Getting to know Estelí is to connect with a very natural, pleasant, and friendly Nicaragua. This city of 120,000 habitants is situated at 800 meters above sea level and surrounded by mountains, rivers, and farmland. But the people are definitely its most notable resource – a resource which makes it one of the most productive cities in the country.

Getting to know Estelí is also to witness the fragility of our ecosystem and our future as a country. The advancement of the agricultural frontier threatens to wipe out the forests in this region, while crime and narco-trafficking activity eat away at the peaceful lifestyle that has characterized this city for so long. Recently, one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals in the world was captured in a neighborhood of Estelí,

where – according to intelligence reports – he was involved in the trafficking of persons.

The situation is not completely bleak, however. God is doing new things in this city. Recently, Reyna Ivania Chavarria, leader of the program Forming Agents of Transformation, shared some good news, “We have begun a workshop on Biblical Worldview inside the prison of Estelí and we are already on the third lesson.”

Up to this point, more than 120 people – among church pastors and leaders – have participated in the different workshops of Biblical Worldview in this city, “but this is the first group to study this material from inside of jail,” Reyna points out.

For Reyna, the task of teaching the fundamentals of Biblical Worldview in this jail is nothing short of a miracle. “This jail is already well saturated with Catholic, Evangelical, and Jehova’s Witness ministries that come in to preach to the inmates, but after a lot of struggle and “red tape,” a group of 16 men are participating in this process of discipleship,” she explains.

“I prayed for a long time that these trainings would come to my city,” shares Reyna Ivania, “because I have seen the impact that a change in worldview has in people.”

Pictured here, Reyna Ivania holds up an assignment completed by one of the inmate participants, a pair of glasses that represent the “worldview” of a person.

For the staff of the Nehemiah Center, to visit Estelí is also to get to know more and more brothers and sisters in Christ that share their experiences, lessons learned, and desires to work as God’s instruments so that others may know the Truth that changes cultures and experience the freedom that it brings in all areas of life.