Cuba #2: A Church with the Right Priorities
A Church with the Right Priorities
By Doug Nielson, Outreach Trustee
Today we traveled to the Presbyterian Church of Taguasco, a small town in central Cuba (about four hours east of Havana). When we met with their new pastor, Fernando Lopez, and his leadership team and heard about the challenges this church faced, we assumed they would be internally focused, just trying to survive:
A young pastor at his first church, and one that hadn’t had a resident pastor for many years
A church building that has a leaky roof and is badly in need of an interior paint job
Elders excusing themselves from our meeting to rush and buy milk and dehydrated mashed potatoes while they were still available
Seniors in need of support due to the desperate economic situation
Families challenged by the mass migration of young adults and children
Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Taguasco church is thriving and is making the needs of the people in their community their top priority. They are marshaling their limited resources to feed breakfast and lunch to 25 seniors twice a week as well as providing exercise classes. This program also includes devotionals and lectures on various topics. They also provide laundry service for seniors and others in need. In addition, they have a sewing ministry where they use recycled materials to make small rugs and other handicrafts. (This ministry provides income to those who sew as well as to the church.)
All these ministries were established by the Session before Pastor Fernando even arrived. And their vision doesn’t stop there. They are anxious to add a clean drinking water program (in partnership with Living Waters for the World) to help reduce ailments caused by the contaminated public water system as well as start a counseling ministry to families and seniors as they deal with the challenges of being left behind as young adults flee to the U.S. and other countries.
The church in Taguasco has a long history of persevering and overcoming challenges. In the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution, the pastor of this church was ordered to leave within 24 hours. One of the elders we met was dressed and ready for her wedding and was forced to postpone the event. The government took over the church manse to enable the local tobacco factory to expand. From the 1960s through the early 1990s, the church soldiered on without a pastor and with limited membership.
Through it all, the members of the church remained faithful to their call to be salt and light in their community. May God continue to bless this congregation.
