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Mission To CubaMission trips by members of Pleasant Grove Community Church |
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There were 300 of us who went on a mission
trip to Cuba in May 1999. We were with the Josh McDowell Ministries, the same
organization with which I've gone to Russia on several prior mission trips.
We flew to Cancun, Mexico and assembled for a briefing. Then we flew
to Havana. We had excellent hotel accommodations. The hotel was bugged so we
could not talk about our experiences during the day or anything about
Christianity at any time except in the churches and home churches. We had one
interpreter for every five people. We were asked not to wear anything that
indicated Christianity or symbols of the United States. This was because of the
political climate, fear of persecution of Cuban Christians, and the Cuban
Government's likelihood of stepping in at any moment to put an end of what we
were doing -- bringing encouragement and support to the Cuban Christians and
helping them spread the Gospel.
We all packed our suitcases full of
all kinds of goodies. This included "friendships gifts" of toiletries, baby
clothes, shoes, snacks, and as many over the counter medicines as we could fit
in. Also, we each had two of the Jesus Videos. All this was to be left in Cuba
for the people.
There was also an additional large shipment of
pharmaceuticals accompanying our group -- 14 tons all told. The people in Cuba
have no pain medicines. The main churches were to distribute all medicines. To
receive any of these medicines, the Cubans had to get a doctor's prescription
and present it to the pharmacist at the church.
There were also 1.5
million Christian books which we were supposed to make into packets for each of
the 3,000 pastors. However, the books didn't get through Customs until two
months after we left. Thus, the pastors had to do this work.
One of
the church services that we attended lasted 2 1/2 to 3 hours and there was NO
AIR CONDITIONING. It was very hot and extremely humid. There were 600 who
attended the service. We sat on benches and were very close to each other.
After the first service, our groups went to "home churches". When we came back
a couple of hours later, they were getting out of the Sunday school classes and
were starting their second worship service. There was no break for lunch and no
one seemed to leave.
We found existing Christian congregations in a
country that has forbidden religion for 40 years and even now the government
makes it difficult for the Christians to meet. That's why they use "home"
churches. At the Crusades, which were held after we left, the Cuban Christians
were not permitted to have a public invitation. Thus any follow-up had to be
through the pastors and churches.
There were just two months when
public services could be held in the stadiums. There were 30,000 that attended
one of the Crusades. In the home churches we would go in groups of five or six.
We would each show some family pictures, and tell the Cubans what Christ meant
to us. We would tell them about the Gospel bracelets that we gave each one.
Then we would hand out the friendship gifts which all were so excited to
receive. One lady was asked how she survived with so little. She ran, got her
Bible and returned clutching it to her chest and said "He's my
life."
One night we took a rickshaw ride -- very scary. There were seven vehicles with
two of us and the driver in each riding down the dark streets. These drivers
did not stop for anything or anybody. There were police everywhere we went.
In spite of the restrictions, it was a very worthwhile trip; hard,
but very gratifying. We know we were an encouragement to the Christians of
Cuba.