Reflections from Cuba Visit

As many of you know, last week I was in Cuba with three Anglican pastors from Canada visiting Anglican churches and their pastors. I plan to give a full report at Adult Education on 4/27, but here are a few brief reflections:

First, it is legal for US citizens to travel to Cuba for “religious or humanitarian” purposes, and there is a charter flight to Cuba that leaves from Miami every day for Americans who meet requirements laid out by the State Department (other than for religious purposes, there are several other reasons Americans can travel to Cuba). (Since our group was visiting partner churches, that qualified as religious work for the US State Department, but since no one in our group was doing any teaching or preaching, we applied to the Cuban government as tourists.) Thus, it would be relatively easy, with enough advance planning, for us to send a small team to the island.

[caption id="attachment_838" align="aligncenter" width="300"] US Citizens can go to Cuba for religious purposes, but, on the Cuban side, one needs to apply for a very expensive “religious visa” in order to participate in ministry activities; so, since we weren’t doing any official ministry, just visiting pastors and churches, as far as the Cuban government is concerned we were “tourists.”[/caption]

Second, most of the time Cuba felt like other Latin American countries, but occasionally something would remind our group that Cuba is a closed, highly controlled society. I’ll give three examples. First, I brought the sport page from the Republic with me because I know how much Cubans love sports, and they don’t have access to “real time” sports news. When I gave one the pastors the sports page, he thanked me but said, “Next time you come can you bring a Time magazine? We have no idea what is going on in the world except what the government run TV station tells us.” Second, one of the churches has a Thursday evening worship service, and we asked if we could attend. Our host said no, as, in order for foreigners to attend a worship service in Cuba government permission must be granted, and the paperwork takes up to three months. Finally, we were able to visit a farm that one of the churches operates to earn income (very limited free enterprise is permitted in Cuba), but, when we turned onto the road to reach the farm, our host asked us to stop speaking English, as it is illegal for foreigners to visit the Cuba countryside. When we reached the farm, we got out of the van to walk around, but were quickly told to get back in, and we left. Apparently there was, essentially, a government spy on the land who could turn our host in for allowing us on the farm.

[caption id="attachment_837" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The only billboards allowed in Cuba are government propaganda.[/caption]

Finally, there are several leaders in the Anglican Church who are working hard to advance the gospel in this very difficult context, and there will be opportunities for us to help. A couple of the leaders are offering Marriage Encounter weekends to reach out to the neighborhood. One pastor is hoping to start a sports ministry (all of the stereotypes of Cubans loving sports are basically true – I even got to play baseball with some young teenagers on day), and another expressed interest in the Alpha Course. Several of the pastors are interested in developing small businesses in order to have an income stream for the church, and others would like help adding a room on to their homes for a worship space, or install a water pump for their property. These are projects that we can help with, and my hope is that, over the next several months, we can begin to think and pray about how our relationship with these churches working in such a challenging context can strengthen.

[caption id="attachment_836" align="aligncenter" width="300"] This worship space is the front room of the pastor’s house. His bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen are behind the altar area.[/caption]

Again, I’ll give a full report and presentation on 4/27, but I wanted to share some initial reflections this week. Thanks for sending me with a blessing and praying for fruitful work and a safe trip home. I’m excited by the possibilities of participating in God’s kingdom work in Cuba.