Evangelical missionaries will no longer face restrictive legislation in Nicaragua after the government heeded calls to void it.

Church leaders have praised God for the move, which means missionaries will once again be allowed to enter the country freely.

"We want to thank God because now the churches will only have to meet a short administrative rule, so that all ministers and missionaries will be able to come to our country as many times as they want", said Rafael Arista, president of the Assemblies of God, according to Evangelical Focus.

"We also thank the government for being understanding, listening to us, and let us work as we have done in the past," he said. "We have received explanations from the government and we have come to very positive results, because the previous legislation has been declared void. Nicaragua has won with this agreement which reduces the procedures missionaries needed to do here and abroad."

Legislation brought in last month stipulated that missionaries must inform the Nicaraguan government prior to entering the country, and receive official permission to work.

Arista previously told Evanglical Focus that the regulation was "affecting the life of the Church".

"The pastoral and social work should not be hindered just because of a regulation," he said. "Our calls to President Ortega is definitely to revoke this legislation".

The Nicaraguan Evangelical Alliance also urged the government to repeal the laws.

The Catholic Church in Nicaragua, however, supported the legislation, which only targeted evangelical churches.

The secretary of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua told Fides that government officials had explained that some people used evangelical mission as a cover for child trafficking.

There are approximately 3,600 evangelical churches in Nicaragua, which are attended by around 15 per cent of the population. The majority of Nicaraguans are Roman Catholic.