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…
Cuba, like the rest of the world, faces the consequences and challenges produced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The year 2020 represented a notable loss of income due to the decrease in tourism and the allocation of unforeseen resources (which were already very limited) to the Ministry of Public Health. Also, a high percentage of the State budget was assigned to support families who, due to the pandemic, had to stay at home…
Impact of the situation in our churches
Putting the weight of solutions to these crises on our congregations is impossible since they are, to a large extent, made up of people who receive low incomes; or by children and youth (mostly non-salaried) and a small sector of adults of working age that do not have a great impact on the economy of local churches. That is why many of our proposals and recommendations are oriented towards the search for alternatives for self-support. Without a doubt, we will need help to invest in local projects… As the psalmist would say, we trust the Lord to transform our lament into dance and gird us with joy!
Some immediate responses
- We have instructed the Presbyteries to visit all our local churches to visualize solutions at the local level in conjunction with the sessions: local projects that the churches can support, multi-employment for those workers under their care, possibilities of pastors with half-time jobs, etc.
- At the Synod level, we have instructed the Presbyteries to increase the salary of our pastors until reaching the minimum wage decreed by the State…
- We strengthen the work with the whole church on theological issues such as stewardship and mission so that we can strengthen the biblical-theological bases that will sustain us spiritually and materially in the present and immediate future.
What do we expect from our partners?
Above all, we have confidence in the power of prayer, something that has been the foundation and support of our relationships. We also live sustained by your prayers. Likewise, we hope that we can maintain communication, placing special interest in what is happening in our country and in the challenges we face as a church. Our mutual commitment is to continue praying for you.
Our church has always cared for its sense of unity and interdependence… We trust that whatever the experience of our sister churches and partners, any help will come with the stamp of respect for that sense of unity that we continue to build in Christ and that we care for as one of our most precious strengths.
We will certainly need the help of our partners in mission to face so many changes and crises this year and beyond. We trust in the solidarity and commitment of those who know everything the Cuban church does and who will be able to motivate others…
Our church has sufficient theological clarity to understand that the church is much more than the institution and that the mission is not ours but God's. Yes, it will survive by the grace of God, because God’s Spirit has sustained us in times as or more complex than the ones we are living in now… The spirituality and faith of our people inspire us every day to feel that God has accompanied us until now and will continue to do so…
In the love of Christ,
General Council of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba
THE NEED
The Outreach Foundation is seeking gifts totaling $30,000 for support of the congregations and ministries of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba. You may make a gift HERE or by sending a check to our office.