650,000 At Evangelism Rallies In Nicaragua; ‘Tens of Thousands Accept Christ’ (Worthy News In-Depth)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MANAGUA (Worthy News) – Tens of thousands of people “have accepted Jesus Christ” as their Lord and Savior, and thousands were miraculously healed in Nicaragua, according to two U.S.-based mission groups involved in evangelism in Central America’s largest nation.
Missionary Britt Hancock of “Mountain Gateway” said he followed “God’s call” to help lead these events with Evangelist Nathan Morris of Shake the Nations Ministries.
In comments monitored by Worthy News on Sunday, Hancock suggested that after recently “moving in college campuses, churches, and cities” in the United States, God had plans for “evangelizing an entire country” thousands of miles away.
About 650,000 people attended the Gospel “outreaches” in Nicaragua this year, the American missionary said, with one more campaign to go and more than a dozen planned for next year.
“In Jesus’ Name, by the end of next year, we will have evangelized an entire country,” Hancock pledged. “The country’s got six million people in it; it’s about the size of the state of Alabama in geographic size.”
He told U.S. Christian broadcaster CBN, “We’re just so grateful to Jesus and what He’s doing, and that He’s allowing us to have a part.”
‘MANY MIRACLES’
Hancock added that tens of thousands accepted Jesus Christ and thousands were healed. “We’ve had people baptized in the Holy Spirit spontaneously. We’ve had people come out of wheelchairs,” Hancock recalled. “You name it, every class of miracle – lame walking, deaf ears opened, blinded eyes opened.”
While Worthy News couldn’t independently verify all reported miracles, footage confirmed huge crowds attending the Christian rallies.
Also, miracles are nothing new for Hancock, who claims he was miraculously cured at age 19 after doctors told him he would become “incurably blind with macular dystrophy.” He has now seen mountain ranges on four continents, including Nicaragua, where his wife, Audrey, said she helped her husband “minister” to the crowds eager to turn to Christ.
“It’s amazing; it is overwhelming,” she added. “And so when you stand up on the stage, and you see all of these people coming and coming and coming, even on the way there as you’re driving, there’s lines of buses, just bus after bus.”
She said she sometimes tells her husband: “Wow, I’m so glad that we said yes to this.”
Even the government of authoritarian President Daniel Ortega, banned by U.S. President Joe Biden from entering the United States, has supported the evangelism meetings, Hancock confirmed.
NATIONAL PLAZA
“We’ve had so many miracles, the government has decided to give us the national plaza, ‘Plaza de la Fe’ it’s called, which will hold about 300,000 people,” Hancock, the missionary, said. “If the trend continues, it’s just going to fill up with people.”
He described it as “a stirring of that whole society” and advised: “Just say ‘yes’ to Jesus, no matter what it is.”
The evangelism rallies come while Nicaragua is striving to overcome the after-effects of dictatorship, civil war, and natural calamities, which left it one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.
However, “There is an alarming trend in missions to focus only on addressing social problems like feeding and clothing the poor, instead of preaching the Gospel and planting churches,” Hancock’s Mountain Gateway group said in a statement seen by Worthy News.
“Only 25 percent of mission organizations preach the Gospel and plant churches, while the rest are merely involved in addressing social problems like feeding and clothing the poor. So the lost may have their temporary physical needs met, but they still face eternal separation from Jesus” also known as Yeshua in Hebrew.
“Everyone should get an opportunity to meet Jesus before they die. Empowered by prayer, fasting, and worship, we go to the difficult places and proclaim the good news to the poor,” said the group, adding that it planted 85 churches in Nicaragua and elsewhere.
COFFEE FARM
Mountain Gateway stressed it has been “planting churches” 85 and counting “in multiple regions of Nicaragua” and elsewhere “as well as “discipling local pastors, serving through community projects, and ministering through a coffee farm business.”
While spreading the Gospel is still the main focus, “Mountain Gateway was given” a coffee farm in Jinotega in north-central Nicaragua, that the Hancock’s named Finca Esperanza de Gloria (Hope of Glory Farm).
“They walked the borders of the farm, anointed it with oil, and dedicated it to Jesus. The harvests since then have been abundant and beyond expectation in quality and quantity! The farm exists to see God transform Nicaragua through evangelism, discipleship, and economic development in local communities,” Mountain Gateway said.
The group was involved in other social programs in Nicaragua and nearby countries, such as overseeing “800 addicts in rehabilitation programs, more than 1000 rescued children” and over “3000 families fed after disasters,” according to its website.
For Evangelist Nathan Morris of Shake the Nations Ministries, which also has offices in Britain, being in Nicaragua is part of a broader passion he shares with his wife Rachel and his team. “To date, we have seen countless decisions for Christ, with many more reached through worldwide media. The ministry is also involved in humanitarian outreaches that serve the poor and needy with the love of Jesus Christ.”
And with more Gospel gatherings planned, he and Hancock make clear they hope that all 6 million souls of Nicaragua will be saved.
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