthquakes—measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude and occurring 37 seconds apart—killed more than 5,000 people and injured more than 16,000 according to Venezuelan authorities. La Guaira, a coastal city northwest of Caracas, was among the hardest-hit communities, with entire apartment complexes reduced to rubble and survivors left searching through debris for missing relatives.
At the field hospital, medical teams have treated more than 2,500 patients. The facility operates two surgical theaters, a pharmacy and a laboratory where doctors perform orthopedic surgeries and treat infections—many stemming from injuries that went untreated immediately after the quakes. Nearly every patient has lost a family member or close friend, hospital staff said.
One survivor spent two days trapped beneath rubble after his apartment building collapsed six floors. Rescuers spent six hours extracting him from the debris. "I lose everything, I don't have anything," he said. The experience left him grateful for small gestures of humanity: when a nurse fashioned him paper shoes, he said, "I feel so happy for that."
Another patient injured his leg while rescuing a stranger's child from a collapsed 14-story building. "It was terrifying," he said. "I thought a plane had crashed."
More than 170 Samaritan's Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team members are deployed across the hardest-hit neighborhoods, including La Guaira, Playa Grande and Caraballeda. Six Boeing 767 cargo flights have delivered 295 tons of supplies—tents, tarps, solar lights, blankets, hygiene kits, cooking sets and Spanish Bibles. The organization said its aircraft were the first non-military flights to land in Venezuela after the earthquakes.
More than 10,200 families have received emergency supplies through the operation. Samaritan's Purse also has installed four emergency clinic modules at local healthcare facilities, stocked with medical equipment and generators to help restore basic medical services in devastated communities. A fifth clinic is expected to open soon.
Two desalination units installed by the organization have produced more than 154,000 liters of clean drinking water—addressing a critical need in a region where water systems were damaged or destroyed.
Reverend Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse, visited the field hospital this week alongside his daughter, Cissie Graham Lynch, a senior advisor for the organization. Graham told those gathered at the hospital that relief teams aim to provide not just medical care and supplies, but spiritual support during a time of profound grief.
"I'm thankful for our incredible teams who are doing just that," Graham said. "They are providing medical care, clean water, tents for shelter and many other emergency supplies. As they do this in Jesus' Name, they are comforting these families and praying with them during this time of intense grief and loss."
For some survivors, the spiritual dimension of care proved as meaningful as the medical treatment. One patient spoke of how doctors knelt to pray with him during his recovery. "That's beautiful when they get on their knees and pray with me," he said. "I love that. Nobody do that for me."
Lynch recounted meeting a local pastor who lost several members of his congregation in the earthquakes yet continues serving his community. "I am here to serve and win souls for Christ," the pastor told her, a statement Lynch said exemplified the resilience she witnessed throughout her visit.
The relief operation is being coordinated with church partners in Caracas and other communities, creating a network of aid distribution across the affected region. But the scale of need remains immense. With thousands dead, tens of thousands injured and entire neighborhoods destroyed, the work ahead for relief teams is substantial and ongoing.
