SALT LAKE CITY — The LDS Church announced Tuesday it is transferring around half of its missionaries serving in Nicaragua.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently has 327 missionaries serving in Nicaragua. Church spokesman Daniel Woodruff says 169 of those missionaries will be transferred to other missions or sent home. In a statement, Woodruff said:

“Due to growing political instability in Nicaragua, the Church is in the process of transferring 169 missionaries out of that country. This includes 37 missionaries from the Nicaragua Managua North Mission, all of whom were nearing the end of their service and will return home. In the Nicaragua Managua South Mission, 20 missionaries will return home while 112 missionaries will be temporarily reassigned to other missions in North America, South America, and the Caribbean. All 158 missionaries remaining in Nicaragua are being moved to areas that are safe.

“The Church will continue to closely monitor conditions and developments in Nicaragua. We pray for the people there as they navigate this difficult time in their country.”

In general the church has been careful to move missionaries out areas troubled by unrest, disaster or illness.

In April, 20 volunteers were moved from Turkey and reassigned to areas in Europe, Asia, and North America due to “heightened political tensions.”

In 2014, the Church moved all of its missionaries out  Sierra Leon and Liberia, due to an E-bola outbreak.

 

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