Cuba Praise Report, April 2012 Mission Trip PART TWO…
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| Puppet Workshop Participants and Teachers |
On Wednesday, Mary collaborated with Idalmis and
representatives from six churches, to facilitate another ‘Puppet Ministry Workshop.’
Thanks to Tom Spencer, there are four additional churches in Cuba,
equipped with puppets and puppet dramas.
We know children, as well as adults, enjoy puppets. Puppet ministries provide platforms that are
attractive to many. Through the dramas
and plays, the gospel can be shared in a way that is non-threatening and easy to
comprehend.
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| Daykel and Mary |
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| Girl with cut out from VBS |
Wednesday night, we saw Big
Apple Adventure in full swing, complete with music, Bible stories,
handicrafts, games and snacks It is
amazing how quickly the kids picked up the song gestures and movements. Two more Bible paintings have been added to
the children’s classrooms—‘Jonah and the
Big Fish’ and ‘The Parting of the Red
Sea.’ Daykel, the artist, continues
to paint the stories from the Bible for additional rooms.
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| Team with Pastor Delvis |
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| Girl praying... |
One of the Seminary librarians serves with her husband at Villa Rosa Baptist Church. We learned their
church is located next to the Baptist Senior
Adult Home. On Thursday, we visited
both locations. At the church, students
were divided into groups by ages. Their
songs were loud and had lots of hand movements.
They broke for the Bible lesson and were sitting all around the old
church out on the grass. The skies were
darkening and we overheard one girl praying and asking God to ‘please hold the
storms until they had finished their time together.’ Just as the Bible lesson
was coming to an end, the torrential rains started. Everyone ran for shelter in the church. The much needed rain cooled the air and
allowed us to have more opportunities to fellowship with our friends. Two months ago, the Baptist Senior Adult Home received a new van. This is a real
blessing. The van has room for wheel
chair patients and thirteen passengers.
Thursday evening, we had an hour to take a walk along the
Malecon, a boardwalk area by Havana Bay, before returning to the Seminary. The night air was cool. There were many people out walking and some musicians strolled along singing songs. We met up with some friends from the Western Baptist Convention and talked with them a while.
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| Water fight... |
Friday morning, we finished filling the bags with resources
for our partner churches. Several
pastors came over and shared updates on their ministry endeavors. In the afternoon, we headed back to a church
south of Havana. The church youth group
was having a sleepover that evening along with other activities. From the roof, we watched them as they had a
water fight. Everyone was soaked in
about 8 minutes…
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| Don Guarapo and Amigos... |
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| Mary and Yazmani |
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| The train with Love, Faith and Hope |
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| Packed Friday night Church Service |
We went on to Guines
Baptist Church. We had the privilege of meeting
a family whose son, Yazmani, is developmentally The night air was cool. There were many people out walking and some musicians strolled along singing songs. We ran into some friends from the Baptist Convention and talked with them adelayed. He has had 45 different operations in 25
years. The doctors have said that he is
a living miracle. His testimony is known
all over the town. Guines Baptist has a
ministry for families with disabled children. During the evening, we learned
more about their stories. God has used
these testimonies to witness to so many.
We enjoyed the church evening program that included clowns, music and a drama
presentation, 'Don Guarapo'. Everyone with birthdays
between January and April were recognized.
At the end of the program, cake was served...
On the flight back to Ft. Lauderdale, we remembered the
impact of these young pastors and their families who are making a difference
for the Kingdom, in spite of many obstacles.
Please pray with us as we hope to help them in the future.
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| Relay races... |
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| Five Girls playing at church |
God is working in Cuba and many are becoming Christ
followers. Please continue to pray.
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| Katie, Yla, Mary, Frank, Va.--April 2012 Team |
Our Lord willing, we are planning to go again on mission to
Cuba, in October of 2012.
