President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, have been taken from Caracas to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn following U.S. strikes on Venezuela on Saturday.

Evangelical leaders in Venezuela reacted with caution and called for prayer. Pastor Carlos Vielma, speaking from Caracas, told Diario Cristiano: “We were surprised in the middle of our sleep in the early hours of this morning by loud explosions that woke us up abruptly. We have no electricity, no WiFi.”

He added, “I think the first steps were taken, some details and characters are still missing.”

The operation took place in the early hours of the morning and involved U.S. military action in Caracas, with aircraft deployed and controlled explosions reported before Maduro and Flores were detained and removed from the country.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” He also said U.S. oil companies would help fix Venezuela’s “broken infrastructure” and “start making money for the country.”

Venezuela declared a state of national emergency and denounced what it called “military aggression.”

From exile in Florida, Aristóteles López, founder of March for Jesus in Venezuela, described the capture of Maduro as divine intervention and urged believers to remain in continuous prayer, according to Diario Cristiano.

The Catholic Church also responded. Addressing crowds following Sunday prayer at the Vatican, Pope Leo said: “The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over any other consideration.” He added that there is a need to guarantee Venezuela’s sovereignty and respect human and civil rights, saying he was following developments with a “soul full of concern.”

The Evangelical Confederation of Colombia called on churches to pray for freedom, peace, and restoration for Venezuela, according to its statement.