The gospel takes root in Nicaragua

If you had to point out Nicaragua on a map, could you do it? For many people, this small Central American country isn’t well known. Its neighbors often get more attention. Its capital, Managua, doesn’t make headlines like other cities in Latin America. Nicaragua isn’t often in the global spotlight. But our Lord of the harvest hasn’t forgotten about this little nation. Instead, he’s putting it on the map in a way that truly matters.

In 2024, we saw a significant jump in the number of students from Nicaragua who began studying with Academia Cristo, a church planting training program facilitated by the WELS One Latin America Team. Eleven new students completed their first course last year. Multiple students are interested in recognizing doctrinal agreement with the teachings of the Lutheran church. I’m currently teaching a live course on the Great Commission, and several Nicaraguans are participating.

However, the gospel is not only being learned in Nicaragua—it’s also being shared. I recently had the opportunity to visit and see this firsthand. I watched an advanced student, who is called to serve as a church planter, preach a sermon to his group. His law and gospel message was shaped by a text study he had participated in earlier that week with an Academia Cristo professor. I also saw him lead the liturgy—assuring people that their sins were forgiven, leading them in the confession of our Christian faith, and pronouncing the closing blessing upon them. I stood in the home of a student as she showed me the space where she gathers children from her neighborhood each week to teach them about Jesus. She proudly shared how she painted the space so it would have a more welcoming environment, and she had printouts of Bible verses on the walls. I listened to another student talk about her desire to plant a group with her husband so their friends and family would have a place to hear the truths of God’s Word.

What puts Nicaragua on the map? It’s called the “land of lakes and volcanoes.” It has coasts on both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. It’s famous for its coffee, rum, and cigars. Yet despite these things, it often goes unnoticed. But not by our Lord. Perhaps Nicaragua will be best known as a place where the gospel is taking root—where more and more people are being connected to Christ. And that’s something truly worth putting on the map.

Written by Matt Behmer, world missionary on the One Latin America Team.