Rebels for Jesus in Nicaragua

María was once a supporter of the revolutionary party in Nicaragua. But now that the government has shown its true intent for the church, she finds herself taking a stand.

For more than 20 years, María* supported the Sandinista Party, the political movement of current President Daniel Ortega. “My family and I have supported the Sandinista revolution since 1987 because of all the economic inequality, oppression, repression, and lack of political freedoms we saw. That’s why we helped the guerrillas who fought in the revolution with food and a place to sleep,” María* explains.

The Sandinista Revolution was the process that took place in Nicaragua between 1979 and 1990, when the Sandinista National Liberation Front, a leftist group, put an end to the Somoza government, a family dictatorship that had been in power for more than 40 years.

In 1990, the Sandinista revolution achieved its greatest triumph with the election of Daniel Ortega as the president of the country. For the first time, the Left entered Nicaragua's presidential palace and promised a better future for Nicaraguans, free of the corruption, totalitarianism and inequality that characterized the Somoza dictatorship.

Although the party lost popularity in the following years and was ousted by the opposition in the 1996 and 2001 elections, Ortega was re-elected president in 2006. The news delighted thousands of Sandinistas like María*, who saw the triumph as an opportunity to improve the lives of their people.

“When we won, I was happy for a while, but then, with everything that began to happen in my country and in my life, I felt that something had changed: it was the light of my glorious God, who called me to know Him,” says María.

María met Jesus in 2005 while confronting an emotional void in her life, but it was 15 years after her conversion that she felt the Lord's call to serve Him with her family. In 2020, with the support of her husband, she planted a small church where they began preaching the gospel and serving the community.
During her first year of ministry, the Ortega government invited María and the rest of the country’s pastors to several pastoral gatherings sponsored by the regime. But she discovered her ideals were no longer the same as the government’s.

“For me, it was a big shock to learn that the government wanted to change the Word of God and the evangelistic messages in their favor,” she says. “I didn't like it because it was like the dictatorship that existed before, and I decided to stay away from politics and dedicate myself to the ministry that God has given me.”

Mounting repression

María quickly discovered that distancing herself from politics and ending her attendance at the government meetings had significant repercussions for her ministry, as Ortega’s government began to pressure churches that did not support its ideals.

“I was once approached by members of the government who told me that if I continued to oppose the Sandinista system, they would not give me the legal status of my church, and they would imprison my children and the people who meet in the church,” she explains.

Although no one was imprisoned, the government fulfilled its promise to deny the legal status of her church for several years. According to Law 1115 of April 6, 2022, non-profit organizations like churches must apply for renewal of their legal status every year to the Department for Registration and Control of Non-Profit Organizations—allowing the government to exercise greater control over them. When churches do not have this legal approval, they are vulnerable to intervention, closure or even having their property taken away.

María’s case is not an isolated one. Persecution of the church in Nicaragua has increased in recent years, especially for those who have criticized the regime. For example, in May 2024, the government revoked the legal status of 15 associations that functioned as non-profit organizations. Six of these were religious organizations.

Additionally, from 2022 to 2023, Open Doors identified 242 cases of persecution in the country. Pastors and priests were detained, charged and expelled from the country. In some cases, religious leaders have been charged with crimes such as violent incitement or conspiracy, but many observers believe these charges are politically motivated. There have also been cases of religious leaders being forced into exile to avoid reprisals.

In late 2022, María was invited to participate in legal and financial counseling trainings developed by Open Doors. During the training, María received legal advice on how to obtain certification of her church's legal status.

For her, attending the trainings was a relief because it encouraged her to continue her ministry even in the midst of persecution. “Thanks to [Open Doors], in 2023 I got legal status with the governor’s office and preached the Word of God,” María says. “This year, they denied again the legal status of my church but, approved or not, we continue to preach the Word of God. May the Lord bless this ministry.”

*Names changed for security reasons.

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Rebels for Jesus in Nicaragua

Mounting repression

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