The Cuba mission team was comprised of Jeff Crumbley, Doss Estep, Mick Lovely, Clint Otto, Darrel Sims, Joe Veal, and Sam Zalatoris. We left Urbancrest on February 18, and after spending the night in Miami, Florida, arrived in Havana, Cuba, the next day. We were met in Havana by our host and translator, David Gonzales, from the Western Baptist Convention and Victor Grillo, President of the Western Baptist Convention of Cuba. We were in Cuba with the permission of the US Treasury Department and on a religious visa issued by the Cuban government. Our church had been invited by the La Palma Baptist Church to help them repair the church parsonage. The pastor, his wife, and their young daughter had been living in a church Sunday school room for over two years. That invitation and the Lord’s call to help and encourage our brothers and sisters in the faith set us on a journey that started nearly a year before we arrived at the airport. Cuba is a communist country and freedoms are limited. Though they have the freedom to worship, the churches are restricted both in how they evangelize and in the construction or repairing of church buildings. Permission was granted to us to travel to Cuba to repair the pastor’s home. The government requires that we bring a certain amount of money to be applied to any project we come to do. They keep twenty percent as a tax and the rest helps their economy.
After a four hour ride in a 1947 two-ton international truck that had a Russian diesel engine and a bus coach mounted on it, we arrived in La Palma and met our host for the week. Pastor Ignatius and his church members had our dinner prepared and were waiting for us. While we ate, about seventy-five youth arrived to wait for the 8:30pm service and get a glimpse of the gringos. As the service began for the anticipated youth meeting, I looked around and realized that there were people of all ages at the church. The contemporary worship music was led by a couple of ladies on a DVD and shown through a video projector on the front wall of the small church. The congregational worship was sincere, and even though I could not sing along to the Spanish words flashing across the screen, I bowed my head in worship to my King, who is also their King. As Joe Veal preached the message and David translated, seven youth and adults gave their lives to Christ!
Our lodging turned out to be 2” foam mats or air mattresses on the church sanctuary floor, although some of the team members were afraid of scorpions and laid their mats on two pews. I guess they didn’t know that scorpions can climb! By midnight, everyone was ready for some sleep, but the night sounds in Cuba were so foreign to our ears that we were all awakened several times before the sun began to shine. Each morning we rolled up our mats and put away our suitcases so that the building could be used as it was originally intended.
Cuba is a country closed to the outside influence of Christianity. That means that our team was not allowed to evangelize off the church property. However, at the church building and on any property the church owned, we could say whatever we wanted. In those locations, we taught and preached with freedom. Joe and Darrel taught sixty adults how to use the Evangecube, and we gave about twenty-five of them to the local congregation. Three people prayed to receive Christ that morning during the Sunday services. We spent the remainder of the day on Sunday assessing the needed repairs in the pastor’s home, locating the tools and materials that were available, and getting to know our Cuban brothers and sisters in Christ.
Monday morning brought a wonderful breakfast, followed by a long day of hard work. The house had to be cleaned out before we could begin any construction work. Mick and Jeff began the task of rewiring the home. Darrel, Sam, Clint, and I began to get the floors ready for tile and the walls ready for paint. Joe wanted to work outside, so he and several other men were tasked with removing a huge stump so that a foundation could be poured for a back porch. Bad decision Joe!
Each day was filled with this type of work. We cleaned, painted, wired, and helped the tile layer move tile around from room to room. Joe worked on the stump until it disappeared and then helped dig the foundation hole, mix concrete in a wheelbarrow, and carry it to the holes. Darrel, Sam, and Clint also helped with the concrete mixing. Every day was hard work and our team really jumped in and set a good example.
José was the tile expert of the city of La Palma. He was in his 60’s and was a believer in Jesus. He spent most of his days on his knees, bent over to lay floor tile. When I finally was able to talk to him, I remembered that I had brought a pair of knee pads to Cuba with me. I ask him, through the translator, if he had a set. He didn’t act like he knew what I was talking about. Clint got the knee pads from our tool case and strapped them onto José. His reaction was memorable. As he bowed down and his knees touched the floor for the first time without pain, he exclaimed, “Gloria a Dios!” which means, “Glory to God!”
As our week continued, José and others explained to us that the whole city knew that "the Americans" were there working hard on the church. In fact, our translator, David, was able to acquire some electrical parts that we needed because of the good reports about the team. You see, the average person in Cuba will only make $12-$20 per month. Therefore, there is little money to purchase supplies, and they are very scarce. So while we were in need of many things and had the money to purchase them, most merchants will hold onto supplies until their neighbors can afford them rather than sell the supplies to strangers. But, the reputation that Christ gave us allowed us to purchase the things we needed to continue our project.
Each evening we held a worship time, either in one of the house church plants or in the church itself. Cuba has over 4,000 house churches, most of which have started since 2007. Typically, Joe would preach and the other men would teach youth and children. Most of the churches were very new, and the believers were hungry for the Word of God. The number of people at each worship service increased as the week progressed, and there was a deeper worship experience each day. By the end of the trip, one hundred people had responded to the Gospel for the first time!
We praise the Lord that we were able to witness the power of God in Cuba! Lives were transformed and souls were saved. God used this construction project to encourage our Cuban brothers and sisters, save the souls of one hundred people, and also change our lives forever. Thank you, Urbancrest, for your vision to minister to the oppressed church in Cuba! Two more trips are in the planning. One project will take place in early December 2011 and one in February 2012. If you are interested in how you can be used in this work on either of these trips, contact destep@urbancrest.com.
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