Cuba #1: Serving Others
Serving Others
By Deena Candler, Outreach Trustee
Pastor Josue opened up the refrigerator to show us the empty shelves. He said, “In Cuba, we say that the North Pole is like Cuban refrigerators. They are both cold and empty.” Josue, who serves the Presbyterian Church in Sabanilla was one of the pastors we met on our Outreach Foundation trip to Cuba, but it could have been any of them. Food insecurity has only grown worse and prices even higher since our visit here in December 2022.
On March 27, Outreach Trustees Deena Candler and Doug Nielson and his wife Mary Lynne set out to visit Outreach Foundation Cuban partners. After arrival, our first partner visit was with the SET Seminary in Matanzas where we met again with Rector Carlos Ham and interacted with students we had met previously. The seminary continues to be creative in how to educate and raise up pastors and leaders for the church in challenging times. In Matanzas, we were also able to visit our pastor friends at the Central Presbyterian Church and deliver supplies. One of the amazing ministries at this church is its ministry with special needs children and their families.
After a night of rest at the seminary, we set off for the Central Presbytery in Cuba which is the most remote of the three Presbyteries in Cuba. We visited CANIP which is the National Presbyterian Camp. In the past, they have had 8 weeks of summer camp for youth, but because of COVID, the last camp was in 2019. They are hopeful for 3 youth camps this year…but are in need of acquiring a new camp vehicle, food for campers (about 100 each week), and hopefully, repair of the swimming pool which they have not been able to use because of damage and issues with equipment.
We ended our day back at the Santa Clara Church where we are staying in the dormitories for four nights and enjoying breakfasts and dinners. Pastor Reile has been serving here for five years in his first call after seminary. During this time, he has gathered a youth group of up to 20 youths who gather together every week. Like so many churches in Cuba, this church is serving the area, especially the elderly through a laundry service, and a food program which feeds 25 elderly people three times a week. The need is far greater for people to be fed, but during this time of scarcity, this church as well as so many others we have visited are doing what they can to provide care. We are coming to understand more and more what is at stake when we pray simply for “daily bread,” and experience the gracious hospitality from our brothers and sisters who have so little, but give us so much.
