ChurchLeaders spoke with retired Air Force Col. Greg Thompson and veteran missionary and bush pilot David Byron about the U.S. capture and extradition of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, the implications for regional stability, the impact of decades of authoritarian rule on the church in Venezuela, and why Christians should care.
Thompson, a former Air Force judge advocate and current professor at Cedarville University, framed the operation as a lawful enforcement of a long-standing U.S. indictment, noting bipartisan consensus dating back to the Obama administration that Maduro led a corrupt, authoritarian regime tied to hostile foreign actors. Thompson emphasized that the operation prioritized capture over assassination, minimized loss of life, and reflected American democratic and Judeo-Christian values, including due process and religious freedom.
Byron, who spent years in Panama and Venezuela supporting Bible translation among indigenous communities, described escalating government hostility toward churches under Hugo Chávez and Maduro. He said pastors were monitored, churches infiltrated, and Bible translation efforts actively suppressed. According to Byron, many Venezuelan Christians and the millions who fled the country view Maduro’s removal with hope, seeing a possible end to decades of persecution, economic collapse and restricted religious liberty.
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Both men urged Christians to care about developments in Venezuela, stressing that religious freedom, access to Scripture, and the well-being of pastors and congregations are at stake. They called on the global church to pray for a peaceful transition, credible elections, and protection for believers during a fragile and uncertain period.
“My wife grew up in Panama, and that’s how I got to know David Byron. We care about the gospel, freedom, liberty, and access to Scripture,” Thompson told ChurchLeaders. “I was thrilled because people I knew in Panama were thrilled, and they were thrilled because people at their church from Venezuela were thrilled.”
“It’s uncertain. We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he added. “But we do know God raises kings and deposes kings in his sovereign will, so we just pray for people and governments and what’s going to go on.”
Thompson continued,
The other reason I was excited is my wife lived through the invasion of Panama. My friends lived through what it’s like to lose a dictator. People love to be free, safe, and live where they can flourish—where their economy isn’t tanked and their government isn’t corrupt, and we’re on the front steps of that. As a Christian, I just care about that a lot and I’m excited for people.
When Christians ask, “Should we care?,” the answer is yes. If we care about biblical principles, if we care about people having God’s Word, we must care, Byron argued. The veteran missionary explained that in the “previous administrations under the Democratic order, the church was actually a welcome partner to the government.”
