Mission to Cuba
September/October 2019
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYER AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The evangelistic trip to Sanctus Spiritus, Cuba was in partnership with the local church. Soon after landing, we were taken to the church and paired up with a preselected translator who would be indispensable during the mission. The first afternoon we were taken to several prescreened homes to hear their story and share the Gospel. These were preselected by the local missionary who would canvas whole neighborhoods, knocking on doors and asking if an individual or family would be interested in meeting with a member of our team and hearing about spiritual things. So even before we arrived at a home, we knew there was curiosity and that we would not have a door slammed in our faces. Unlike the US, after 50 years of suppression of faith, there is a palpable hunger to know more about Christianity. In the void of faith, Santeria is the primary religion which is a combination of Catholicism and Witchcraft brought by the Spaniards and the African slaves respectively. To me it’s amazing that when man is prevented from worship, we seek to worship somehow and some way even if we are forced to concoct our own religion.
Each day we would be transported to another neighborhood and be assigned homes to visit. Cubans are gracious and very friendly to Americans offering their time and coffee when you enter their home. To put things in context. The average Cuban makes $25/month; doctors make $45/month. The embargos imposed by the US have really made things worse since I visited 3 years ago when the Obama administration had liberalized relations. Petroleum products are in short supply and long lines exist to get fuel for the car. There was fear of not being able to visit some remote areas during our trip due to the fuel shortage, but God provided in each instance when we thought we would be prevented from travel. There was a bread shortage one day and beef is in very short supply.
I had never gone house to house to share my faith before. I struggled with whether profession of faith was authentic when the Cubans indicated they were ready to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. My solution should have been obvious. The Holy Spirit is the mediator of faith and my job was just to share truths. On a spectrum of A to Z where Atheism is A and ready for faith is Z, most Cubans are at least at W. That made my efforts very fruitful. Praise the Lord, 38 of 43 people with whom I shared the Gospel came to faith. The local missionary now visits the new Christian and invites them to a house church (of up to 12 people) presenting them with a Bible and answering any questions they have. The sanctification process has begun! I love the very organic way faith is growing in Cuba; very much like the Christian Church did in Acts.
Well, my note was very long-winded, but I thought you would like to hear in detail what I was up to. Thank you again for praying and financially supporting my efforts.
God Bless you!
Peter Rothschild
