I’ve been privileged to share her photo with thousands of people. Many have seen it in Herald of Truth presentations, in sermons, even on the cover of the book that’s on the right hand side of this page.

Her name is unusual, at least to me. Magalys, I believe it is.

While I was in Cuba, I learned that she passed away a few months ago.

I’m saddened. Yet not really. Her life here could best be described as a nightmare. When I met her in 2008, she was an amputee. Always had a catheter bag in her lap. She lived in abject poverty. A year after having the honor of baptizing her into Christ, I learned that she didn’t own a wheelchair, that she merely borrowed one to come to church.

As she put it, at home, she dragged herself around the house.

It took another year to get the wheelchair to her. I later found out that the one we took was too big for the doors in the tiny house she lived in. She traded it for a smaller one.

In 2011, I asked her exactly what her ailment was, referring to what had taken her leg. I assumed it was diabetes. She thought I was referring to what was really wrong with her.

“I’ve got cancer,” she said, almost cheerfully. “I’ll be going home soon to be with my Father.”

And she did just that, not long ago.

Tony Fernández told me that her family has no photos of her. Ironic, isn’t it, considering how many people here have seen her picture and even have a copy. That’s one last thing I’ll get to do for her… get some pictures to her family.

We only spoke a few times. But she taught me lots. And she’s preached far better sermons with her life than I’ve ever been able to with my words.

“They came in and wanted us to stop singing during the collection.”

“We were quite happy, everyone providing their own cup for the Lord’s Supper. Then a brother from the States brought us communion trays, without asking. Now we have to find ways to get cups from the States.”

“They questioned why we were using wine in the Lord’s Supper instead of grape juice.”

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Just three stories I heard while in Cuba last week. Sad stories, to me. Tony Fernández told of preachers that change what they teach to align themselves with those that give them money. Of divisions being imported from outside the country. Of churches that become dependent on money and supplies from the States for everything they do.

Some of it I even saw firsthand. On the last day of the preacher’s conference, numerous people were invited to say something at the end. They were the typical speeches given at such times, words of thanks and words of encouragement. Then one brother from the States was asked if he would like to say something, and he replied, “Yeah, I’ve got a few things I want to say.” Then he proceeded to lambast the Cubans for two things, one which was a misunderstanding (the gentleman is hard of hearing) and the other a personal preference (he didn’t think people should clap for the speakers at the conference).

I was furious. Fortunately, 95% of the people there immediately rejected what this man had said. I fear, though, for the handful of preachers that receive their support from this man’s hand. I’m guessing they’ll feel pressured to complain about the same things in the future.

When I go to Cuba, I’m a foreigner. More than I am when here in Texas. I’ve spent a lifetime studying the Bible, and I have opinions and insights that I want to share. It’s so hard to not want to try and shape the Cuban church into what I think it should be. I think part of it even comes from the fact that we feel that we have a better chance of effecting change in these smaller, younger churches than we do in the churches where we are members. But we all have to learn to fight that tendency.

It’s hard for me. I’m guessing it’s hard for most people. But we’ve got to let the Cuban people develop their own faith, not just mirror our practices and statements of belief. We’ve got to do that around the world.

Isn’t that what Acts 15 is about? Romans 14? Let’s have enough faith in the power of God’s Word and the sanctifying work of the Spirit to allow people to grow into what God wants them to be, not what we think they should be.

By the way, if you’ve never read Pablo Sanabria’s open letter to American churches from the October 2006 issue of the Christian Chronicle, you should read it. I’ll end with a few quotes from his letter:

Brethren in the United States, please allow the leaders of the Nicaraguan churches to resolve their differences in their own cultural context.
Stop exporting your quarrels. Stop putting conditions on your support based on the acceptance of your personal points of view.
If you cannot stop requiring that local preachers reproduce your doctrinal theories, then consider the possibility of completely dropping the salaries that you send to Nicaragua.
Maybe this will help to reestablish the unity of church leaders that I once knew and participated in. Maybe this will help the church to once again flourish in this part of the world.