NICARAGUA: Pastor & Seven Other Christians Disappear After Arrest

Nicaraguans under the Marxist regime of President Daniel Ortega live with many restrictions, including restrictions on Christian activities. Photo Source: Open Doors

In a series of raids on 17 July 2025, Nicaraguan national police took Pastor Rudy Palacios Vargas and seven other Christians into custody without warning or warrants. The families of those detained have been unable to locate their loved ones. One family member reported that they were being charged with treason and “undermining national integrity.” Vargas had been forced into exile in 2018 after he and his congregation brought food and medicine and offered prayer to students protesting the authoritarian Marxist regime of President Daniel Ortega. Vargas returned to Nicaragua in 2020 to resume the pastorate and has been routinely monitored and harassed by the police and other authorities. Since 2022, the Nicaraguan government has imposed increasingly harsh restrictions, seeking to intimidate Christian leaders into joining a government-controlled church association.

• Pray for Vargas and the other Christians to remain strong in the Lord and be returned to their families unharmed. Pray for their families to find strength in the Lord as well as they go through this trial.

• Joining a government-controlled church association in these types of countries always mean compromise. Pray for Believers in Nicaragua who are experiencing increased pressure from the government to join this scheme.