Tag Archives: Cuba

Pardon the interruption…

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We’ll get back to our discussion of church websites, but I thought I’d tell you about our trip to Cuba. For the first time, my wife Carolina got to go with me to Cuba. They invited her to speak at the Annual Women’s Conference in Havana, Cuba, and also to present at a Ladies’ Day in Matanzas, Cuba. I was thrilled, for the work in Cuba is one of the most exciting works I’ve ever seen. The University Church of Christ in Abilene agreed to fund our trip, which was something else I was happy about. I really hope that UCC will find ways to get involved in the great things going on in Cuba.

We traveled to Miami on Thursday, November 10, spending the night in the airport hotel there. That works well when taking a charter flight to Cuba for the check-in for those flights is about 100 feet from the hotel entrance. On Friday, we flew from Miami to Havana. When I’ve done this trip in the past, the plane was a small American Eagle plane. This time it was a 737, which suggests to me that the number of people traveling to Cuba is increasing.

The Ladies’ Day went well. They go all out, offering cooking tips, beauty advice, singing lessons, and the like. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and Carolina did great.

I spoke at the church on Sunday, with about 350 in attendance. There were 3 baptisms, which isn’t surprising for a work that averages 150-200 baptisms per year. (This congregation also works with over 20 smaller churches in the surrounding province)

On Monday we traveled to Havana. The women’s conference started on Tuesday. Carolina taught 3 classes on Wednesday and gave a keynote on Thursday. Everyone fell in love with her and she with them.

We returned home on Friday, tired but happy after a great trip.

I took some photos on my iPhone using an app called DerManDar. This app creates panoramic photos which can be rather interesting. I’ll include one of those photos here (use the controls at the bottom of the photo to manipulate it). You can see more on my page at DerManDar.com.

To Cuba and back

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Quick trip this past weekend. Herald of Truth works with a young preacher in Cuba; this man has been invited to speak at several events this fall (Harding Lectureship, ACU Summit, etc.), so we’re working on getting him a visa to come to the States. The U.S. Interests Section in Havana requested to see the original letters of invitations for each event. Sounds simple enough, but the plain fact is that the U.S. and Cuban mail systems aren’t working together right now and other delivery companies balked at taking the materials. We finally decided it would be easiest just to hand carry them.

My travel took me through Cancun. It’s always interesting to me how excited people get when you mention Cancun. They seem to forget that:

  • being in the Cancun airport is no more exciting than being in any other airport
  • Cuba is a Caribbean island with beaches every bit as nice as they say the Cancun beach is (I wouldn’t know firsthand; outside of the Cancun airport, I’ve only seen the Marriott Courtyard hotel which is near the airport)

I left Abilene early on Saturday, doing my best to make it to Cancun in time to catch a 2:30 Cubana airlines flight. Both my flight from Abilene and Dallas went smoothly, so I got to Cancun right on time. Immigration and customs were no problem, so I got to the Cubana counter before noon.

When I checked in, the agent said, “Your flight leaves at 2:30, but check here at 2:00.” That seemed strange. A 2:30 flight should be boarding by 2:00. At the least, I should be through security by then. So I asked if I’d heard right. “Yes, there is a slight problem with the plane. If we can’t fix it, we’ll have to bring another one, which will mean your flight won’t leave until tonight.”

Yuck. Naturally when I went back at 2:00, they informed me that I should go to the gate… at 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. They also provided me with 100 pesos in vouchers (which is about 8 dollars. I picked up some bottled water to have in Cuba). I had no interest in leaving the airport, so I retreated to a place where I could at least access the Internet via my iPod touch. There was plenty of time to kill.

About 7:30 I wandered by the gate area and saw that an estimated departure time had been posted — 12:40. Wow! Eventually they gave us another voucher… some juice to drink there and more water to carry.

Finally a plane arrived. It wasn’t a Cubana plane, but one from T.A.C.A. (an airline from El Salvador). Having flown on Cubana in the past, I didn’t mind trading a broken-down Russian jet for the modern one we got to fly on. We touched down in Havana at about 4 in the morning.

Immigration and customs took a while. As would happen in any country, someone flying in on a tourist visa and only planning to stay one day catches the eye of immigration officials. My belongings were searched well, and I was questioned rather vigorously for about half an hour. Finally I got to leave the airport.

Tony Fernandez was there to pick me up; poor guy had been waiting all day. We drove to Matanzas, and I arrived at my hotel at about 6:40 a.m. Church was at 10:00, so I at least had a few minutes to rest a bit. I slept until 9:00, then jumped in the shower.

I noticed the water pressure was a bit weak, but I’d seen worse. The shower head could be taken off the mount and lowering it increased the pressure. No problem… I’d shower on my knees. With the trickle that was coming out, I was able to lather up thoroughly, both with soap and shampoo. That’s when the trickle disappeared. No water. At all. Not in the shower. Not in the sink. None.

There I was, covered in soap, and the only water in sight was in the toilet. Would I…?

Then I remembered Cubana’s generosity and the bottles of water in my bag. I could get more. This was an emergency. It was a bit chilly, but I was able to rinse off with one of the bottles and still had some left for brushing my teeth.

Church was great as always, and I got to share some time with dear friends at lunch and supper (with a nap in between). I didn’t dare stay up too late, since I had a 7:00 flight the next morning. That meant leaving the hotel at 3 a.m. At least there was water on Monday!

The return trip was pretty uneventful… flooded airport in Cancun, long lines at customs in Dallas, but everything was on time and I made it back.

So that was my weekend. How was yours?

Manuel Manrique

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I just want to share one more story from my last Herald of Truth trip to Cuba. I know I’m running the risk of being like your friend who wants to show you 557 pictures from his last vacation. But I wanted to talk about making a visit to the home of Manuel Manrique.

Everyone calls him Manrique. Manrique was a preacher before the revolution and stayed faithful, even during the hard times. He used to ride a bicycle with an antenna on the back and a sign on the front that said, “Only Jesus Saves.” They would stop him, rough him up and rip the sign off his bike. He’d go home, put a new sign on and head out again. He was responsible for planting numerous congregations back in the day.

When I first met Manrique, he just seemed to be a quaint old gentlemen with failing eyesight who was at every church meeting. He would talk out during sermons, finishing verses that were being quoted or even making the preacher’s point for him. Over time, I came to know his story and came to have a great love and respect for the man.

Manrique wasn’t at the events this time. When I asked, they told me that his health is bad and his wife’s health is worse, so he was at home. He was sorely missed.

Tony Fernández took me to visit Manrique one afternoon, and what a visit it was. He told stories, sang hymns and reveled in the joy of the Lord.

But my favorite moments were when Tony described the evangelistic work going on, particularly the revival of a dormant work in the town of Cárdenas. Manrique sat on the edge of his seat, pumping his fist and cheering aloud, looking for all the world like a rabid sports fan listening to a game. But his sport is Christianity, and I’m not sure there’s a bigger fan. Tears came to my eyes as I watched him.

There are some pictures and other stories about Manrique in several articles on the Christian Chronicle web site:
After 35 years, and one hurricane, lectureship reaches Cuba
Seeing the light in Cuba
Classic cars, Communism and Churches of Christ

Video production in Cuba

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As I mentioned, one of the purposes of my trip to Cuba was for Tim Frakes to train our Herald of Truth team in Cuba in the production of professional videos. For now, there are limited distribution options, but there is the real possibility that that will change in the future. While they were focused on the possibility of producing television, Tim encouraged them to recognize as well the opportunities that the Internet will provide.

The church in Matanzas has been blessed with gifted media workers, from professional cameramen to well-known television personalities. The week there was highly productive, with the team confidently producing several video testimonies that will soon be posted on the web, both on YouTube and on our evangelistic site www.nuestraesperanza.com.

The world of media is changing with new technologies making it easier to produce quality products on a low budget. May God use these changes for his glory in Cuba.

XI National Preachers Conference in Cuba

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My trip to Cuba had two main purposes, besides the ongoing need to visit our Herald of Truth field office there. Training Cuban Christians in the production of professional videos was one of the purposes; for that purpose, Tim Frakes traveled with me and worked all week with a team of Christians. The other purpose of the trip was the national preachers conference that took place in two places simultaneously: Matanzas and Santiago.

I was the keynote speaker for the western conference, in Matanzas. Including the opening worship on Sunday night, I was scheduled to speak eight times, though I ended up combining two of the talks into one. The theme of the conference was “The Fruit of the Spirit.” We started on Sunday and finished Wednesday at noon. The scheduled was packed, with one speaker after another. I’m not sure that many Christians here would sit and listen to that many talks in a row, but these men did a great job of paying attention. It’s always fun to speak to a group that’s hungry to learn.

This was the first time that the conference had been split between two locations. Not all of the Cubans were happy about the change, especially because this is the only time in the year that they all get to see one another. However, the different format allowed for the participation of almost twice as many preachers, up to 450 from 250 the year before. Personally, I’d like to see a rotating format, with a centralized conference one year and a split conference the other. But I’m just a flunky in this one, so I’ve got no say.

The Cubans have had three major conferences each year: the mens conference, a womens conference and a youth conference. At present, the youth conference is having a hard time due to the lack of outside funding. If you know of a congregation that would be interested in being a part of the work in Cuba, this would be a great opportunity.