LATIN AMERICA: Obedience Comes with a Price
VOMRadio
The Voice of the Martyrs
4.9 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 7 February 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Serving as the Regional Leader for VOM's work in Latin America, Isaac Santiago tells what it's like to be a Christian today in countries like Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Colombia. He has witnessed the shift since 2018 in Nicaragua—listed as a Restricted Nation in VOM's 2026 Global Prayer Guide—through more laws that directly affect the church and severe restrictions and government pressure similar to what Christians face in Communist nations like Cuba and China.
While some Christians in Nicaragua are weary and struggling to adjust to the new persecution reality, Christians in Cuba have dealt with such restrictions for more than 60 years. Isaac says pastors and leaders in the church there continue to be obedient to the Lord despite threats from their government.
Isaac will also share thoughts on what the change in leadership in Venezuela means for the church there. In the last two years, he has seen a revival break out in the country and the gospel advance in many parts of the country.
In Colombia, people in the cities are often oblivious to what is happening in the "red zones" where Christians are being persecuted by Marxist guerillas and other armed groups. With the current president of Colombia being a former guerrilla, persecution of the church has increased as guerrilla forces have become more powerful. Even though pastors are afraid, they are choosing to be faithful where the Lord has called them.
Isaac will also share the miraculous story of a woman held at gunpoint for reaching out to youth in her area and bringing them to Jesus.
To learn more about each of these nations and how you can pray, request your free copy of VOM's 2026 Global Prayer Guide. Also, check out the new Spanish language podcast called VOM Radio: La Voz de los Mártires on Spotify, Amazon Music, Spreaker, and more!
The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily in 2026 for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, Iran and Bangladesh, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | obedience comes with a price. |
| 0:02.0 | Many of these pastors, they're still afraid. |
| 0:05.0 | They still have PTSD, |
| 0:07.0 | but they're willing to be obedient for him and to him. |
| 0:11.0 | Jesus never promised his followers an easy path. |
| 0:16.0 | In fact, he told his disciples that the world would hate them. |
| 0:19.0 | He sent them out as sheep among wolves. Jesus's |
| 0:22.9 | words came true in the life of the apostles, and they're still coming true today in the lives |
| 0:27.6 | of his followers around the world. Join host Todd Nettleton as we hear their inspiring stories |
| 0:32.6 | and learn how we can help right now on the Voice of the Martyrs Radio Network. Welcome again to the Voice of the Martyrs |
| 0:38.5 | Radio. My name is Todd Nettleton, and we had promised you this conversation two weeks ago. We actually |
| 0:44.0 | broke in last week, kind of changed our schedule to talk about Iran, but we are back this week to |
| 0:49.3 | talk about Latin America. Brother Isak is our guest. He leads Voice of the Martyr's work in Latin America. |
| 0:55.8 | You have heard his voice here before, sometimes translating for others, sometimes in other ways. |
| 1:02.6 | But Brother Isok, welcome to the Voice of the Martyrs Radio. |
| 1:05.6 | Thank you for having me here. |
| 1:07.1 | We are glad that you are here. Now, we are just into a brand new year, 2026. We have just sent out the brand new global prayer guide from the Voice of the Martyrs. And I opened up my global prayer guide and see some new things in Latin America, things I haven't seen before. First, I want to talk about Nicaragua. |
| 1:29.3 | Nicaragua listed in the Global Prayer Guide for the first time as a restricted nation, a place |
| 1:35.2 | where the government is openly and actively persecuting our brothers and sisters. Tell me about |
| 1:41.1 | that. Tell me about why it's now restricted. What's happening there? How are Christians faring? What's going on? |
| 1:48.8 | Thank you for having me here and thanks for that question. Nicaragua has developed through the years. In the process of becoming who they are now, many things have happened. |
| 2:01.5 | In 2018, there was a large demonstration |
... |
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