‘Nicaragua Is in God’s Heart’

The small town of Masaya, Nicaragua, was covered with advertisements for the Festival de la Familia with David Ruíz ahead of the event in June. Though she had seen the posters and her mother had invited her personally, Keyla Balitán had no intention of attending.

Keyla was part of a Christian church during her teenage years, but as she entered adulthood, life’s distractions slowly drew her away from God.

The weekend of the outreach, the 29-year-old and her husband planned to enjoy the nice Sunday weather and go for a motorcycle ride.

But God had other plans. 

Their motorcycle broke down as they were passing in front of Campo Aserrillo—the Festival venue—shortly before the event began.

Disheartened, the couple had to return home. There, her mother asked Keyla one last time to come to the event with her. This time she agreed. 

“We arrived just as the message was being delivered,” Keyla shared, reflecting on how God orchestrated every detail so that she could hear the news that changed everything for her.

David Ruíz, a Spanish-speaking evangelist with BGEA, was preaching from the book of 2 Kings. He recounted the moment when the prophet Isaiah announced to the very ill King Hezekiah, “Set your house in order, for you shall die” (2 Kings 20:1, ESV).

“There are lots of things we have to set in order before we die,” Ruíz said from the stage. “But the most important thing is our relationship with God, and you can only do that if you come through His Son, Jesus Christ, who died and was resurrected to reconcile you with God.” 

“Reconcile with God.” That’s exactly what Keyla longed for. At the invitation of Ruíz, she walked toward the stage, eager to follow Jesus Christ from that day on.

“After almost seven or eight years of being away, I felt the desire to return to God’s path,” she said with a smile. “I wanted to return to my Father’s house.”

Manuel Martínez serves as lead pastor at the Hermanos en Cristo Church where Keyla’s mother attends, and he’s eager for the congregation to help disciple Keyla in her faith.

Pastors from Masaya and the surrounding areas tirelessly prepared for this Festival, praying that many like Keyla would have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

“It was glorious to see God moving,” said Pastor Lester Trejos of Restauración y Sanación Hosanna Church. He and his church members invited others to the event, sharing the Gospel on the streets and visiting people in their homes to share God’s love.

And they got to see the fruit of their efforts as some of those they invited—along with thousands of others—decided to turn from their sins and follow Jesus. After the event, attendees shared testimonies of giving their discouragements to God and having hope for the future, as well as experiencing restoration within their families. 

Pastor Trejos said he feels strengthened and ready to press on in his ministry. After this outreach and a similar one that took place in Matagalpa in 2023, the Nicaraguan church is encouraged. Many believers have a renewed passion to continue proclaiming the Good News, knowing that God is working in people’s hearts.

“It was wonderful to see that Nicaragua is in God’s heart,” he said.