August 19, 2025
Faith in action: 800 Guatemalan leaders mobilized to advance the pro-life mission
‘We aim to reach 1.3 million Guatemalans across the country and equip them to save the lives of the unborn in their communities,’ says PassionLife President Pastor John Ensor
MARIETTA, Ga. — Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei shocked the world in 2022 when he announced a nationwide pro-life policy that “guarantees the protection of life from its conception until its natural death.” This declaration quickly made Guatemala a stronghold in the defense of human life in Central America, even as several other surrounding nations promote abortion on a widespread scale.
“Having Guatemalan President Giammattei promote pro-life policies is a great start, but there is more work to be done, specifically by and through the Church,” said PassionLife President Pastor John Ensor.
That’s why PassionLife, a pro-life global missions partner to missionaries and indigenous Christian leaders living in countries where abortion and infanticide are especially concentrated, is working with the local pro-life community to match the policy momentum with the practical work of pregnancy crisis intervention through churches.
“PassionLife teaches pastors and local churches how to live out the Gospel of Life primarily by helping every woman in their neighborhood who is in a pregnancy-related crisis, find practical, personal and direct support in life-affirming ways,” remarked Ensor.
In July, PassionLife met with 800 Christian pastors and leaders in Guatemala City to teach them a rapidly reproducible approach to training churches and their extended family and friends to: 1. Treasure human life, including life in the womb; 2. Reject abortion as the intentional killing of innocent human beings; 3. Experience God’s forgiveness through faith in Christ; and 4. Rescue the innocent one mother at a time, as neighbors helping neighbors.
“Thankfully, we’ve seen a huge positive response,” Ensor reported. “This was the largest group of Christian leaders that PassionLife has ever taught at one time! They, in turn, set a goal to train another 6,769 other pastors in their hometowns and together adopted a goal to train up 1.3 million Guatemalans to serve as an army of Good Samaritans eager to save mothers and babies from the violence of abortion in their communities.”
PassionLife traveled to Guatemala for the first time in 2019 to meet with national Christian leaders. Together, and at no small expense, they scheduled a nationwide pastors’ training for March 2020. But Covid-19 ended those plans.
But now, and over the next several months, pastors plan to mobilize their church and their community of churches to end abortion in Guatemala. Simplified, reproducible resources on biblical bioethics, pro-life apologetics and crisis pregnancy intervention are circulating freely in Spanish.
“In the coming months, we will hear stories and get pictures of babies being rescued and mothers and couples coming to trust in God as their Provider. It’s exciting. And we will be back soon to help churches set up pregnancy help clinics complete with ultrasound,” said Ensor.
Since 2010, PassionLife has worked as a pro-life global missions partner to missionaries and Indigenous Christian leaders in China, Romania, Cuba, India, Vietnam and other countries where the plague of abortion, infanticide and gendercide is especially concentrated. In such places, PassionLife disciples people in a Biblical worldview of human value, teaches them how to make a case for life in a secular culture, sees abortion guilt and grief as an entry point for the Gospel’s offer of forgiveness and freedom, and provides models of pregnancy crisis intervention services that they can adapt to their culture and neighborhood.
“PassionLife,” a new half-hour show in partnership with NRBTV, highlights the ministry’s work around the globe, revealing how dedicated staff and volunteers teach the Gospel of Life to those in the most vulnerable situations. The show airs every Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. EST.
John Ensor, an ordained Evangelical pastor, has been a leader in the pro-life movement for over 30 years as a speaker, author, mentor and co-laborer. John serves as the President of PassionLife, where he concentrates on helping missionaries and indigenous Christian leaders serving in countries plagued by abortion to equip the church in bioethics and pregnancy crisis intervention services. He has been recognized in the “Legacy of Life” book as one of the fifty greatest pro-life leaders of the last 50 years. John is the co-host of the “PassionLife Podcast” with PassionLife Executive Director, Mark Nicholson. Together, they discuss ministry updates and provide commentary on global current events.
For more information, visit the PassionLife website at https://www.passionlife.org/.
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To schedule interviews with a representative from PassionLife, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096 ext. 105, Dawn Foglein, ext. 100, or Robin Sprague, ext. 103.
