“If they are persecuted for my name, I will be a witness to you.”
Some US missionaries are facing criminal charges of money laundering and organized crime in connection to mass evangelistic gospel campaigns hosted in the country last year, reaching nearly one million people. According to CBN News, missionary Britt Hancock, who leads ‘Mountain Gateway’, recently said, “I, along with my son and daughter-in-law, were criminally charged by the Nicaraguan government on charges of money laundering and organized crime.” “Eleven Nicaraguan pastors are also facing the same charges,” he said.
The Nicaraguan government said nine of the pastors were innocent, but claimed they were under the control of three U.S. citizens and two imprisoned Nicaraguan pastors. Despite pleading not guilty, the pastors were imprisoned for nearly two months and reportedly had no contact with their families.
Mountain Gateway said, “We are saddened by this situation. “We have diligently complied with all legal requirements in the United States and Nicaragua applicable to non-profit and faith-based organizations,” he said. “No Mountain Gateway employee has ever profited from funds sent to Nicaragua for ministry purposes.”
“The arrest of three American citizens and 3 Mountain Gateway pastors in Nicaragua is tragic,” Eric Patterson, director of the Religious Liberty Institute (RFI), said in a statement to CBN News. “This is just an example of the Daniel Ortega regime’s tactics of suppressing religious leaders in Nicaragua,” he said.
“There is no doubt that the Lord has commanded us to preach the gospel,” Hancock said. So, God has a purpose for this and is not surprised at our situation. “The fact that the church grows in places where there is persecution can be confirmed in several places in the Bible.” He then asked for prayers for the release of imprisoned pastors and their families, and for the people of Nicaragua to continue to encounter Jesus Christ.
Nicaragua has moved up to 30th in rank in 2024 from 50th in 2023 in the World Watch List (WWL) that measures the Christian persecution level in the world. This is the most rapid increase among Latin America and all 78 WWL countries. The Ortega government led the left-wing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), an armed revolutionary organisation in Nicaragua, and ousted the pro-American Somoza regime in 1979. Since then, he has been in power for a long period, from 1985 to 1990, and from 2007 to the present. (Source: Christian Today, Missionary Newspaper Comprehensive)
But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ( Luke 21:12-13, 31)
God, may Your grace be continuously on Nicaragua so that the spread of the gospel may continue unhindered as persecution of Christians has recently been on the rise. Please help the mission organisation at risk of criminal charges and release the imprisoned pastors as they await Your help with patience and hope in Christ. May You add the numbers of believers in Nicaragua through Your churches that will not compromise to the demand of the government. May they stand firm in their faith in Christ and be victorious until the end.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
