An American missionary is combating again after he, his household and 11 Christian leaders face critical expenses from Nicaraguan officers who accuse them of cash laundering and arranged crime.
Hear them within the newest episode of “Fast Begin”:
Britt Hancock, founding father of the Mountain Gateway Order, Inc., denied the allegations in an interview with CBN Information, saying he believes the authorized battle is a direct response to the variety of Nicaraguans who attended his group's highly effective evangelistic occasions final yr.
“In 2023, Mountain Gateway helped set up a sequence of mass evangelism campaigns – eight of them over the course of a yr,” he stated. “We began in February and so they had the final one in November. However a complete of 1,000,000 folks got here to these eight conferences.”
Hancock stated the arrests started a month after the final assembly, with nationwide leaders, occasion coordinators and senior pastors all detained by mid-December.
Watch Hancock clarify:
ADF Worldwide legal professional Kristina Hjelkrem, who represents Mountain Gateway, informed CBN Information that the jailed leaders are accused of cash laundering.
“The federal government has no proof to that extent,” she stated. “Mountain Gateway has made a number of makes an attempt to show their innocence and supply proof on this level in courtroom, however the authorities has both stopped or prohibited that proof from getting into the courtroom file.”
The potential jail phrases are intensive, with Hjelkrem saying they vary from 12 to fifteen years and as much as $80,000,000 per particular person — a tremendous she stated is just not widespread within the Nicaraguan justice system.
As beforehand reported by CBN Information, Hancock, his son Jacob and daughter-in-law Cassandra are dealing with the above expenses.
Mountain Gateway has denied and rebuked the allegations, saying it “scrupulously complies with all authorized necessities within the US and Nicaragua that apply to nonprofit and spiritual organizations.”
Hancock believes the dimensions and scope of the evangelistic achievements is what drew the ire of the federal government, particularly contemplating the work he has completed within the nation with out incident since 2013. The revival occasions had been so big that they dominated social media and the media usually.
“In that yr, we've turn out to be a very dominant social affect in Nicaragua, and so they're not OK with that — if something, it's de-emphasized them and their narrative,” Hancock stated of the federal government. “They’ve a historical past, a protracted historical past of reacting very onerous to issues like this, so I’ve little question that's why.
Whereas Hancock and his household have returned safely to the U.S., the 11 folks detained in Nicaragua face what Hjelkrem stated is a “dire state of affairs.”
“All of the spiritual leaders are in most safety prisons,” she stated. “They aren’t involved with their household or their attorneys and are denied medical help. We’re very involved about their well being and life, bodily integrity, psychological integrity.”
Watch as Hjelkrem and Hancock clarify how they defend themselves towards the allegations.
***Large Transfer of God in Nicaragua: Practically 1 Million Attendance, Hundreds Select Christ, Miracles Abound
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