A novel collaboration between a team from the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s General Conference (GC) Secretariat and the nonprofit supporting ministry Maranatha Volunteers International is resulting in tangible improvements for church members and leaders in Cuba.
On a recent mission trip to Cuba, employees from the Seventh-day Adventist Church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, led evangelistic meetings in churches across Havana; helped paint and repair church buildings; and met with regional church leaders to discuss ways of increasing support to the church in that country. The GC Secretariat team also visited the Cuba Adventist Theological Seminary on the outskirts of Havana and the print shop on its campus.
Steady Support
Maranatha’s history in Cuba goes back more than three decades, when the ministry arrived on the island to support church construction and remodeling initiatives. Since then, Maranatha has returned to Cuba for more than 200 projects across the country. Among them, Maranatha built most of the major buildings at the seminary, including a church on campus.
In recent years, and especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, Maranatha has been supporting the school by shipping donor-funded containers with food to help church members and the seminary. All these initiatives have been instrumental in keeping the seminary open and assisting church members in need across the island, regional church leaders said. Shipped items usually included staples such as flour, oil, rice, beans, corn, and peanut butter. “This assistance has helped church members who are struggling to provide enough food for their families,” a regional church leader said. “And it has helped to keep the seminary open.”
One of the buildings constructed by Maranatha Volunteers International on the campus of Cuba Adventist Theological Seminary.
Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
At Cuba Adventist Theological Seminary, one in three of the first-year theology students are women.
Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
Maranatha has funded containers sent to Cuba that are filled with basic food items, helping to feed students at the Cuba Adventist Theological Seminary as well as local church members in need across the island.
Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
At the Cuba Union Conference printing shop, the presses are outdated but still manage to produce church resources distributed among members across the island.
Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
A Heidelberg press at the Cuba Union Conference print shop, first used in Germany in the early 1950s.
Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
A printing shop employee works on one of the old presses.
Photo: Ashton Weiss, Maranatha Volunteers International
Scraps of paper are used to make tithe envelopes for churches across the island.
Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
Printing shop workers bind the Mission quarterlies on July 30.
Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
Members of the General Conference Secretariat team assist in the binding process at the Cuba Union Conference printing shop near Havana, Cuba.
Photo: Ashton Weiss, Maranatha Volunteers International
Pressing Needs
On July 30, 2024, the GC Secretariat team visited the seminary’s campus on the outskirts of Havana and got better acquainted with the current needs of the institution and the church in Cuba. The team also visited the print shop on campus, where, with painstaking effort, a team of church workers prints Adventist literature to be distributed across the country.
When the GC Secretariat team and Maranatha leaders met earlier in 2024 to plan for the outreach initiative, they agreed that, besides the food to be provided by Maranatha, the print shop was in dire need of supplies, including paper and ink.
“In the past, there were times when printing ink was not available, and the print shop had to resort to used motor oil to reprint their quarterlies and other Adventist publications,” an employee at the printing shop said. Those who serve at the print shop have learned to make the most of what they have on hand. Scraps of paper are usually transformed to become tithe and offering envelopes. Thanks to the support of the GC Secretariat team that visited this year, the print shop has received enough paper to print church materials for the next couple of quarters.
The July 30 visit allowed the GC Secretariat team to take a hands-on approach to one of the services provided by the printing shop. Team members participated in the manual binding process of the Mission quarterlies in Spanish for the fourth quarter of 2024. There, they had a close-up view of the effort involved, as the binding process, including stacking up the pages in the correct order and stapling them, is fully manual.
Ongoing Assistance
The printing shop has other needs too. “The presses are really old, and one of the newest ones is a German press from the early 1950s,” a print shop employee said. “We make them keep working, but when they break because of wear and tear or for any other reason, it is almost impossible to get the repair parts needed.” A newer press would go a long way to supporting regional efforts to provide church leaders, pastors, and members with the basic Adventist literature they need, including Sabbath School quarterlies and other church publications.
The Cuba Adventist Theological Seminary also needs ongoing support. Now that its basic food needs are covered, church leaders need to make sure that students can attend the seminary, something seen as essential for the survival of the Adventist Church in Cuba. “Currently, we are expecting around 40 first-year theology students, and one in three of them are women,” regional church leaders said. “It might seem a lot, but it’s not. In the past few years, dozens of Adventist pastors and their families have left the island and emigrated elsewhere.”
Regional church leaders stressed the urgency of training new leaders and replacing the ministers who have left. “The role of the seminary is essential for the long-term success of the Adventist Church in Cuba,” they said. “We are thankful that this partnership between the General Conference Secretariat team and Maranatha is resulting in tangible benefits for the Adventist Church in Cuba.”
The original article was published on the Adventist Review website.
