Venezuela, Power, and Idolatry, with Elizabeth Sendek and Julio Isaza

As violence erupts around the world, how must we respond to those who worship power? In Venezuela, global power has reshaped lives overnight, and Elizabeth Sendek and Julio Isaza join Mark Labberton to reflect on faith, fear, and Christian witness amid political upheaval in Latin America.

“It made me question, if power is the ultimate good, then questions of morality or theology have no place. We have chosen our idol.”

Together they discuss how experiences of dictatorship, displacement, and pastoral caution shape Christian responses to invasion and regime change; the relationship between power and idolatry; the moral realities that come with violent and nonviolent action; fear and pastoral responsibility; the global impact of diaspora and migration; how prayer informs action; and how the church bears faithful witness under ruthless power.

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Episode Highlights

• “It made me question, if power is the ultimate good, then questions of morality or theology have no place. We have chosen our idol.”
• “Prayer is a spiritual resource, valuable, needed, urgent every day, in times of peace and in times of crisis.”
• “Prayer must also go alongside personal and collective actions in the defense of life, justice, freedom, reconciliation, and peace.”
• “They are very cautious, because they are not sure who is in control.”
• “We should not normalize violence just because it has always existed in history.”

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About Elizabeth Sendek

Elizabeth Sendek is a theologian and educator specializing in Latin American Christianity, theology and power, and the church’s public witness under political violence. Her work draws from lived experience across Latin America, particularly contexts shaped by dictatorship, corruption, displacement, and ecclesial resilience. She has taught theology in academic and pastoral settings, engaging questions of ethics, political theology, and Christian responsibility in fragile societies. Sendek is widely respected for her ability to connect historical memory, biblical theology, and contemporary crises, especially regarding migration, authoritarianism, and Christian hope. Her scholarship and public engagement consistently emphasize prayer joined with concrete action, resisting both naïveté and cynicism. She speaks regularly to churches, students, and leaders seeking faithful responses to power and suffering.

About Julio Isaza

Julio Isaza, born in Colombia, is married to Katie Isaza and is the father of Samuel and Benjamin. He served with the Covenant Church of Colombia from 1995 to 2006 and later earned a master of divinity degree in Chicago, where he lived for six years. Between 2012 and 2015, he worked in the formation of university students and young professionals with Serve Globally in Medellín, Colombia. From 2016 to 2025, he served in peace-building processes in conflict areas of Colombia and also as a professor at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia, teaching in the areas of missional theology, cultural context, and holistic impact strategies. During this time, he also worked with Indigenous communities in the Colombian rainforest, engaging in oral theology initiatives. His work has focused on holistic discipleship, theological education, and peace-building. He holds a master’s degree in Conflict and Peace from the University of Medellín and is currently pursuing a PhD in Theology and Peace at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in England. A US citizen, he resides in Minnesota with his family, where he is writing his doctoral dissertation titled “Cultivating Integral (Biblical) Peace in a Context of Socio-environmental Violence.”

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Helpful Links And Resources

Princeton Theological Seminary https://www.ptsem.edu

Psalm 73 (New International Version) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+73&version=NIV

Brownsville Covenant Church (David Swanson) https://www.brownsvillecovenant.org

Christians for Social Action https://christiansforsocialaction.org

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Show Notes

• News of Venezuelan invasion and presidential extrication
• Awakening to international headlines and Colombian news coverage
• Power displacing morality and theology
• “It made me question, if power is the ultimate good, then questions of morality or theology have no place.”
• “We have chosen our idol.”
• Violence beyond headlines and unseen civilian consequences
• Personal stories from Caracas neighbourhoods and bomb damage
• “You see in the news about Maduro taken, but you don’t see the consequences of what happened.”
• “Some of her family was killed in Caracas because of the bombs.”
• Childhood shaped by armed conflict in rural Colombia
• Guerrilla groups, military raids, and forced displacement
• Paramilitary violence and state-backed terror in towns
• “When I was a child, I would draw helicopters and militaries killing each other.”
• Conversion shaped by studying the life of Jesus
• “When I began to study the gospel, I thought that Jesus’s way is not a violent way.”
• Pastoral caution under volatile political regimes
• Fear shaping Christian speech and public silence
• “For the sake of my congregation, I cannot voice any opinion.”
• Churches continuing ministry amid uncertainty
• “They agreed that this time is an opportunity to share the gospel of hope.”
• Prayer as resistance and sustenance
• “Prayer is a spiritual resource, valuable, needed, urgent every day, in times of peace and in times of crisis.”
• Prayer joined with embodied action
• “Prayer must also go alongside personal and collective actions in the defense of life, justice, freedom, reconciliation, and peace.”
• Long histories of dictatorship shaping Latin American theology
• Skepticism toward purely academic liberation theology
• Credibility rooted in lived solidarity with the poor
• Diaspora pressure and forced return narratives
• “Now people say Venezuelans can go back to their own country.”
• Xenophobia and fear within host communities
• Displacement as ongoing trauma for migrant families
• Scripture shaping hope amid cynicism
• “When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply, till I entered the sanctuary of God.”
• Refusing to normalize power’s violence
• “Our call is not to normalize it, nor to declare it an act of God.”

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#FaithAndPolitics

#LatinAmerica

#ChristianWitness

#PowerAndViolence

#Venezuela

#ChurchAndState

#PublicTheology

Production Credits

Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment magazine and Fuller Seminary.