God Moments
How and where do we start volunteering for missions?
The perfect place to start is to look to the man who was the perfect volunteer – Jesus! The man who lived and worked on the margins: God who came down to be with His created people, to suffer, to cry and to experience joy with them. And ultimately, amazingly, to die for them… for this world…for the community around us … for our team …. for you.
Through His hands, feet and heart, Jesus Christ embodies perfection in His serving and love, providing the model for volunteering, He also gives us direction in furthering His Kingdom on earth. He gives us purpose in providing us relationships with our team and the Cuban people that we visit and encourage. In those relationships we find our identity in Him and our vocation in this world.
Praise God for this experience!
Travel day was a Friday, starting before midnight on Thursday we made our way to Toronto. One van for luggage, another van and two cars for us. A total of eleven people on this trip equalling eleven carry-on suitcases plus those “big purses” and 22 – 50 lb. hockey bags full of aid.
All went well until Barb had a flat tire while driving to the Park and Fly. Walter was ahead of her but managed to turn around and help her put on spare tire. Meanwhile the rest of us had checked in and were waiting for boarding at the gate. Boarding began about 5:45 a.m., we were all buckled in and ready to go when the pilot announced “Sorry, we are going to be delayed as there is an engine problem”. Not surprising the anxiety level on that aircraft went up expediently. Two hours later and after being de-iced, with much creaking and rattling we had lift off and were headed for Cuba. We were met with the usual blast of hot air as we deplaned, but we were also thankful to have arrived safely.
Because of all your prayers we again breezed through customs. Out in the parking lot we were met by Raul, Pastor Fernando and our lead Pastor Yonail. Off to the Casa Particular (bed and breakfast), room assignments and meeting to go over the agenda for the week. We had a huge, very loud thunderstorm that thankfully ended before we left for supper.
Saturday was sorting day at the church in Placetas. It still surprises me that the heat can zap so much of your energy. However, we had a seasoned team and three newbies with us, and we all worked really well together.
Each mission trip we are tasked with leading a morning devotion for the team. This time I chose a hymn ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’. In what Bonnie calls God Moments this hymn was threaded throughout the mission week for me.
Sunday the plan had been to go to the La Pastora mission for worship, but the hosts were not available, so we went to Pastor Dario’s church in Santa Clara. Pastor Dario is one of the newest of the twenty Pastors that we support. Imagine a group of eleven Canadians filing into your church in Cuba unannounced. We were so warmly welcomed. The entire service of course in Spanish, but I did recognise one song – yes of all of the songs in all of the hymn books — ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’! God Moment!
After the service we stayed and visited with Pastor Dario, his wife Damarys and his daughters Debora and Ana. They are living in a few rooms at the back of the church, so we asked why they were not living in the attached home. The house roof needs to be replaced and is not safe. I asked Yonail how much it would cost in Canadian funds to fix the roof – approximately $400. I pulled out $50, the next person opened their wallet and before you know it $450 was collected. God Moments!!! We then went a tour of the home next door, and it was clear a new roof is desperately needed. Pastor Dario and Yonail will work together to get the building supplies and workers to get the roof repaired.
We split into two teams to get in all the Pastor visits. On these visits we bring the bags of aid and explain some of the newer items such as the laundry sheets that were donated by Tru Earth, and the recipe for concentrated Castill soap and essential oils to make shampoo. The personal visit also shows the Pastors and their families that we care and brings encouragement to continue the work of bringing Jesus to the people of Cuba. We also ask what specific items they need and what their prayer requests are.
Philippians 4:6 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made know to God.”
The lyric in ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’ reads “all our sins and griefs to bear!” “We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer.”
Off to Placetas for more visits and supper at the church.
Monday was a long, hot day of travelling to the outer reaches of our mission area. So worth it for the personal touch it all brings. It was unseasonably warm in Cuba, so the ride home was long and hot. Yonail picked up some pizza for our supper, which was a good thing as we had another huge thunderstorm.
God Moment
Each morning as I ready for the day I play a different Christian album from my phone, and Tuesday I was listening to ‘Personal Saviour’ by one of my favourite groups Heartsong. I walked out onto the back patio where we have our breakfasts softly playing the song ‘He’s my Personal Saviour’. Sarah, one of the new members of our group turned and asked who was singing. I said the group Heartsong. She promptly began to cry. Unbeknownst to me the lead singer of Heartsong, Steve Stanley was Sarah’s father. Steve passed away February 20, 2020. Sarah hadn’t been able listen to his music since his funeral. That is until I walked behind her – playing her dad’s music – in Cuba – of all places.
That is a God Moment as she was able to heal in a safe place with a team who take care of each other. Sarah was even able to play ‘Whispering Hope’ sung by her dad when it was her turn to do devotions. Not a dry eye at that table.
This year we were able to bring all twenty of the Pastors and their wives to the church in Placetas for Pastors Day. They hadn’t seen each other since our visit in November of 2019 because of the Covid lockdown. The joy, the happiness, the excited chatter was wonderful to see. God Moments — A worship service together and then crocheting and card making for the ladies and dominos for the men. A spaghetti lunch, mango juice and cake and more catching up. Goodbyes and then we were off to Camajuani for a visit to Pastor Fernando’s. Again, there was a pouring down rainstorm with room shaking thunder and lightning.
Some of the Other God Moments:
Oxen farmer donations in memory of Belinda’s mom, bike tires with tubes for Pastor Yasdany’s wife Yaimary, a commode to care for the elderly, and a lithium battery for Pastor Raimon’s moped. All provided by funds on the spot from our team members.
One last day of visiting on the Friday in Vega de Palma with so many hugs and warm welcomes. We have all become family.
During the rest week we had a prayer meeting one evening to present to our Lord some of the prayer requests that we had from the Pastors and their families. The people of Cuba are suffering from lack of food, inflation, lack of freedom, Covid, loss of hope and many are leaving the country on a perilous journey to try and get to the U.S.A. Extortion, physical hardships, kidnappings, and loss of life is happening on that journey every day. Last November we termed the Cuban people’s situation as desperate, it is now critical.
Our prayers also included spontaneous songs the last of which was ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’.
God Moments
In faith we have booked our next mission to Cuba for November 2022. Just before we left for this trip, I looked at my mission account wondering, now that I am retired, how far the funds were going to go. Do I continue to go on these mission trips or does God have something else in mind for me? Not -Ten minutes later I received a call from Vic Postma sharing that Liz had been such an ardent supporter of my mission trips to Cuba and in her memory, he would like to contribute to my next mission trip. Transportation taken care of!
God Moments
We are all different
We are all uniquely gifted
We all have something to contribute – Wherever we are
What a friend we have in Jesus
Jesus es mi Fiel amigo
Dorothy Haan April 2022