Nicaragua: A Righteous Revolution of the Kingdom of God

The apostolic revolution is restoring the grace of the apostle to the Body of Christ so that the five-fold ascension gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers can labor together to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11).

The Apostolic Movement is challenging the traditional paradigm of a one-man-only structure of ministry with a mandate to restore the priesthood of every believer (1 Peter 2:9) so multiplied millions can cast out devils, speak in new tongues, heal the sick, and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Republic of Nicaragua is experiencing the impacts of this movement as believers begin to enter into local apostolic churches that are springing up across the region. Apostle Arturo Sanchez, an American-born Latino, has been planting apostolic churches across Central America for the past two years.

“The youth in Nicaragua are embracing the apostolic revolution,” reported Sanchez. “Young people do not want to see church the way it has been in the past. They feel it is time for a revolution and they know what revolution is.”

To be sure, the nation is intimately familiar with revolution in the natural realm. After more than 40 years of dictatorship, the Sandinista Marxist revolution in 1978 led to 11 years of bloody civil war waged by Contra and Sandinista warriors. Free elections in 1990, 1996, and again in 2001 saw the Sandinistas defeated. The country slowly rebuilt its economy during the 1990s, but was hard hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, killing more than 9,000 people and leaving another 2 million homeless. Nicaragua remains the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Seventy percent of Nicaraguans are jobless and nearly half the population lives on less than one dollar a day. The communist revolution led to high mortality rates among men who fought in the civil war and today’s youth is a fatherless generation.

Nicaragua is a nation of youth, with 75 percent of its population under age 27 and 45 percent under age 14. Only 3 percent of the population is over 65 years old. “Twenty-four years after the communist revolution we see an even dimmer picture than we had in 1979,” said Sanchez, who was once a communist revolutionary before his conversion to Christ. “There is a great challenge for the Church in Nicaragua. In this apostolic revolution, local churches will help meet the spiritual, physical, material, and emotional needs of the people.”

The Apostolic Movement is making dramatic headway in Nicaragua as this nation of youth grabs hold of what says the Spirit of God. “We are building schools to train young people in the Word of God and teach them new values and principles,” said Sanchez, who also runs an orphanage just outside the capital city. “We are reaching out to build a new generation because Jesus said He will not pour new wine into old wineskins.” The Global Cause Network, an international network of believers, ministries and churches that have united together to build a platform for the apostolic voice, has committed to building an Apostolic and Prophetic Training Center in Nicaragua to equip young believers. Once equipped, the youth will be sent to plant apostolic churches throughout Central American countries. “God is accelerating the equipping of the saints so He can position them to build apostolic prototype churches in Nicaragua,” said Sanchez. “The Lord is giving us the tools we need to raise up a new generation of warriors and revolutionaries that are going to be radical enough to spread the Gospel across Latin America.”

Sanchez said Nicaraguan church leaders are beginning to open their hearts to the apostolic reformation and are beginning to come into their proper identities as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers – and apostolic believers. Leaders are embarking on the transition into the apostolic as they exchange religious traditions for spiritual liberty. Pastor Henry Martinez is moving into the apostolic and is excited about what God wants to do in his congregation. “Over the years our churches have walked in tradition. Now I see that there is an order ordained by the Lord that will allow us to walk in the things of God more effectively by restoring all five ministry gifts back into the church,” he said. “I am now getting the house in order and doing things the way God wants to do them.”

One measure of a movement’s impact is the resistance it encounters and this apostolic reformation is getting plenty of opposition from religious churches in Nicaragua, according to Sanchez. The restoration of apostles and prophets is also being threatened by false spiritual gifts. “Religion is an opposing force of the apostolic,” said Sanchez. “We’re not talking about Catholicism, but we’re talking about the traditional Pharisaical elements of all religion. Religious groups have actually had meetings and seminars opposing the apostolic.”

False prophets are also rising up to discredit the apostolic reformation, said Sanchez, but religion and false prophets are nothing new and neither will prevail in Nicaragua because the people have a revolutionary spirit that is not afraid to fight for a righteous cause. “I believe there is a remnant that is willing to sacrifice and go against the tide of religion and the currents that are considered to be the majority in the nation,” said Sanchez. “There are believers here that will take a stand and be a part of this revolution that is saturating and permeating the entire nation of Nicaragua.” Ida Lopez from Managua is part of that remnant. “Since I gave my life to Jesus I have felt like I did not fit in anywhere,” she said. “Now, with this spiritual revolution I have received and I have come to know that the Holy Spirit and my Lord Jesus Christ is leading our way because He wants a better Church.”

In order to prosper in Central America, Nicaragua needs a strong team of apostolic leaders. Sanchez is traveling around Central America to spread the revelation about the revolution to other ministry leaders who also want to see a “better church.” Alfonso Pena, a pastor from El Salvador, recently caught the apostolic vision. “Our spirit has been renewed by this apostolic revolution. We’ve experienced a revival,” he said. “We need this word in Central America. The people are tired of the same old thing. This apostolic revolution is going to help us.” Sanchez has a strong belief that the apostolic revolution can do what the communist revolution could never do – and thousands of others, like Martinez, Lopez and Pena, are also beginning to see the light.

The apostolic message is well received, he said, because it calls for the participation of all believers instead of a system that focuses on a pastor as the only one active in ministry work. “The Nicaraguan people know from experience when a revolution has a wrong motive and a wrong purpose. They know the destruction that man’s revolution brings to a people and a nation,” said Sanchez. “Believers here have come to realize through the apostolic that a revolution in the spirit is the only thing that is literally going to turn our nation upside down.”

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