Yet a critical question remains: will the US government take that report and turn it into effective policies to help the persecuted? 

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA explains that USCIRF’s annual report was meant to be “step one” in a process established by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

(Logo courtesy United States Commission on International Religious Freedom)

“That [report] goes to the State Department, and the State Department ultimately makes the determinations of Countries of Particular Concern, Special Watch List, [etc],” Nettleton says. 

However, the US State Department has not issued an International Religious Freedom Report (IRF) for two years.

“It’s like, okay, is this [USCIRF report] all we’re going to get? Is this the end of the process? Or is this as it was designed, ‘step one’ and now we’ll see what the State Department does with that?” Nettleton says. 

The IRF report from the State Department provides practical tools for the US to support religious freedom around the world. (More on that here.) Among other outcomes that respect human rights, this freedom can remove barriers to the gospel spreading. 

“I want to express appreciation for the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the work that they do throughout the year, to identify, to document, to shine a light on violations of religious freedom around the world,” says Nettleton. 

“It helps us here at Voice of the Martyrs, when sort of the government is saying the same things that we’re saying about, in our case, only about Christians being persecuted.”

Nicaragua (Photo courtesy of Hermes Rivera via Unsplash)

For example, the Commission has recommended that the US redesignate Nicaragua as a Country of Particular Concern. Nicaragua is also a country that VOM USA has designated as “Restricted” this year for its intensifying persecution of Christians. 

“It is a country where pastors have been arrested. Pastors have been kicked out of the country. The government is using technology purchased from China to monitor people digitally — monitor where they are, monitor what they’re doing,” says Nettleton. “Most of us don’t know that that’s happening.”

If you’re a US citizen, consider contacting your government representatives and expressing your interest in seeing this State report issued. But no matter where home is for you, you can respond in prayer as you consider the Commission’s annual report findings. Access the report here.

“There are 29 countries, so you could literally pray through that list every month and use this as a sort of government-issued prayer guide on behalf of our persecuted brothers and sisters,” says Nettleton.

Learn more at VOM USA’s website, persecution.com. 

Header photo is a stock image courtesy of Kevin Lanceplaine via Unsplash.

The government denies any COVID-19 outbreaks, but independent doctors see countless people sick and thousands of deaths. The Catholic Church has also reported the deaths of several priests from COVID-19. Most people in Nicaragua know someone who has been sick. The vaccinations process has only recently picked up, as the government hopes to vaccinate 32% of the population by October.

Discipleship conference

Sammy Tippit recently held an online conference to encourage Nicaraguan Christians. “It was just a tremendous blessing. The pastors were really excited. In fact, what they want to do is start discipleship and leadership training, online through Zoom with the pastors in the country.”

But not everyone in Nicaragua has good internet access. That’s where Sammy Tippit Ministries’ new app comes into play. Tippit says, “What we’re doing is we’re going to be putting the whole conference on the app, so that they can take those videos and show to their whole churches for the ones who were not able to access it online. We’re trying to build something that would help them during this time of the pandemic.”

Tippit says he wants to expand this work in Nicaragua. “After the end of the year, we’re hoping to open it up to the rest of Latin America and train Spanish-speaking pastors and leaders in this whole area of discipleship and evangelism.”

The app is now available in Spanish. Search for the Sammy Tippit Discipleship App at Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Ask God to strengthen the Nicaraguan Church.

Header photo courtesy of Kaufdex from Pixabay.

“Under our mandate in the International Religious Freedom Act, or IRFA, we issue a report each year with recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress,” USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin says.

There were few surprises in this year’s report. China came up so often we’re spotlighting it in a future newscast. Nigeria rose as another major threat. Even though the USCIRF recommended Nigeria each year since 2009, the U.S. State Department did not designate Nigeria as a County of Particular Concern (CPC) until last year.

Indiscriminate attacks by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria are causing immense suffering. A violent campaign is being waged against innocent civilians who are being killed, chased, enrolled or enslaved.
(Photo, caption ©EC/ECHO/Anouk Delafortrie via Flickr)

“If Uganda is the pearl of Africa, Nigeria is a diamond in the rough,” USCIRF Commissioner Jim Carr says.

“Nigeria is competing very quickly to be the worst of the worst. They’re in competition with China and Iran and North Korea.”

The report also highlighted 2020 trends leading to religious persecution.

“The most prominent global story of 2020 was a COVID pandemic. Governments took sweeping action to protect individuals and communities, including imposing restrictions that impacted the practice of one’s religion and faith,” USCIRF Vice Chair Anurima Bhargava says.

Manchin states in a press release, “USCIRF will continue to monitor how countries respond to and recover from COVID-19, and whether the loosening of restrictions is fair to people of all faiths and nonbelievers.”

Christians face persecution in most of the 26 countries highlighted by the USCIRF. Find details, recent headlines, and prayer needs from each country below.

World’s worst religious freedom violators

In its annual report, the USCIRF divided its recommendations for 26 nations into two categories: “countries of particular concern” and “special watch list.” While these correspond with State Department designations, we’re grouping the countries by alphabetical order:

• Afghanistan – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Algeria – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Azerbaijan – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Burma (also called Myanmar) – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• China – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Cuba – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Egypt – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Eritrea – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• India – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Indonesia – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Iran – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Iraq – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Kazakhstan – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Malaysia – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Nicaragua – Persecuted Christians | Prayer Needs
• Nigeria – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• North Korea – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Pakistan – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Russia – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Saudi Arabia – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Syria – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Tajikistan – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Turkey – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Turkmenistan – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Uzbekistan – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs
• Vietnam – Persecuted Christians | Latest Updates | Prayer Needs

“Religious Liberty” was commissioned by B’nai B’rith and dedicated in 1876 to “the people of the United States” as an expression of support for the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.  (Wikimedia Commons)

Forecasters predict extensive rainfall over parts of Central America already deluged by back-to-back storms. Helen Williams says World Missionary Press has some good news for partners on the ground.

“This container that you and I have talked about before is leaving our docks next week to head to Honduras. It has literature on it that they’ve been waiting for for months,” Williams says.

“We think this is propitious, [how] the Lord is going to allow the Word to get there, into the hands of people, as they’re in the greatest need of encouragement and hope.”

Printed in Spanish at the WMP headquarters, these Scripture booklets point readers to Jesus.

Hurricane Iota on November 15, 2020.
(Photo, caption courtesy of NOAA via Wikimedia Commons)

“When you’re sitting in a pile, so to speak, you need to get your eyes lifted to eternal values. And that’s what this will do,” Williams says.

“They help people focus on something besides the thing that’s right in front of them, and the Scripture gives hope.”

Prayer works

This year’s Atlantic hurricane season is the busiest on record. Earlier this month, Hurricane Eta left a wide swath of destruction and claimed more than 130 lives. “About the time they’re trying to put roofs back on their houses, this one came in,” Williams says of Hurricane Iota, which made landfall less than two weeks after Eta.

“[It arrived in] the same areas where the other storm was, so the roads are impassable. Now, getting supplies in is going to be very difficult [because] they’ve had no chance to recover.”

Williams says she’s received minimal updates from WMP partners in Honduras.

“Our national coordinator sent me a video of him trying to drive in the rain, and it was just unbelievable. He said he tried to get to a shelter but it was so bad that he had to turn around,” Williams recounts.

Early on, forecasters expected Iota to land in Honduras. A second WMP partner tells Williams they were in the forecast “target zone” and immediately took to prayer.

“He said, ‘The hurricane [was] scheduled to hit areas in which I’m located. We had a prayer vigil and the storm literally moved about 50 miles south of where we are, changing the target trajectory’.”

Knowing the power prayer holds, “pray for the people of Nicaragua and Honduras especially, and all the Central American areas,” Williams requests. “People are working hard to meet needs, but the needs are great.”

With a population of over 7.6 million people, Honduras is the second-largest nation in Central America.
(Photo, caption courtesy of World Missionary Press)

By giving to World Missionary Press, you can help underwrite the printing and shipping costs associated with delivering Scripture booklets to believers overseas.

“World Missionary Press – all we provide is literature, but in these times we often hear, ‘Send us more; now is the time,’” Williams says.

“When the doors to countries open; when tragedy hits and people are going in to meet needs, they want to take the literature with them. We want to be prepared and sensitive to those needs.”

Header image is a cropped, black and white image of Hurricane Iota. This picture contains modified imagery from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite. (Photo, caption credit: Copernicus Sentinel data (2020)/ESA,CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)

TransWorld Radio’s Steve Shantz says authorities are struggling to get people out of harm’s way. “The job is made very complicated because there is no gasoline left to power the boats to evacuate people,” Shantz explains.

Hurricane Iota approaching Nicaragua as a Category 5 on November 16.
(Photo courtesy of the National Hurricane Center)

Responders used most of their immediate resources last week to save people stranded by Hurricane Eta. “All the rain fell on the mountains, washed down into the valleys below, and flooded out entire villages,” Shantz says.

“People were spending the night on the roofs of their homes. A lot of evacuations had to happen, and [these were] mainly done by boat.”

No chance to recover

On Monday, Hurricane Iota reached Category 5 strength before weakening slightly as it approached the Nicaraguan coastline. Iota gained recognition as the strongest late-season hurricane on record, as well as the 30th named storm this year. The Atlantic hurricane season ends November 30, and typically sees a dozen named storms.

Two weeks and 15 miles were all that separated Eta and Iota when they made landfall as Category 4 hurricanes. Shantz says people throughout the region are weary from back-to-back disasters and hungry for hope.

“We need to be praying for people’s spiritual lives at this time, that they would hear the message of Christ on the radio and through other means.”

Support TWR’s work in Central America here. “[Our partners] are trying to speak spiritual hope into people’s lives. These are people who have gone through a difficult time. They’ve seen death [and] job loss from COVID. Now, they’ve seen loss from the environment, from natural disaster,” Shantz says.

“[These are] people who have very little, and now everything they have has been lost.”

Like Christian radio stations in the West, TWR partners in Central America use their platform to encourage the masses during trying times.

“They would raise funds to help people physically, as well as bringing public service messages and information to people [about] where they can go to find shelter,” Shantz says.

Pray relief workers can reach people in dire need of assistance. Pray those who hear the Gospel on TWR broadcasts will turn to Christ for salvation.

Header image is a track map of Hurricane Iota; the points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. (Graphic created by FleurDeOdile/obtained via Wikimedia Commons)

“The COVID issue has really impacted churches and the individuals, and even physical needs, but the believers there have taken those opportunities and found ways to continue to reach,” says Helen Williams, freight shipments coordinator with World Missionary Press. “Their faithfulness and their passion to show the love of Christ and include the Word and to get it to the people has been so encouraging.”

World Missionary Press has seen an increased demand for Scripture pamphlet distribution, especially in Central America. Current orders for this literature total 3.7 million across the seven countries in Central America that WMP works in, according to their website.

“There’s just a grabbing for it, if you will. Here’s something to believe in, here’s something that will answer the questions,” Williams says. “The booklets are just filling a need right now because they can be given and read individually.”

Photo courtesy of World Missionary Press

Many distributors work with WMP around the world, sometimes risking their lives to provide these booklets to those seeking God. “These people are just staying with the work and staying within the confines of what they can do. But God is showing them ways to continue to minister and to show the love of Christ and His word,” she says. “We have people on the ground that have been there doing this for years.”

COVID-19 has presented some problems with getting shipments of non-humanitarian items into most countries, but that has not stopped the Gospel from moving forward.

“Most of these – in fact, all – of these people have their own ministries. So they have warehousing and they have some distribution points in other cities,” Williams explains. “They are able to and willing and able to secure the material so that….the literature is safe and ready to go.”

Through WMP’s efforts, hope and salvation are getting to those who need it most. A major distributor in Honduras says, “People are looking for answers. No matter if we’re out on the streets giving out food through our feeding programs or counseling prisoners. Bible literature is invaluable.”

WMP is in need of prayer and donations to further their evangelizing efforts. “The Lord just continues to work and show how He is sovereign and His word is available,” Williams says. “If people are willing to look, He’s got all kinds of answers for us.”

Header image courtesy of World Missionary Press

Nicaragua Today

However, this past year led to something starkly different; an almost vengeful backlash from the current administration. Cynthia Williams, the director of international ministries with Crossroads Prison Ministries, recently visited Nicaragua and experienced the unrest first-hand.

“There was a current of underlying tension there among our people, that was palpable,” Williams says.

“Many people have fled the country. I think 80,000 people have fled the country because of the situation because there seems to be no break in it. It’s been made very clear that the government is going to hold on at all costs. There isn’t a lot of hope for change at this time.”

(Photo by Deleece Cook on Unsplash)

Per Williams, the tension is caused on two levels. For one, the economy in Nicaragua has continued on a downward spiral, impacting daily life for most, if not almost all citizens. People now struggle to obtain jobs and purchase increasingly expensive necessity goods.

“Anyone speaking out against that is facing potential danger,” Williams says.

The second level feeding into this tension is the aftermath of last year’s protests. Williams says government forces and police forces came down hard on the protestors.

“Today, they’re probably between 300 to 500 people that have been killed as a result, 600 protesters are languishing in prisons, and people live in a state of fear,” Williams says.

Impact on Ministry

The Crossroads Prison Ministries team in Nicaragua is also feeling repercussions, scarcity of resources, and fear. Still, they are choosing to trust in God even as fear about the future tangibly hangs in the air.

In Nicaragua, Williams says as each evening draws near, it becomes quiet outside. People fearfully lock themselves in at night. This is the environment Crossroads Nicaragua is sharing the sweet hope of Jesus.

“For Crossroads Nicaragua being a prison ministry, the greatest impact to us has been the closing of prison doors to any Christian work going in. And so, while we had access bi-monthly to go in and do ministry among the prisoners, especially in the city of Estelí, where our offices [are] located, then they change that to once a month, and then they’ve completely, as of January, revoked all permits to go in,” Williams says.

(Photo courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries)

Currently, no ministries are allowed in any of the prisons in Nicaragua. Williams says the move is rooted in the government’s decision to control every aspect of life in the country.

“We’ve had to get a little creative and take a look at how we can still minister to those in prison,” Williams says.

For now, Williams says the lessons are taken to the prison doors and then delivered to the students by prison officials. Once the lessons are completed, they are brought back to the team for the mentors to take, review, and write letters of encouragement to the students.

Sharing Hope Despite Fear

Williams says Crossroads Nicaragua’s hope is for the light of Christ to still penetrate the dark places of the prison, even as prisoners suffer from the repercussions of Nicaragua’s economic and political situation.

“They [the team members] are living in tenuous times, but I was very, very impacted by their courage, by the sense of determination to continue with ministry, to not be bowed under the weight of the environment that they live in, but to still continue to be faithful to the Lord,” Williams says.

“There was still joy. But there was a lot of talk of what the situation means to them and their families.”

Would You Pray?

The team in Nicaragua has suffered from a third element, though; the loss of their co-director, Emerson Wilson, last December. Wilson passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. His wife, Martina Wilson, has remained in the ministry. She continues to “direct the program [and] lead the team of mentors.” These are the people who enter the prisons and will hopefully have the opportunity to lead within those walls in the future.

Pray for God’s safety and protection on the Crossroads Nicaragua team and their families. Ask God to encourage those who remain in Nicaragua, and to fill them with hope. Also, pray for prison doors to once again be opened for ministry and that somehow Crossroads Nicaragua will enter those walls.

“Along with some other countries, the administration is ending the temporary status for Nicaraguans,” Bethany Christian Services’ Bruce Mossburg says.

Protests and Violence in Nicaragua

In Nicaragua, “there are some uprisings, there’s some conflict that may be leading to civil war. The Trump Administration has sanctioned the Nicaraguan government for human rights abuses.”

Tensions have been building in Nicaragua for years due to President Daniel Ortega’s manipulation to continue holding power.

But when the government announced cuts to the social security benefits, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Protests and rioting started breaking out in Nicaragua in April 2018

While students and citizens with pensions started peaceful protests, security forces violently attacked them. Since April, at least 322 Nicaraguans have been killed.

Now, The Week reported, paramilitaries are detaining citizens every day. Citizens have been tortured after being accused of terrorism, organized crime, possession of weapons, and other crimes.

(Photo by Randy Colas on Unsplash)

The violence has heightened so dramatically that the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said Nicaragua is traveling down the same path as Syria.

Like Syria, Nicaragua’s citizens have already started fleeing their nation and requesting asylum in other countries.

Fleeing to Costa Rica

Costa Rica has seen a massive influx of asylum requests from Nicaraguans. The Washington Post reports that 24,400 Nicaraguans are intending to apply for asylum in Costa Rica this year. Last year, from January to August, only 58 Nicaraguans applied for asylum in Costa Rica.

Many who intend to apply for asylum are already living in Costa Rica. However, last month, NPR reported that 200 Nicaraguans are seeking asylum every day in Costa Rica and tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have already fled to Costa Rica over the past few months.

“There’s been over the years, a lot of Nicaraguans that have fled to Costa Rica, but this influx is, of course, not typical,” Mossburg says. “I think it’s overwhelming Costa Rica’s infrastructure as well. It’s difficult for them.”

Splitting Families

Mossburg says as the U.S. is ending temporary status for Nicaraguans, it doesn’t seem there will be any change or decrease in those fleeing to Costa Rica. Instead, it looks like the small nation will continue receiving waves of refugees.

CNN reports that on January 5, about 5,300 Nicaraguans living in the U.S. will lose their protected status.

They’ll either be forced to return home or become refugees.

“A lot of them are targeted. A lot of them are afraid to go back because [of the] instability,” Mossburg says. “So, a lot of them feel like it would be risking their lives to go back.”

Further, many of these Nicaraguans have lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years. They’ve built up their lives. They have jobs, houses, and started families.

“Many of them have since had children. Actually, with all the TPS [Temporary Protected Status] grantees, there are about 250,000 children that have, in this country, that have at least one parent that’s somebody that has TPS… People will have to make decisions about what to do with their families, and I think folks will have to leave families behind potentially.”

Mossburg says Bethany believes welcoming refugees is biblical and a large part of their ministry is preserving families.

“We really believe in the integrity of the family and protecting families, but that’s our focus. I think in this instance, this will be tearing families apart.”

TPS for Nicaraguans has been extended by every president since 1999 when Hurricane Mitch devastated the nation.

Bethany asks for your prayer now for humanitarian immigration reform. Pray for the families that could be split. Pray for wisdom of the U.S., Nicaraguan, and Costa Rican governments.

Take a Trip, Share Christ

During a recent e3 Partners trip to Nicaragua, a volunteer met a 63-year-old man named Miguel. Miguel, who lives alone, only has half of his left leg and his right leg is constantly swollen. To complicate life further, Miguel uses a barely functioning wheelchair he made himself. With that said, both legs were in constant pain and Miguel spent most days alone and feeling like there was nothing to have hope in.

(Photo Courtesy of Guillaume Baviere via Flickr) https://flic.kr/p/TwBZLj

That was until Miguel met a man named George. George was a volunteer with e3 on the church planting trip in Nicaragua. One afternoon during the trip, George knocked on Miguel’s door with the intent to share his testimony and the hope of Christ. But while Miguel was intrigued by what George had to say, he was still skeptical.

“George asked Miguel, ‘Is there anything that I can be praying for you about?’ And Miguel explained to him the pain that he had in his legs and how it was just this constant, almost unbearable pain, and asked if he could be praying for that,” e3’s Jeff Johnston shares.

“[George] did right then and there. So, George prayed to God, asking for God to relieve some of the pain in Miguel’s legs. And Miguel told him that immediately after that, immediately after he ended that prayer, he could feel some of that pain go away.”

Hope Found in Nicaragua

George continued to visit Miguel every day after the answered prayer. Upon his first visit, Miguel was moving around his home nearly pain-free. During the visit, the two men dug into the scriptures and George shared more stories about God.

“And so it was on that third day, that George came back, that Miguel accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He accepted Jesus into his life. He said that he finally had hope again and he was just filled with joy,” Jeff explains.

“He told George that he was grateful for all that he was teaching him, but he also told him he was sad that [George] was leaving because he was still so hungry to learn more about God, about Jesus, about the Bible. And he wanted someone to be able to teach him.”

Living Out Acts 2:42

(Photo courtesy of e3 Partners)

What Miguel soon learned, though, was that e3 wouldn’t leave Nicaragua without securing someone who’d help disciple Miguel. In fact, at his neighbor’s house, the e3 team was teaching a woman named Adrianna how to share her testimony, the Gospel, and how to lead a Bible study.

When the last day of the trip came, George brought Adrianna along with him to Miguel’s house. There, the two were introduced and Adrianna agreed to lead a Bible study with Miguel. In fact, she promised to come over every day to teach him more about God’s Word.

“It really drove home what we see in Acts 2:42 where it says, ‘they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer,’” Johnston says.

Be Prayerful, Be Active

And this story gets even better. That’s because you can be a George in somebody’s life, too. Start by praying for people who have yet to encounter the Gospel and Christ’s transformative love.

Try setting a daily alarm on your phone to pray, asking God to send more people into the harvest, for Him to continue working in the hearts and lives of people who’ve been reached with the Gospel, and for hearts to be softened to God’s love. Pray also for the continued perseverance for the people who are dedicating their lives to reaching others with the hope of Christ.

Another way to get involved is by joining an e3 Partners trip and sharing the Gospel somewhere you’ve never been.

Find an e3 Partners trip here!

*Names have been changed for security reasons.

Last week, we shared how the protests in Nicaragua have negatively impacted some Compassion operations. However, despite the challenges, Compassion workers continue to reach out to the children and their families to make sure they are provided for.

Compassion International works alongside the local churches, called Implementing Church Partners (ICPs), to run Child Development Centers. Here, children enrolled in their program receive holistic care.

(Photo courtesy of Compassion International)

Virna Segovia of Compassion International says in the area near the protests, the programs usually look a little like this:

“Depending on the number of children that an ICP has, children attend three times over a week, or daily to the church. And they will receive four hours of essential content. That includes spiritual teachings, help in their studies, it includes things like medical checkups or social activities like birthday celebrations, trips to the zoo or to different places.

“Children learn how to pray, how to do handcraft, how to read the Bible, study the Bible, learn Bibles verses. They learn how to relate with each other.”

And it’s the impact this simple program has that inspires Segovia and the other workers to keep doing what they’re doing.

“When you see a child that is new to the project and you ask them, what do you dream about? What is your dream for the future? And you look into their eyes and you see there’s nothing—there’s no dreams.

“After a few months at the project, after a year in the project, you see those children laughing, smiling, you see they have gained weight. You see their [hair] is looking really nicely combed. And you ask them again, what’s your dream for the future? And they have dreams.”

Segovia says these child development centers are a safe haven for children and that the program gives hope because it breaks the cycle of poverty. She explains that children even begin to aspire to have a career.

(Photo courtesy of Compassion International)

“For me that is what is amazing about this program. And that’s what keeps us moving. That is what keeps teachers and pastors and the people at the projects the hope and the energy to do lots of work, because there is a lot of work at Compassion projects on a daily basis. There is a lot of work at the office.

“But when you see those smiles—when you see that boy that used to be in the program is now working at Compassion as an assistant to the accountant— that for us, it’s a blessing. It’s a dream come true.”

Segovia says we can be praying that God will continue to be in control over the civil unrest taking place in Nicaragua.  Pray for the nearly 60,000 children under Compassion’s care who are depending on these projects. Ask God to give them hope for the future, and to touch their hearts so they might come to know Him as their Savior.

Segovia says thank you to all the people who are praying.

If you’re interested in sponsoring a child, click here.