It’s been almost a decade since former Southern Baptist missionary Bill Cashion has visited Venezuela where he and his wife, Kathy, served from 1985–95 but his love for the Venezuelans remains strong.
Political unrest and government policies may have kept him from the country, but he was still devastated when he learned that two massive earthquakes (7.2 and 7.5 magnitude) struck Venezuela in June of this year, killing 6,500 known people and injuring more than 16,700 others.
Most of the damage and destruction took place in or near the places he and his wife ministered in while serving in Venezuela.
Next steps
Cashion has been in contact with Eron Galindo, a local pastor and director of missions near Caracas whom he has known for decades, who is coordinating relief efforts in the area. The number of deaths will probably exceed more than 10,000 as thousands of people remain missing and unaccounted for, said Cashion, who retired from the IMB in 2004 after serving as a world hunger consultant and later director of the Volunteers in Missions department for the International Mission Board ibn Richmond.
Though the earthquakes occurred in June, recovery is expected to take months and even years, according to news reports from around the world.
Cashion has led short-term mission trips to Venezuela and Costa Rica every year since 2006 and has one on the schedule in 2027.
During his ministry Cashion has served as pastor of churches in his home state of South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina. He also served for 10 years as professor of evangelism and missions in the T. Walter Brashier Graduate School at North Greenville University.
Cashion has served nine Greenville County area churches (some more than once) as interim pastor and is currently the interim pastor of Cleveland First Baptist Church. He has shared the plight of Venezuelans earthquake victims with those congregations.
Cleveland First and Forestville Baptist Church, Greenville, have responded with monetary gifts which Cashion has sent to Pastor Galindo who has used the funds to purchase food and supplies for relief efforts. “The churches have provided enough money to feed more than one thousand people,” he related.
The longtime missionary/pastor also has contributed on a personal level.
In 2020 Cashion wrote and published “The Winning Season: Stories of Victory from Baseball and the Bible.” The book contains 162 devotionals centered around true baseball stories, Scripture passages and life application, he said.
Though the book has been available for six years, Cashion has increased his promotion of the book since the earthquake and is contributing half of the proceeds he earns from sale of the books to the disaster relief efforts in Venezuela.
‘Simple things’
He knows Pastor Galindo and volunteers from his church (Prince of Peace Baptist Church) and other Venezuelan churches will use the funds to “provide just the simple things such as water, sandwiches and typical Venezuelan food to families and relief workers.”
Cashion knows the efforts go beyond meeting physical needs. “They are preaching the gospel. … Pastor Galindo is one of the most effective missionaries and evangelists I’ve ever worked with, and he is sharing the gospel in a very kind, compassionate way.”
Anyone interested in purchasing Cashion’s book to help with recovery efforts in Venezuela can email him at billpsalm1103@gmail.com. The book is $20 if purchased locally or $25 if shipped.
