Reflections on Cuba

Scripture Passage

John 20:19-31

Worship Video

Worship Audio

Sermon Script

Alan Liu

Most people visiting Cuba plan their trip to experience the leisurely life and culture of this Caribbean island.

• Imagine the powdery white sand and blue water beaches
• Sipping tasty rum-based cocktails such as mojitos, Cuban Libres, daiquiris and a whole host of other drinks
• Listening to live Cuban Jazz and hopping across bars
• Walking up and down notable Cuban sites such as Revolution Square, museums, relics with names as Jose Marti, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro.

Our trip however provided us the unique opportunity to witness and experience beyond the tourist lens and really see what the local Cubans really faced.

Our interactions with local people, leaders, and other community members helped us comprehend first hand the dire economic, social and political situation. Examples of real Cuban challenges included:

• Food sources are rations provided by the Government consisting of rice and sugar
• Highly scarce medicines and products on pharmacy shelves
• Regular electricity blackouts which affect industrial production and individual daily life
• Insufficient drinkable water
• An absent working age population (18-55+ yrs old) across all key industries and sectors (an economic calamity)
• These were just a few of the daily struggles everyday Cubans faced…..

We couldn’t help hear and witness the Hopelessness…but as we learned during and after this trip, the people of Cuba also embody strong qualities of pride, resilience and to some degree even glimmers of hope. A few examples from our trip I wanted to touch on and what you also saw in our video:

• We visited 2 seminaries (stayed in one in Matanzas) and witnessed how both dedicated grassroot leaders and theological students turn to God, take moments to and help communicate hope to their Brothers and Sisters in the community. .
• We spent time understanding key projects undertaken by Cuban people including Weavers of Hope who employ 8 women who take raw materials such as yarn and thread to make assorted clothing products. The financial support raised from these sales go to support underserved women and their families.
• Drinking water installed with the support of Living Waters for the World which has established a key network to bring drinkable water to the local communities in Cuba with an ever growing need for more systems to bring this essential source to more areas in Cuba.
• We visited and sat down with leaders at churches and centers at Kairos Center, Juan G Hall, Guanabacoa and Luyano where we witnessed the importance of the role of local churches. We saw the significance of their role in Cuban society where they provide basic needs: breakfast/lunch and other essential food programs, clean drinking water, medicines, educational and collaborative learning/outing programs, communities where seniors can gather and fellowship together (just to name a few).

During our visit in Havana through the Museum of Fine Arts, our group heard themes of duality as our guide provided us with vivid interpretations of several works showcasing Cuban artistry. Our Mission team continued to discuss, experience and struggle through those vivid tensions the Cubans faced in their present day:

• Country’s desire for independence yet there is desperation and severe dependence on basic goods
• Cubans access to free education yet it society faces censorship, dissent criminalisation and skill worker migration (post graduation)
• Access to free healthcare but there are epidemic-level shortages of medicine and badly needed medical resources

Duality is also best described from the Bible verse found in John Chapter 1.
Verses 4 to 5:

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

God showed us that even in the darkness, God shines a light for its people. Our group had the opportunity to witness God’s resilience, hope and love from His people that though Cuba is weak, God’s light and hope for this country is strong.

Grace B.

‘The situation is the worst it’s ever been, and we don’t know if it’s going to get better.’ That’s something we heard everywhere we went. We were witnessing a very specific period in Cuban history. A point in time where they’re trying to figure out how to move forward in this new reality of yet another crisis. US embargos, disintegrated currency, disassociated government – no direction, no leadership, no hope.

Cuba’s one desire is to be independent, but the generations have gone through crisis after crisis. In the future, historians might come up with a name for this current period, but for now – it’s just hard times. So hard that it’s shaking people to the core. They’re agitated and they’re starting to lose their sense of community as they’re trying to survive on less and less.

In the midst of a mass exodus, seniors and young children (the most vulnerable) remain. For some families, the separation is meant to be temporary, while others are leaving permanently. Those who chose to leave are usually young, highly educated and exactly the people society depends on to build the country. You cannot fault their choice. The multitude of reasons that got them there are oh-so complicated, we learned that it’s never just one thing. There’s this and there’s that, two opposing factors both exist side by side. It’s the paradox of Cuba.

On our trip we met pastors, students, educators, community workers, congregation members and were guided by our amazing translator, Yosmel. They are examples of those who have chosen to remain. We looked to them to tell us, to show us what Cuba is to them.

Through them, we saw faithful resilience, ingenuity and fight. They are very aware of how dire their situation is. Despite the darkness at the end of the tunnel, all of them showed us their purpose for staying.

At the Matanzas Seminary and the local churches, the pastors and staff acknowledged that it was difficult even for them, but they told us that they’re there to provide hope and strength for the people to go on.

The churches are very attuned to their communities’ needs. They have responded by running social programs to support the seniors and children by providing lunches, medical dispensaries, a daycare and discussion groups. The churches are doing the social work. They also create their own source of income by selling crafts, building facilities for visitors to room at a cost, renting out buses – amongst other things. The pastor at Luyano stressed to us that it is important for them to have their own resources to help, not just rely on external sponsorships.

Each of the churches and seminaries we visited had a Living Waters station. As each day passed with us now having to rely on that water, it became increasingly clear how crucial these stations are.

Living Waters of the World is a global organization. Some countries set up the water system as a micro-business to sell the drinking water, but not in Cuba. Cuba decided that the water will be made free for all who need it. There are only about 70 Living Waters stations in the whole country. Currently, the Living Waters program in Cuba only has partners in the US, which in this climate, can become quite a challenge. Cuba needs more partners to build out more water stations. This was the only free drinkable water available to the communities. As I think about the neighbours bringing their big containers to fill with water for their homes, I wonder what they would do if Living Waters was not there? They can’t boil water whenever they want – the electricity could be out for days. It’s the churches providing drinking water to the people (not the government). They need thousands of stations, but they have less than a 100 today.

“Vamos” – come see. We heard that a lot. Our hosts opened up their reality to us and honestly shared their struggles. They also showed us all the hard work they do every day. They are present and available for their people, those who remain…. Did you know there are 6 generations of Koreans living in Cuba?! Anyway… Everyone we met, lives in the same harsh context but to them, that’s all the more reason why they choose to stay, to be there to listen, support and love each other.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for ‘thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Being there, that prayer became real as I could see the possibilities of what coming together as one body in Cuba could look like. Our new friends in Cuba told us how meaningful it was for us to just be there to witness and understand their reality – to be seen. We are connected in spirit and bound by God’s love.

Before I left, I did not like the word or the idea of Mission because of its connotation to colonization and dominance. I’m still not comfortable with it, but I do wonder if what we witnessed in the Cuban churches is what Mission could be. Mission doesn’t have to be about conversion and it doesn’t have to be one-sided. Maybe we can re-envision Mission to be about showing up, listening, becoming attuned to the needs and partnering with the community to heal and build together in solidarity.

Also, Mission could be fun. Every day was a gift to learn more about Cuba. It was great to get to know our guide and group members a little better and to have lots of laughs. This trip was filled with joy, as it felt like it was the beginning of something new.

Thank you for the opportunity.

John Chung

Is it possible to fall in love with a country, and with a group of strangers after only 8 short days? I would not have thought so, but we did. We fell in love with Cuba and with the many people we met. We fell in love with the warmth and generosity of their hearts. We grew to admire and respect the dignity they hold within themselves and the dignity they continue to uphold in each other. We saw the pride they had in being Cuban, although that sense of pride is quickly diminishing. It diminishes with each person that decides to leave Cuba because they feel that the socio-economic condition there is unsustainable, and they realize that this is the worst it’s ever been. The average person lives without enough food and their daily lives are punctuated by extended blackouts, living without electricity for much of each day, sometimes for more than 20 hrs per day. Yes, we experienced the daily blackouts and yes, it was inconvenient but we also knew that this was a temporary experience for us. We would be fine as soon as we came back home. But for those who remain, this is their daily existence.

The diminishing pride of Cubans is hard to watch. What is even harder to witness is the gradual dimming of hope. This was heartbreaking. We spoke a lot about hope during our 8 days there.

When we asked our translator and guide what the next 5 years looks like for Cuba, he responded by saying he doesn’t know what next week will look like, let alone the next few years. He spoke about feeling hopeless for the first time in his life.

When we asked the principal of the seminary how the seminary students will teach and preach when they graduate and start their ministries, he confided that this is THE main challenge that awaits the future pastors. How can they minister to their people and speak about the love of God when their church members are hungry? How can they preach the good news of Jesus when many members of their community have left to find work, with the hopes of sending some money back home? How can they lead their congregations in worship when many people in Cuba feel that God has abandoned them?

It broke our hearts to hear of such things.

As we heard many stories of the difficult reality most people in Cuba live with, we were told on more than one occasion that the 10 of us taking our time to be in solidarity with them in Cuba gave them hope because it made them feel like they were not forgotten. To hear this was deeply humbling.

During our nightly debrief sessions, the 10 of us spoke about what it means to have hope. What is that fine line between being hopeful and hopeless? What did Paul mean in Romans when he said “hope against hope”? We understood why the people of Cuba were growing more hopeless when faced with material shortages, but why did Rev Kim preach about hope a few Sundays ago to those of us at St Timothy, living very comfortably in Canada, where our issue is not having too little but having too much? Many of us have sought a comfortable, relatively worry-free life. We’ve got that now. We’re so comfortable, in fact, that it’s starting to feel a little bit uncomfortable. So is hope contingent on having our basic needs met or rather, is hope a spiritual state of being, like Rev Kim reminded us? We discussed and reflected on such matters during our time in Cuba.

Thankfully, as the days went on, we did witness little glimpses of hope.

We saw hope in Ortiz, the patient and persistent gardiner who was an answer to prayer for the seminary. We saw the fruits of his labour when he turned 7 acres of overgrown weeds into a thriving vegetable garden full of herbs, sweet potatoes, peppers, squash, and the list goes on. All organic and all grown with love, and yes, hope. Enough to feed those inside the seminary but also enough to share with a few people and businesses in the surrounding neighbourhood.

La esperanza vive en Ortiz. Hope lives in Ortiz.

We saw hope in the montessori school in the church at Guanabacoa, where the 40 beautiful children are loved and cared for. Those kids still have that innocence and purity that all children are blessed with, or perhaps I should say, that they bless us with. We saw hope in the renovations that the church is doing to add space for 20 more kids. And we hope that they will be able to eventually meet the needs of the more than 120 other children in the neighbourhood who are on the waiting list.

La esperanza vive en la iglesia de Guanabacoa. Hope lives in the church at Guanabacoa.

We witnessed hope in the churches at Juan G Hall, and Luyanó, who despite having lost many of their members to emigration, have somehow found ways to be the central and critical sanctuary for the members of their respective communities. Whether it’s in providing clean, fresh drinking water for the community, or being the main centre for essential social and spiritual services for everyone who walks into their buildings.

La esperanza vive ahí. Hope lives there in those church communities.

In these and many other instances we saw hope. Hope in action. Day by day. Hope against hope.

As we hope for Cuba, we continue to pray for them also.

We pray for Yasmina, that her surgery went well and that the electricity stayed on during her operation, and that if there was a blackout, that there was hopefully enough fuel in the generator to keep the lights and machines on.

We pray for David, who was sent by his community to the seminary, to learn and to be filled with hope so that he can then bring that hope back with him to the people that need it most.

We pray for Violeta, Anna Paola, Annabelle and Carla, who when they turn 15 will not be able to celebrate their quinceañera like most other 15 year old girls in Spanish speaking countries around the world. They will not be lavished with expensive gifts and fancy celebrations, but we pray that they will be surrounded with love from their families and communities. We pray they will experience true joy on their special day.

We also pray for Ayler and Yosmel, our driver and translator, who have become our friends. We pray that they will keep enough hope alive in themselves to continue the good work they are doing. We pray for them and their families, that they will continue to fight the good fight.

And finally, we pray for the people of Cuba. We hope you will pray for them too.

Thank you.

Rev. In Kee Kim

Thank you for your testimony.

The word that we heard the most was hopelessness. The common theme we heard from three people was hopelessness.

Last Wednesday, I went to Cuba-Canada Solidarity Gathering in Toronto. Two people came from Cardenas where our team also visited. They shared their stories.

They also let us know the hopeless situation in Cuba. They said any help will be helpful.

But they pointed out medical needs and the basic food needs as the most urgent needs. They feed 120 seniors every day, delivering food because there is no transportation.

Hopelessness – that was what Thomas experienced.

After Jesus was crucified, everybody felt hopelessness. They didn’t know what to do. Their only hope was their Lord, Jesus.

And they thought that he was the Messiah and he was the only source of their hope. They thought that Jesus would deliver the country from the devastating situation. They thought that Jesus would bring a new life for them.

But he was gone.

Their expectations and their hopes were shattered. They didn’t know what to do.

When you see no hope, you experience helplessness. That was exactly what Thomas experienced.

Even though his friends said they saw the Lord Jesus, Thomas could not believe that. He thought they must have seen a ghost or hallucination.

He wanted concrete evidence of the mark of Jesus’ hand and put his hand in his side. He didn’t take his hopelessness with faith. He wanted concrete solutions.

There are no concrete solutions of what to do in Cuba.

We took 12 bags of clothes, shoes, and medicines. What good are they considering the immensity of the problems in the country. There are only 60 or so water pumps when they needed 1000s of them.

It’s like five loaves of bread and two fish when you have to feed 5,000 male adults. Including children and women, probably 15,000 people.

What good are five loaves of bread and two fish? These are not concrete solutions.

These are our acts of faith. That was what we saw.

They worked hard not necessarily because they are concrete solutions. But they worked hard, having faith in Jesus.

Ultimately Thomas had faith in Jesus. His confession was the highest confession.

No one dared to say that Jesus was God but Thomas confessed that Jesus was God.

Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (John 20:28)

Jesus said to him,

‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ (John 20:29)

We don’t necessarily see the concrete solutions. But we have faith in God.

In your hopelessness, you may not see concrete solutions but my friends, have faith in God. God will bless you by taking you out of your hopelessness.

God does wonderful miracles. We believe that.

We have no solution but God has a concrete solution. Let us trust in God and do whatever we can.

We share our food with them. We will continuously bring medicine to them. Hopefully, our church gets involved in installing water filter system. Advocate the Canadian government so that the embargo may be lifted.

These are not necessarily solutions but we do all this with faith in God. God will use our two fish and five loaves of bread to feed 15,000.