Auckland. 30 June 2026:
Tearfund New Zealand
has launched an emergency appeal to equip its local partners
as they respond to the devastating earthquakes in
Venezuela.
Nearly a week after the earthquakes struck,
the death toll is approaching 2,000, around 15,000 people
have been displaced, and an estimated 40,000 people remain
missing. The numbers continue to climb as rescue teams
continue searching through the rubble. Many families have
lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods, and urgently need
shelter, food, clean water, medical care, and other
essential support.
Through Tearfund, New Zealanders
are helping equip two long-standing local partners—the
Evangelical Council of Venezuela and the Venezuelan Baptist
Convention—that were serving their communities before the
earthquakes struck. They know the people they serve and can
respond immediately, opening their doors to displaced
families and providing emergency assistance. They will
remain alongside their communities long after the initial
emergency response has ended.
The appeal will help
equip these local partners to expand and sustain their
humanitarian response as families begin the long process of
recovery.
Tearfund Chief Executive Ian McInnes
said:
“The situation really is catastrophic. People
are living in makeshift tent shelters wherever they can find
them, in parks and on the streets, too afraid to go back to
their homes because of compromised structures and ongoing
aftershocks. The situation really is
terrible.”
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McInnes said the local partners were
already mobilising.
“They have said they will respond.
They are going to open their doors to displaced people,
providing a place of shelter. They are going to go out onto
the streets to find displaced communities and provide food,
water, shelter, and medical support.”
New Zealanders
can support Tearfund’s emergency appeal at
tearfund.org.nz/Giving/Venezuela-Earthquakes-Appeal, helping
equip local churches to continue supporting their
communities throughout the recovery.
About
Tearfund
Tearfund New Zealand is a Christian aid and
development organisation working alongside local partners to
tackle poverty, injustice and exploitation across Africa,
South-East Asia and the Pacific through disaster response,
child development, farming and enterprise, and anti-human
trafficking
initiatives.
