More than fifty boys and girls who lived as refugees in an orphanage in Veracruz, a region of the municipality of Nindirí, in Masaya, live the uncertainty of the future that awaits the place they live in, the one that everyone knows as Barnabas House, after that on Friday, May 19, the Police took over the center’s facilities and that the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) informed the administrators that their assets were confiscated.
Once the Ministry of the Interior (Migob) annihilated the legal status of the Asociación Misión Cristiana Verbo, in charge of the Casa Bernabé project, by annulling their legal status, the facilities were occupied by police and armed civilians, which transmitted anxiety to the staff who worked in the organization.
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A citizen, who identifies herself as a former member of said association, said that since Thursday they came to take the children from the orphanage. Since 2020, the government authorities, through the Ministry of the Family, had notified them of the closure, because it allegedly did not meet “the conditions for the care of children and adolescents.”
«On Thursday they came to take the children out, they already took them away; the one that had a family member to withdraw it, and the one that did not, took it to other institutions (possibly the Ministry of the Family), and already on Friday, they closed completely. Verbo no longer exists, they took everything from them at the national level, not only here in Veracruz, it was an open-eyed robbery,” said the citizen.
for 25 years
The Misión Cristiana Verbo Association has been working for more than 25 years in Nicaragua, in the community of Veracruz, and in the municipality of Puerto Cabezas, located on the North Caribbean Coast, considered one of the poorest and most isolated areas of the country. It is known that both offices and homes have already been stripped from their owners, dealing a heavy blow to the evangelical community.
“The whole place was surrounded, supposedly they took out everything that was there; computers, beds, everything, because now it belongs to the government,” added the citizen of Veracruz.
unemployed teachers
Another resident, who feels affected by this situation, having belonged to Casa Bernabé for many years and acknowledging the unconditional support she received for decades from this Christian project, assured that the teachers who worked at Colegio Cristiano Verbo, also in charge of this association, were reportedly suspended by government authorities.
“The teachers were fired. This Monday they come to the conclusion that if they accept the government regulations, they will be able to stay working, but if not, they will be unemployed. On Friday (the teachers) handed over everything, what’s more, in the afternoon (of that day) they came to take out their belongings because the government took possession,” he explained.
The citizen affirmed that by annihilating with “one stroke” this Christian association in Nicaragua, the Daniel Ortega regime disappears the legality of the Verbo Mission that helped the population through education and the orphanage. Likewise, she considers that the churches and discipleship, directed by this evangelical congregation, could disappear due to the insecurity that exists in the country.
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«The ministry was financed by American churches and everything is correct, what is owed is paid, the only thing is that all the financing came from the United States, you know that the commander does not like dollars but far from him, because in his bag, if you like them,” the citizen reproved. «They are playing with God because Verb is a Christian ministry. They are going to see it with God », she sentenced.
Casa Bernanbé-Veracruz is a ministry of the Iglesia Cristiana Verbo that was part of the new list of more than 20 NGOs that lost their legal personality due to alleged voluntary dissolution and non-compliance with the country’s laws, under Law 115, General Law of Regulation and Control of Non-Profit Organizations.
