Into His Image: What´s the big deal with this Cuba trip?

During the las week of September, I had the honor of leading a trip from our church to Cuba. it was a one- week long mission trip, and we stayed three hours away from La havana. A total of sixteen people were in the team (including myself). Thirsteen from Central Mennonite Church and 3 from other churches. This might be one of the greatest testimonies we have had so far. I´d like to explain why this trip is such a big deal.

You might have read a little bit about this in my previous post, and then my most recent prayer request. Nevertheless, While I have been working on Dominican rising and training locals for missions. I am also the Missions Department Director at Central Mennonite Church in San Juan. While this church has beeen working closely with Promised Land in planting churches and sending missionaries (Mayi and Connie), this was the frst time a mission trip involving everyone in church had ever happened. Yes, the church had done some short term visit to unreached areas and yes the church has with a missionary call. But most people had not done missions themselves.

This is one of the main churches in SJ, and has done this mission trip, triggering a desire in other people to join as well. This has started a fire in the community for foreign missions. My hope is to take this into a love for the unreached, unnengaed people groups around the world.

Me and Victor at the airport

You might have been here in SJ. Think of how the Lord ministered your life here. Well that was pretty much the same. I got stuck in the airport so the authorities could check my luggage (we were bringing a little too many shoes), delaying our team for three hours, and we had to take another three hour ride before we got to our destination. By the end of the day we were tired but ready and eager to see what God wanted to do with us.

Team sitting in the airport while I am inside being given a hard time with luggage.

For our team to see what the Cuban church is doing with what they have and the government llimitations was stunning to us. Mostly eveyone that went on this trip are leaders from CMC and they could see first hand how the church leaders in Cuba work and how the gospel has expanded, how much work there is still to be done and how our visit was such a great blessing to them.

Mrs. Piron is a Gynecologist and took some time to iinstruct women and personal care, brest cancer prevention while also checking on some of the women.

For the Cuban church, this vist was a blessing as well. For many years they have only had the visit of the church planters from the states. Three or four people would come several times a year to teach ome classes and ti check on how the church is doing. This visit happens on a national level. So the amount of time spent with this specific church is minimum. Add the language barrier and the cultural differences, plus the limitations most americans have to go to Cuba. One lady said at one point "It´s weird you are missionaries but you are so much like us, you speak our language and you like our food". Onether young guy told me after my Sunday morning teaching "This time I understood the missionary without nothing getting lost in translation". There is still that mindset that missions is for Americans. Both within our team and the Cuban church. We were glad to be used by God for this purpose.