by Kelly Lapp

Created on: May 03, 2008

My mother and I recently traveled to Venezuela on a church-related mission trip. Prior to our departure, we heard comments, questions, and criticisms from many well-meaning people. Regardless of the wording or the attitude, they all boiled down to one basic thought: "Don't you know they hate us over there?"

Mom and I have traveled to many foreign countries. We are no strangers to precaution and safe traveling, and we have experienced our fair share of interesting encounters. We have both come up against a guard with a machine gun. Mom sipped tea brewed in a Brazilian prison. I narrowly escaped a transportation strike in Argentina.

Yet, even we entered the country of Venezuela with increased nervousness. We had heard for months that we would be entering a country of violence and fury and that most of that violence and fury were directed at US citizens. We were told to leave behind anything that would directly identify us as US citizens, that we should not even wear a combination of red, white, and blue. Since I speak Spanish, I could blend into Venezuelan culture a little bit easier than Mom could, but I was convinced that I would have to play interpreter and body guard for her. Upon arrival in Caracas, we walked and talked with apprehension, not wanting anything we said or did to cause alarm or anger.

Though we flew into Caracas, our work was actually in the twin cities of Araure and Acarigua. When we stepped into our host church, First Baptist Church of Araure, Mom and I were both shocked and confused to see a sign that read "Welcome to our Church" in English hanging over both the Venezuelan and US flags. The people ran up to us with smiles, hugs, and kisses. They welcomed us, fed us, and cared for us for a week. We laughed together. We cried together. By the end of the week, strangers had become friends. Through it all, Mom and I kept exchanging a look that simply said, "Weren't they supposed to hate us here?"

What Mom and I learned in Venezuela was that propaganda goes both ways. Our newspapers were reporting the evil deeds of President Hugo Chavez. In the US, he was portrayed as a heinous dictator who ruled his country with an iron fist. Yet, the people we lived with that week loved him and were proud of the changes he had brought to their lives. On the other hand, their media were reporting the evil deeds of people in the US. We were portrayed as greedy, oil-hungry people who wanted to take out Chavez so that we could deplete their petroleum resources.

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