This a short-term ‘vision team,’ with a focus upon introduction, education and connection, and a goal of discerning God’s call to global engagement, and partnership development.
Day 3
Our last full day in Remedios, and our final day in this, one of three presbyteries in the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba. Over the course of this mission trip, we shall visit all three of those presbyteries.
Once again, the food and the fellowship at the breakfast table provided a good start to our day. Following breakfast, we are back on the road, this time headed for the community of Placetas. Our guide for today is Rev. Edelberto Perez, and our first visit is to the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Placetas. Rev. Marielys Diaz has been the pastor of this church for just two months.
After a tour of the church and its Sunday school, we learn about the church’s services to the church family and the community at-large. The presentation is accompanied by coffee and homemade empanadas.
There is a laundry service, for example, and a sewing cooperative. There are also a number of study groups hosted by the church. They also travel once a week - by horse cart - to a mission station in a nearby community, conducting a worship service, but also doing laundry, and offering a snack. It is the oldest mission station in the presbytery and serves a rural, relatively poor community. Also once a week, prayer houses are opened in the homes of Placetas church members, offering prayer, films and documentaries, and discussion. These prayer house are ecumenical and open to all - some gatherings will have a special appeal for youth, others for young adults, still others for older participants.
The church (founded in 1908) has a long tradition of music ministry, and has a choir. Christian education, and work with children, is also important... and challenging, since workin g with children takes lots of energy.
They have outreach to and services for cancer patients and their families.
“Building the self-esteem of the elderly, and affirming their rights”
A variety of factors - economic, social, life expectancy and more - have contributed to the marginalization of the elderly in Cuba. Elderly services and resources here - and access to those services - are different from those in the in the United States. From church staff and elders, we learn about outreach to and service for the elderly of the community. These services - as is the case for many of the services are accompanied by a meal or snack - and not just in the church building ... there is also a variation of ‘meals on wheels’ that delivers to elderly in town, and in the surrounding rural area. Twice a year, the elderly are also invited on excursions. They collect second-hand clothing, which is passed along to the elderly. Support for the elderly includes help for their children as well.
“How are they able to to do so much work?”
As was the case in other churches we have visited, these make for a full and busy week for the church and its 50 active members. The secret, we are told, is attitude and organization.
We, in turn, told them about ourselves, about our churches, about past experiences/contacts - if any - with Cuba, and about the Outreach Foundation and its mission.
“The church in Placeta has no partners ... interested?”
“Building for the Future”
Our visit to the church of Placetas concluded with a short walk across the street, to what will som day be the church’s new home.
Back on the road ... our next visit was C.A.N.I.P. (national center for activities of the Cuban Presbyterian church) Camp, where we were greeted by Rev Edelberto Valdes and the camp supervisor. In the beginning (60’s and 70’s), structures were roofed by palm leaves, and a single manual water pump served the entire camp.
Today, the camp has (had/will have) six cabins, general buildings, and room for 120 people. Camp staff are volunteers. Each week during the summer, is set for a different age groups (youth and adults) at the camp. For the children of Cuba’s Presbyterian Church, attendance at summer camp is a reward, a prize.
CANIP camp activities include devotionals, classes, discussions of current events and interests, music, swimming, games and sports. They also have service projects in neighborhoods around the camp.
In September 2017, Cuba was struck by Hurricane Irma ... destruction was widespread, and CANIP was no exception, with many structures destroyed. They will be rebuilt, but it will be part of a total, holistic refurbishing g of the camp, with stronger structures. It will be a very intense and unforgettable experience - complicated by many factors, including cost/availability of construction materials. They have estimates of construction and furnishing costs ... but nothing real ... the availability/prices will rise ... two cabins had an estimate of 22,000 CC, but an actual cost of 29,000 CC.
“If you are building in Cuba, 2+2 is NEVER 4”
The roof of the dining hall was restored with roofing material from demolished cabins. There will be work on the other general buildings. Restoring two demolished cabins have been put-off “for the future.”
“This is always a constant pressure on us.”
Following our visit to C.A.N.I.P. Camp, we headed south into the city of Santa Clara. A lunch at the Don Quixote Restaurant offered us a buffet with a wide range of Cuban dishes, with a variety of fruits and vegetable, rices and meats, and desserts.
Our presence in Cuba is not only devoted to learning about the body of Christ at work in this island nation, but also a better understanding of the nation itself, the setting within which our brothers and sisters in Christ are at work, sharing His love through word and deed.
Within that context, our next visit, also in Santa Clara, was to the Che Guevara museum, memorial and mausoleum. If you ask Americans to name a Cuban revolutionary, the first to come to mind would probably be Fidel Castro. But the role of Guevara cannot be dismissed, especially here in Santa Clara where he commanded the rebel forces in battle against loyalist troops, a decisive rebel victory that opened the road to the capital in Havana, and led to the fall of the Bautista regime. Guevara’s legacy did not end there ... later, his life would end in captivity and execution in Bolivia, where he continued his revolutionary cause.
In America, views of Guevara and his legacy are mixed, at best. But there is no doubt here, in Cuba, that he is a hero. Many years later, when his remains were discovered along with those of other executed Bolivian revolutionaries, they were sent to Cuba where they became the focus of this museum, memorial and mausoleum.
One last note about our mission activities ... they do net end with the afternoon. Each evening, the team gathers together to share their impressions of the day, lessons learned, and images of the day that will probably remain with us for a long, long time. This evening’s ‘team time’ began with another presentation by Rev. Edelberto Perez, speaking from his perspective not only at the local, pastoral level, but as secretary of the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba.
We ended the day with packing. Following worship service here tomorrow (Sunday), we shall be back on the road, heading for Matanzas, the center of another presbytery in the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba.
We ended the day with packing. Following worship service here tomorrow (Sunday), we shall be back on the road, heading for Matanzas, the center of another presbytery in the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba.
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