Denise writes – For the last 3 months since April 18, Big Juan and my heart have been aching for Nicaragua our homeland. The government has been shamelessly killing its citizens any who dare think different than them, so far there are over 300 deaths, at this point it is so hard to keep track some say 295, others 369 and other 425, the thing is , that it is one too many. My praise within all that is that my 77-year-old widow mother was able to travel out of Nicaragua and spend some time with my brother and is now with us until mid-August. I am praying that she stays put in Miami with my brother and tries to apply for her US residency, but I understand she misses home and at her age and with her illnesses she thinks she’s a burden even though she is not of course. The other thing that pulls at our heart is that Juan’s mom and siblings and cousins and basically all of his family still live in Nicaragua, they are the ones that have heard the gun shots, the ones that have had to walk from one town to another because of the road blocks, they are the ones that are struggling to buy the essentials, they are the ones worried daily about their child’s wellbeing at school.

(Juan and Denise serve in partnership with the Council of Rural Indigenous Evangelicals of Mexico (Consejo Indígena Campesino Evangélico de México, CICEM) in Chiapas, Mexico. They both work in training, prevention and education as they learn the community needs and look for ways to emotionally and economically empower leaders in their communities.)

 Ruthie Stevenson, IM’s MPT (Missionary Partnership Team) Coordinator writes – We have an international MPT based in Nicaragua serving Juan and Denise Aragon.  I wrote to the MPT recently assuring them of our prayers for them and for Nicaragua. Here is a response I received from the MPT Convener:

We are physically fine, spiritually strong, but our hearts ache for all the blood that has been shed in our country and all the injustice. Please continue praying for all the victims, for justice, peace … and for the Church that must raise a prophetic voice in the middle of this crisis.