By BGAV Staff 

On February 24, 2025, the Nicaraguan government announced that Food for the Hungry (FH) had to cease all operations in the country. FH has partnered with BGAV in ministry since 2021.

During a recent Zoom call to discuss the situation, FH’s Juan Pablo Belmonte made a positive observation: “The ultimate goal of our work is not necessarily to complete every project that is on the community’s improvement list; it’s to see the community’s worldview transformed by experiencing God’s hope. That is what gives them courage and resilience in the face of new challenges, and it makes further development sustainable.”

For the past three years, 14 churches have embarked on long-term, church-to-community partnerships through FH, which paired individual BGAV churches with respective communities in the Nicaraguan regions of Somotillo, Chinandega, or Quilali. In this “focus:poverty” partnership, churches have been able to visit their partners, develop relationships, work on projects together, and sponsor children in those communities. The encouragement has been mutual, as all involved have seen the transformation taking place. Experiencing such progress made the government’s recent announcement particularly disheartening for everyone who partners in these efforts.  

Since 2018, the Nicaraguan government has shut down thousands of non-profit organizations. FH started working with communities in Nicaragua after the Managua Earthquake of 1972, promoting indigenous-led, sustainable development for more than 50 years. FH was reputed to be safe, because of their exemplary cooperation with local government as well as their transparent and reliable accounting. But their worries started to grow when Save the Children was expelled from the country in January. And then in early February, Nicaragua withdrew from the United Nations Food and Security Organization.

“We are shocked by the news, and we’re heartbroken for the individuals who have been working so hard to help their communities graduate from extreme poverty,” commented Craig Waddell, Partnership Coordinator for BGAV’s Impact Missions team. “We are also concerned for the staff of Food for the Hungry. These indigenous Nicaraguan development workers, agricultural specialists, social workers, and micro-economic coaches consistently have gone beyond the call of duty to walk alongside the people they serve. Rooted in their faith in Christ, they have been a strengthening pastoral presence in these villages and communities. Their spirit of servanthood has been an inspiration to all the BGAV teams that have traveled to Nicaragua in this partnership, and many of them have become friends with our churches’ volunteers. We pray that they will find new jobs and ways to support their families.”

“We know that God was at work in Nicaragua long before Food for the Hungry or the BGAV were there, and that God will continue that work in the future,” Waddell continued. “We are glad for the relationships we experienced and that we could be their ‘backup singers’ for a season. Juan Pablo’s statement during that Zoom meeting reminded us of how faith works: we don’t necessarily get all the things on our wish list, but we do learn that our hope in God is not in vain and that God provides resources for us to respond creatively to future challenges. None of the work done through this partnership has been in vain, and much of it has planted seeds for the future. The fact that the BGAV must cease working with Food for the Hungry in Nicaragua is not going to keep God from continuing the good work that these communities are doing. Believing that this is how faith works, we can hope and pray with confidence for the partners in Nicaragua which we have come to know and love.”

The Impact Missions staff and FH personnel are working with BGAV partner churches to facilitate the closure of the church-to-community partnerships in Nicaragua. BGAV is grateful to FH for the work of their staff, both in the U.S. and in Nicaragua. In spite of their own shock and disappointment, they have been diligent in helping work through the implications of what has happened. There have been numerous Zoom meetings and phone calls to answer questions and map the way forward.  

“We have seen much alignment with their emphasis on Christ-centered, relational, result-oriented development, which is sustainable, indigenous-lead, and long-term,” Waddell reflected, “so we are exploring ways to engage in a similar church-to-community partnership elsewhere.”  

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