Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary (SET) — March 2023 Update

As this year began for SET, one of our partners in Cuba, there were many challenges presented by the severe economic crisis on the island: shortages of food, unavailability of even basic educational supplies like paper and thumb drives, fuel shortages, and power cuts. Yet despite those hardships, the seminary began the new year with energy, vision, and a renewed commitment to providing ecumenical theological and pastoral training across the island, with comprehensive remote learning opportunities as well as classes on campus in Matanzas.

Cuba Partnership — January 2023 Update

After an absence of several years, it was a blessing to return to Cuba in December with several of our trustees (Doug Nielson and Deena Candler) and Executive Director (Mark Mueller) to reunite with a key partner (the Presbyterian Reformed Church) and be inspired by their faithfulness during the difficult times through which they are passing. We visited eight congregations, here is a glimpse into a few of them….

Latin America, Partnership, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationJanuary 19, 2023Cuba Partnership, Cuba

Children's Bible Ministry in Guanabacoa, Cuba — December 2022 Update

A Joyful Return

After a four-year absence from Cuba, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was a delight to return with an Outreach Foundation team and reconnect with our beloved Presbyterian family there. We arrived at the Presbyterian Church in Guanabacoa in time to share in the Wednesday morning prayer service, led by Rev. Yoelkis Sierra and one of the elders, who brought a message on Acts 3:2 — the lame man carried to the temple each day to beg. This question followed: do we see the needs of our neighbors? The congregation has answered that question by providing “meals on wheels” to the poor and elderly in their community and by joining with the local municipality to renovate a run-down playground for local children.

Children's Bible Ministry - May 2022 Update

For 121 years, the Presbyterian Church in this working-class suburb of Havana has given faithful witness to the Good News. Like many churches in Cuba, it developed ministries unique to its context, such as one that served those diagnosed with AIDS who were often shunned by their families and communities.

When its current pastor, Rev. Yoelkis Sierra, began to explore the surrounding neighborhood, he quickly discerned that there were many young children whose families had no connection to the church. He and his leaders began to pray about how this might present the congregation with new opportunities to make Christ known.

Cuba Partnership - January 2022 Update

A December to Remember

Even as Cuba continues to struggle mightily with the effects of the pandemic and an economy in shambles, our partners there continue to inspire us with their resiliency, perseverance, and flat-out joy. This update is intended to give you some glimpses of that Spirit by highlighting several events…

Latin AmericaThe Outreach FoundationJanuary 13, 2022Cuba Partnership, Cuba

Cuba Appeal - October 2021 Update

This reflection upon the current crisis in Cuba – and of the Church’s response to it – comes from the Rev. Dora Arce Valentin. Rev. Dora is not only the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cuba (the IPRC—the Independent Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba) but a pastor in one of its congregations, a bit west of Havana in San Antonio de los Baños.

Dear family in Christ:

When the gospels tell us the stories of Jesus' miracles, sometimes our rational minds fail to understand the true message of those experiences. And, indeed, even the disciples, who walked with the Master every day of his ministry, never fully understood him until after the resurrection. However, there are times when we can see those daily miracles relived in the solidarity between sisters and brothers of faith, in small or large acts of generosity, of those who speak to us of love and demonstrate it by sharing what they have, as you have done.

Latin America, Partnership, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationOctober 21, 2021Cuba Appeal, Cuba Partnership, Cuba

Cuba Appeal - September 2021 Update

With gratitude for your generous response to our Cuba Emergency Appeal, we have been able to share more than $38,000 to meet the urgent needs of our partners at this critical time on the island, due to the pandemic and the collapse of the economy.

On June 21 at the Seminario Evangélico de Teologica (SET) in Matanzas, the school opened an annex ward of the local pediatric hospital which had been overrun with COVID cases. 120 patients and their accompanying relatives were received along with 20 medical personnel. For 47 days, ten SET employees and an onsite manager provided meals for 140 people. This included their daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as two snacks and food for babies under one year of age. Disinfecting cleaning, internet access and electricity had to be supplied by the seminary, along with the staffing of the kitchen and maintenance.

Gifts for the Presbyterian Reformed Synod of Cuba were sent with our wish that the funds be divided equally amongst the three Presbyteries who could then disburse resources, as needed, to their congregations which were in great need of assisting families to purchase food and medicine. Most of these congregations are found in small towns and villages and you can meet some of your Presbyterian family here, whom your gifts have both helped and encouraged…

Latin America, Projects, PartnershipElizabeth CarterSeptember 13, 2021Cuba Appeal, Cuba, Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary

Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary (SET) - August 2021 Update

Below are excerpts from a recent letter sent to us from one of our strategic partners in Cuba:

Dear sisters and brothers:

We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and at the same time, we thank you for your prayers and your expressions of concern related to the current situation in our country. We are living in an acute economic crisis and a crisis of values since the “special period” (decade of the 1990s) when the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc collapsed; we have not yet recovered from those times. The crisis has become worse …

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought negative consequences: the sad death of loved ones, which has produced a great emotional impact on the people. Furthermore, the State lost millions of dollars due to the fall of tourism. Despite that, it invested millions of dollars to try to heal and save the people.

Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cuba News

News has reached me that our seminary partner in Matanzas, Cuba, has been asked by the government to open one of their facilities (students are not yet allowed back on campus) to receive children (and their caregivers) who are suspected of having COVID-19. This comes as the local pediatric hospital is overwhelmed with cases. They have agreed to do this—an extraordinary act of service, as you can imagine. Please join me in prayer for this, that Christ may be glorified and that the seminary community is kept safe…

Children's Bible Ministry in Guanabacoa, Cuba - March 2021 Update

The Children’s Bible Ministry of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Guanabacoa, Cuba, began as a pastor’s dream shared with a group of visiting American missionaries from Thomasville, Georgia. Guanabacoa, a suburb of Havana, is a poor but proud and bustling community teeming with young families with children. Pastor Yoelkis Sierra Gonzalez knows this neighborhood well, and he saw firsthand the great need for a safe place for young children while their parents are at work. Pastor Yoelkis imagined the day when his church would welcome those children, feed and care for them, and teach them about Jesus.

Now, nearly three years later, Pastor Yoelkis’ dream is becoming a reality. Soon after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, construction began on the building that will house this ministry, and fall 2020 was set as the projected launch date. Unfortunately, the plan and timetable did not factor in the effect of a worldwide pandemic.

Cuba Partnership - February 2021 Update

Below, you will read excerpts from an important letter recently received from the General Council of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba. With an economy already on the verge of collapse, the pandemic has brought enormous challenges to daily living. The Outreach Foundation has provided multiple gifts to support these fragile congregations over the past year, thanks to your gifts.

---Marilyn Borst, Associate Director for Partnership Development

Letter to Our Partners in Mission

The General Council of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba, in the confidence that the bonds in the love of Christ give us, wishes to share with you, sisters and brothers on the journey, a brief look at the current Cuban situation, even when the complexity of the times in which the world lives do not allow it to be isolated or considered unique. Our intention is fundamentally to shed light on many questions that naturally arise in these times and that we have received from some of you.

The national situation

In the midst of the global crisis as a result of COVID-19, the Cuban State has launched a process called "economic reordering" that consists mainly of monetary exchange and wage reform. This process presents great challenges…

COVID-19 Appeal - February 2021 Update

Your gifts to the COVID-19 Emergency Appeal are making a difference...all over the world

When we launched this Appeal almost a year ago, none of us could have grasped what the devasting effects upon the global community would be with almost two million dead and economies devastated. Vaccines provide a glimmer of hope, but we know it will be a long time before large parts of the world can access them.

The Outreach Foundation is grateful for your faithful generosity over these past months as your gifts of over $277,000 have allowed us to respond to urgent needs in 23 countries: Iraq, Syria, Ghana, Rwanda, China, Cuba, Venezuela and so many more. These gifts have provided food relief, tuition help for seminarians so that their studies could continue, salary support for pastors in impoverished villages, and refugee relief for those whose lives were already being lived on the edge of calamity. The Global Church has used these gifts to shine the Light of Christ upon those who might not yet know of him and to encourage the faithful to “hold on.”

Reformed Presbyterian Children’s Day School Ministry - July 2020 Update

The Children’s Bible Ministry of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Guanabacoa, Cuba, began as a pastor’s dream shared with a group of visiting Americans from Thomasville, Georgia. Guanabacoa, a suburb of Havana, is a poor but proud and bustling community teeming with young families with children. Pastor Yoelkis Sierra Gonzalez knows this neighborhood well, and he saw firsthand the great need for a safe place for young children while their parents are at work. Pastor Yoelkis imagined the day when his church would welcome those children, feed and care for them, and teach them about Jesus.

Now, two years later, Pastor Yoelkis’ dream is becoming a reality. Soon after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, construction of the building that will house this ministry began early this year with a target completion date of fall 2020.

Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary - July 2020 Update

The Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary (SET) provides a high quality, diversified theological education program that prepares young church leaders to meet the challenges of growth in existing local congregations, including those of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba, and pursuing new church developments throughout Cuba. We recently received this note from the Rev. Dr. Carlos Emilio Ham, president of the seminary:

Undoubtedly, the world is undergoing one of the most difficult moments in its history with the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease that does not distinguish social classes nor geographical locations. Many countries have been affected in a bigger or lesser magnitude in a surprising way since this disease causes severe damage to human beings’ health. Cuba has not been free from it, which is why our Council of Ministers, together with the highest leadership of our country, determined to take a series of measures corresponding with the different epidemiological stages that our country could go through. Educational centers at all levels have closed their premises; sometimes these places have become isolation facilities for patients who were suspected to carry the disease or were positive for the virus. However, alternatives have emerged by using the media to continue teaching students.

Matanzas Theological Evangelical Seminary - June 2020 Update

The Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary (SET) provides a high quality, diversified theological education program that prepares young church leaders to meet the challenges of growth in existing local congregations, including those of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba, and pursuing new church developments throughout Cuba. We recently received this note from the Rev. Dr. Carlos Emilio Ham, president of the seminary:

Undoubtedly, the world is undergoing one of the most difficult moments in its history with the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease that does not distinguish social classes nor geographical locations. Many countries have been affected in a bigger or lesser magnitude in a surprising way since this disease causes severe damage to human beings’ health. Cuba has not been free from it, which is why our Council of Ministers, together with the highest leadership of our country, determined to take a series of measures corresponding with the different epidemiological stages that our country could go through. Educational centers at all levels have closed their premises; sometimes these places have become isolation facilities for patients who were suspected to carry the disease or were positive for the virus. However, alternatives have emerged by using the media to continue teaching students.

Keith Vandegrift and Lana Bell - November 2018 Update

Greetings friends,

On October 15th our home assignment came to an end. We are in Antigua, Guatemala for two months of language learning and study. Following that, our plan is to go directly to Cuba when we have a visa in place.

In August I made contact with some friends in Cuba and said in so many words, “It’s now or never.” To our surprise, a pastor friend got back to us quickly with a plan. That’s right: a real, logical, doable plan to obtain a visa to live and work in Cuba. We’ll believe it when we see it, of course, but this is the best shot we’ve had so far of getting permission and a visa, so we are encouraged.

N&Ctrl America Caribbean, MissionariesThe Outreach FoundationNovember 24, 2018Keith Vandegrift and Lana Bell, Cuba

Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary - October 2018 Update

I just came back from my 15th trip to Cuba leading another team from The Outreach Foundation. I am usually asked a simple question by those who are surprised to hear that there is a Presbyterian presence there: “Oh, really…how did you find the Church there (i.e. what is going on with it)?” My simple answer: “I find that it is persevering…”

Often you meet a person on these Cuban journeys who seems to embody this like Mercedes Cardenas, an 89-year old elder in the village church of Sabanilla. Rail thin, with thick glasses and an effervescent personality, this Afro-Cuban retired school teacher models an inspiring life of faithfulness – of perseverance. She remembers the first Presbyterian evangelist who came to town in the 1930s when she was a small child.

CANIP, National Presbyterian Camp - October 2018 Update

Dear friends,

It was just over a year ago that Hurricane Irma slammed the northern coast of Cuba. Flooding in the capital of Havana was captured in iconic images like this one to the right. But further to the east the impact was even greater, and squarely in the center of the worst of the destructive wind and rain was the camp and conference center (CANIP, for short) of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba.

Partner Updates

A December to Remember