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 8
The accommodations at Iglesia Presbyteriana Reformada de Luyano provided a good night’s rest, a good breakfast, and a good start to our first full day in the Havana Presbytery.
Following breakfast, we meet with the Potters of Hope, a ministry devoted to the creation and sale of clay products, and a similar minstry devoted to sewing products. Both ministries provide opportunities for fellowship and creation, as well as some financial proceeds for its members ... as well as some one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted souvenirs for our team to purchae and take home with us.
Then we are back on the road, heading west out of the Havana area to the town of San Antonio de los Baños, and the the PRCC's westernmost church. Our guide for this trip is the church's pastor, Rev. Dora Arce Valentín.
Our first view of Iglesia Presbyteriana-Reformada de San Antonio de los Baños is a line of people on the sidewalk, waiting to enter the front door of the church. All are carrying one type of water jug or another. It is a service of the church (in partnership with Living Waters of the World), providing potable water to the surrounding community.
Upon arrival, we are introduced to elders and members of the church family, and treated to coffee, cookies and fresh fruit juices before a presentation about the church, its history, and its mission.
Created 116 years ago (the first Protestant church founded in SAdlB), the history of this particular church is the history of the Protestant church, with missionaries arriving in Cuba in the wake of the Spanish-American War, 1898-1902.
Many pastors have served the church here over that time ... some were short-term, others served longer - but were not residential pastors or were circuit-pastors. Among the church’s pastors was Rev. Daniel Izquiero (our host in Luyano), who once served as a church elder with pastoral duties. In a way, we are told, this was a good thing for the IPRC, because it forced the church to empower laity and elders.
We are greeted by elders of the church, who tell us about the church’s services to the surrounding community, including the aforementioned water service. Elder Julio is responsible for the aforementioned water system that serves an estimated 120 families, 60 in the morning, 60 in the afternoon, daily Monday-Friday. Maintenance and needs (current and anticipated) of the system are addressed during annual visits of the church’s partner ... but sometimes they need to be creative.
Onee elder stresses the importance of having the ‘human resources’ to provide this and other services. During the 1960s, church membership declined to 3 people, and the presbytery considered closing the church ... a move that was averted, in part by university students (some lost 10 miles away), who came to SAdB to worship and serve.
Outreach to the elderly is an important part of the church’s services ... daily activities/classes/meals (the last at the church, and delivered to homes), monthly home visits, and Christmas activities. The number of elderly served has grown from12 to 30. There are also visits to nursing homes ... the elders comment that their reward includes the look on faces of elderly who have no family, and normally would receive no visitors.
An elder points out that one of the challenges in in some parts of Cuba these days is transportation, especially for the elderly who must travel great distances to reach a church. Prayer houses help address this issue, where people are invited to ecumenical gathering in outlying neighborhoods, to share a comfortable setting for faith and fellowship, in private homes (with support from neighbors).
The services of the church are available to all, and it is noted that some of those served later step forward to join the church because of its work.
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. We also have an opportunity to answer THEIR questions about US.
This followed by a short walk to the central plaza of San Antonio de los Banos for a part of our daily routine - the ‘internet break.’ Internet access in Cuba is MUCH more limited, compared to the access to which we have become accustomed in the United States. Each day of our trip has included a visit to a spot in the community where there is access, usually the town’s central plaza. There, along with the community as a whole, we are able to access the internet with Empressa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba, S.A. (ETECSA), using access cards we purchased at the start of our trip. With this access, we are able to touch-base with folks back at home ... and, lately, follow the progress of Tropical Storm Florence as it heads for the southeastern United States, perhaps disrupting our plans to return home.
Lunch, prepared and served by the staff and elders of Iglesia Presbyteriana-Reformada de San Antonio de los Banos, is wonderful and very much offers us el savor de Cuba ... this has been the case time-and-time-again, with no exceptions, to all of the meals prepared for us in the course of our trip.
Following lunch, there is a tour of another part of the church campus, and a glimpse into future plans for the church. For now, the series of connected rooms provide some rudimentary accommodations, lounge space and storage for a variety of articles, including auto body parts ... but it might do so much more. With renovations, it could provide comfortable guest lodgings, and a manse ... which in turn could make the church more attractive for a pastor to come and settle in this community, and serve as a residence pastor in this church.
What might renovations to all these rooms cost? For that, we turn to Rev. Daniel Izquiero, current pastor of Iglesia Presbyteriana Reformada de Luyano, former pastor of Iglesia Presbyteriana-Reformada de San Antonio de los Banos, former general secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Cuba ... and an architect, who has studied the rooms, and estimated total cost of renovations would be only $4,000 (US).
Just $4,000 ... this is another illustration of the differences that exist between our nations ... what a difference $4,000 could make in building renovations to a string of rooms, and to the life of this church! It is also a POSSIBLE opportunity to help our brothers and sisters in Christ here, in Cuba ... BUT NOT YET ... at this point, it is just an idea, which must be submitted to the various levels of the church, and approved at those levels, before the idea can become a proposal.
The Outreach Foundation will be following the progress of this idea in Cuba. Once it becomes a proposal, we shall hear from them. When I do, I plan to support this idea, and I will urge my church family at Grace Presbyterian-Midland, Texas to do the same. How about you and your church family?
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