Abuse in Nicaragua by "Pastor" Jared Cox

My story is the story of my family. We began attending the church on the second day of the inauguration of Harvest Bible Church in Nicaragua. At that time, I was hungry for the Word of God and felt the need to serve in a church. I had recently converted; it had been about two years since my conversion. Most churches in Nicaragua had poor doctrine and theology, which is why I didn't attend any until God brought me to this one. My hunger and thirst for the Lord caused me to rise quickly within the church; I became a deacon and then leader of the deacons. It's true that Jared lived a privileged life. On some occasions, I would go to pay his electricity bill, and back then it was C$5,000.00, while at my house I paid C$300.00. C$5,000.00 was a person's salary. Jared said he lived there because his mom had bought him that house so he wouldn't suffer anymore, given how he had lived in his early days in Nicaragua. I was greatly loved by everyone and met many people who were gradually being pushed aside. The most notable case was that of Amara with Oswaldo. Amara was unjustly accused by Jared, supported by the leadership; Oswaldo was forced to separate from Amara and cancel the wedding. Jared's version to the church was that Amara had not submitted to the leadership and would never submit to Oswaldo's leadership as her husband; on top of that, he added more details to the story to make Amara look like the guilty one. The church's decision and guidance was to isolate Amara and have no contact with her. Jared's preferred strategy has always been to isolate people so their stories aren't heard. I continued rising, and my family and I were sent to support the mission in Chinandega with Pastor Frank. Then they made me director of the children's ministry; my wife was my helper, and my oldest son served in worship. Things escalated gradually with me: he would give me advice on how to break my wife's will, and then say he hadn't said that, that I had misinterpreted it. I was called several times into the presence of the pastors at that time, Arnold and Hamilton, to be reprimanded. Due to the control Jared wanted over the family, my wife was separated from the church because she had a close relationship with her father. Jared undermined my relationship with my wife to the point where we barely spoke at home. I was blinded by Jared's lies. I was fired from my job because I worked on a Sunday and complained to management for making me work on Sunday (here too, Jared's influence was at play, regarding working on Sunday being from the devil). Then, on Facebook, I started posting about Paul Washer, John MacArthur, Calvin, Luther, and other giants of sound doctrine, and this was something Jared didn't like. In a public meeting, he said that he had suffered more than these men, and that it was him or any pastor in the church who should be mentioned on Facebook pages, not the aforementioned preachers. I was called to discipline and removed from the church, not without first receiving threatening calls from Jared saying that the Spirit (I assume Satan) had shown him that I was in grave danger and that my relationship with my wife wasn't good. Providentially, God works in mysterious ways, and He used all this to pull me out of the church and open my eyes. Just like with others, the strategy Jared used was to isolate me; no one from the church spoke to me. In a public meeting that my oldest son attended, he said I was disobedient and in sin. My story gets more complicated because my family received papers for U.S. residency. This was a blow to Jared because he started putting in my head that it wasn't necessary to go to the U.S. to serve God, that I had to serve God in Nicaragua—and logically, this caused a struggle at home with my wife over the issue, to the point where it almost served to separate us. Jared is a master of manipulation; for many years he had me trapped. Also, within that network of those who were trapped, Pastor Edwin, Arnold, and finally Frank managed to get out. As part of the leadership I was once in, I want to publicly ask forgiveness if I emotionally harmed anyone out there. I know the one I hurt the most was my wife, my mother-in-law, and my father-in-law, and thank God they all forgave me. But I know there are many out there damaged by Jared and the leadership, and I speak for them: the real devil here is Jared Cox.