Hello family and friends!! I wanted to share with you about my trip to Cuba. Many of you have received snapfish photos but I wasn't able to share the intimate stories and other moments that I didn't photograph.
Day 2 - Havana, Cuba
We decided to get to know the history of this country by taking a walking tour through the capital city and its infamous Old Havana section. In a nutshell, the 30s-50s were a time of dictatorship yet a flamboyant culture of much prostitution, drugs and mafia related deals occurred during that time leaving Cuba's people to know nothing else but a destructive lifestyle. Fidel Castro, inspired by Jose Marti, along with Che Guevara tried relentlessly to take over the government with aspirations to create a culture of dignity, fairness and education. He succeeded in 1959. He immediately took over property belonging to the USA which created a bad relationship leading to a political embargo that has never ended. Castro received financial aid from the Soviet Union in order to support his socialist/communist idea but in the 90s when USSR fell apart Cuba was left self-sustaining and many Cubans experienced a devasting period of poverty. There hasn't been another country to come to Cuba's aid and Castro is firm in his approach to government so nothing has been done to help this country. It has so much potential but sadly, many buildings have not been kept up and most people live in unsafe conditions.
This day was quite frustrating! We needed to secure a rental car for our trip to Matanzas province. We were quite tired from the relentless heat/humidity and had given into the reality that we were going to have to feel like dirty, wet dishrags throughout the trip as we endured the weather conditions. We continued to pursue finding a car but in a communist country, it seems like customer service isn't much of a concept and of course, neither is competition. It became pretty apparent that only God was going to work out this situation for us. Finally, we were able to solidify transportation. In the evening, we attended Ana's "house service" which was basically a church service in a neighbor's house. The government requires that special permission be obtained in order for families to have "gatherings" of this sort. The house was filled with many passionate Christians. Monica and I shared our testimonies in Spanish and enjoyed the experience of the Cuban church. Ana told me later that in all her years she hasn't seen the church as big, motivated, passionate and moving as it is now. Praise God!!!
Day 1 - Havana, Cuba
After clearing customs without any baggage inspected or medical supplies confiscated, we traveled to the home of Ana Badel Moore (neat last name, eh?). Monica and I, the girls of the team, stayed at this home. Two 30 something daughters also lived at the house so it was a perfect fit. Being a Christian home, we connected with these women instantly and wasted no time sharing our testimonies and single status stories! It's so neat how God really provides companionship for me on each one of my trips. There is always someone I meet who is in the same stage in life going through the same things. I really connected with the daughter Aymara, a 34 year old doctor (second from left). Together we had many concerts singing songs by our favorite Spanish Christian artist, Jesus Adrian Romero. That evening, Ana (first from left) and I had a heart to heart about how we came to know Christ. She confirmed some truths about God's word that spoke so clearly about my life. She touched my heart with her tenderness, kindness and certain faith of who God is and how He works out his promises. I also became victim to their plumbing issue and as embarrassing as it was, I am sure it was even more for them. I came to learn that they do not have the money to replace a toilet that hasn't been updated in 30 years. Although everyone in the family is a doctor, they make about $1 a day and it is only enough to pay for their basic needs. I asked about the cost and knew that I had the money on me to pay for it. God started speaking to me.......
Day 2 - Havana, Cuba
We decided to get to know the history of this country by taking a walking tour through the capital city and its infamous Old Havana section. In a nutshell, the 30s-50s were a time of dictatorship yet a flamboyant culture of much prostitution, drugs and mafia related deals occurred during that time leaving Cuba's people to know nothing else but a destructive lifestyle. Fidel Castro, inspired by Jose Marti, along with Che Guevara tried relentlessly to take over the government with aspirations to create a culture of dignity, fairness and education. He succeeded in 1959. He immediately took over property belonging to the USA which created a bad relationship leading to a political embargo that has never ended. Castro received financial aid from the Soviet Union in order to support his socialist/communist idea but in the 90s when USSR fell apart Cuba was left self-sustaining and many Cubans experienced a devasting period of poverty. There hasn't been another country to come to Cuba's aid and Castro is firm in his approach to government so nothing has been done to help this country. It has so much potential but sadly, many buildings have not been kept up and most people live in unsafe conditions.Day 3- Havana, Cuba
We met with the Hernandez family that was hosting the men on our team, a man named Pepito who received 3-4 months worth of colostomy supplies from us and a woman named Cecilia who is national representative for a Christian organization. With each family that we visited, we were able to leave behind 3-4 month supplies of vitamins, aspirins, ointments, toiletries and any special requests that they may have had. With every visit, we spent several hours getting to know each person and in some special way each one of them left a stamp on my heart. I felt so blessed to have the ability to speak their language and received such a blessing by understanding what each and everyone of them had to say! Maria Hernandez (picture) was another tender soul who really took time to get to know my heart. She took such an interest in my singleness and wanted to spend so much time encouraging me and giving me hope. It brought tears to my eyes to see her care about me in that way. Another personal experience was to see Pepito receive the colostamy supplies. My mom was able to get two boxes worth of supplies from her hospital and knowing how much it meant to this man was priceless!!!
Day 4 - Havana, Cuba
This day was quite frustrating! We needed to secure a rental car for our trip to Matanzas province. We were quite tired from the relentless heat/humidity and had given into the reality that we were going to have to feel like dirty, wet dishrags throughout the trip as we endured the weather conditions. We continued to pursue finding a car but in a communist country, it seems like customer service isn't much of a concept and of course, neither is competition. It became pretty apparent that only God was going to work out this situation for us. Finally, we were able to solidify transportation. In the evening, we attended Ana's "house service" which was basically a church service in a neighbor's house. The government requires that special permission be obtained in order for families to have "gatherings" of this sort. The house was filled with many passionate Christians. Monica and I shared our testimonies in Spanish and enjoyed the experience of the Cuban church. Ana told me later that in all her years she hasn't seen the church as big, motivated, passionate and moving as it is now. Praise God!!!Day 5 - Road to Matanzas
We traveled about an hour on the coastal highway east of Havana to a province called Matanzas. In this province we would visit two families and a church. Our travel included some neat photo opportunities of the coastal highway and its smelly oilfields along the way. Of course, Cuban propaganda fills up the billboards promoting socialism and putting down America...well, Bush, to be specific. I became aware that Cuba has no idea what the rest of the world looks like, they have no access to it. When the government limits internet use, advertising and controls the media...it controls what they know and have access to. Thank God for His word...because only through this can they find out the truth! I pray that the people of Cuba would not be brainwashed by Castro's idealism. He may have lofty ideas that have yet to come to fruition, but he is not the way, the truth or the life!! Praise God that He is! And in Him we have hope!!
Day 6 - Varadero, Matanzas, Cuba
We visited a mother named Aymara and her two sons, Oscar and Abelito. Her husband is stationed in Peru for a year as a military doctor. Her parents and sister have fled to Miami. We were fortunate to meet up with them in Miami before we left and when we returned in order to take them some family gifts. They were such a sweet family who have yet to meet the two sons. It was such a blessing to be the link between them! We took videos and photos of the kids to give to the grandparents. They were so excited to see them!! While we were there, Aymara prepared us a dinner of pork, rice/beans and avocado with green beans. Our team decided that we had just experienced the best meal in Cuba!!! We enjoyed spending time there because her little kids were so active and provided much entertainment for us. Justin, one teammate, was real involved with the two boys blowing bubbles to the kids on the lower level. Bubbles just never lose their excitement!! This was also the night of the tropical storm. Aymara was glad to have us all there as she was preparing to pack the kids up and stay with some family friends to sit the storm out.
In addition to this family, we also visited the family of Tatiana in Varadero. Tatiana has two young adult children and has raised them primarily as a single parent. She had been going through some tough times with a death in the family and was so incredibly excited to see us. We left some special vitamins for her and toiletries for the family. Tatiana was such a delight because you could see right into her heart with the stories and tears that she shared.
Day 7 - Pedro Betancourt, Matanzas, Cuba
On this day we drove an hour south to a church in Pedro Betancourt. This church was the nicest in Cuba!! The government does not allow new churches to be built or added onto. They must simply use what they have and can make painting updates, etc. This church had a campus effect to it. I don't know how they came up with the results but they told us that 98% of their congregation tithes. It explained the wonderful looks of the grounds but it didn't explain how the people were able to because the town appeared very poor. The pastor even said that most people drive by and think the church is an embassy! We were able to attend the Sunday morning service and it was powerful. The pastor talked about "sicknesses" in the church and held an altar call for those who wanted to commit to ridding their lives of what gets in the way with their relationship with God. I prayed a lot personally about how this message speaks to me!
Day 8 - Return to Havana
On our return to Havana we prepared to take off to Miami after one more night in the capital. I decided to have a spa day in the girls' house which included manicures and pedicures for my Cuban hosts. They were so excited just to experience fingernail polish remover! (it's a really hard thing to find in the bare shelves of Communist stores!) We also took a walk for the last time to Old Havana and capture the sights of its people, cars and nature. In the evening, Monica and I were surprised by the family because they presented gifts to us! I had admired Ana's expresso sized coffee cup set and so they bought me one!!!!!!!! I was so touched that my eyes welled up! I couldn't express myself in Spanish (one of few times I was speechless)!!! It was then our turn to present the gift I had been preparing to give. A new toilet! I told Ana that if this were my house back home and it had that problem, I would fix it as soon as possible because it was a daily necessity and priority and I had the God given resources to do it so I would like to do that same thing for her. Aymara cried because they had prayed for so long for a new toilet and never could replace it. It brought so much joy to my heart that God could use me as an answer to prayer for this family! What a neat opportunity! How is it that God would let me have this blessing?!!? It made the trip for me because I felt that I had responded to the will of God.
I was captivated by the sunsets that occurred every night on the coast just one block from the home.
There is nothing like a sunset on the Havana coast I am convinced. I decided to thank God for the opportunity to be standing on Cuban soil and to be blessed by his great creation. One verse that I memorized for this trip and ended up not only praying it for me but for the Cuban people is this... "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and always faithful in prayer". I whispered it to myself when I was experiencing difficult situations and prayed this fervently for the people of Cuba. One thing they do not know because of Castro is hope. I noticed that many people did not seem joyful and it's because they have nothing to hope for if they do not know Christ's love. They have definitely lived through affliction and for those who have turned to Christ...they have SOOOO much faith! It is a beautiful thing to see!
