Christian witness continues to make headway in Cuba.
Christian witness continues to make headway in Cuba. An evening stroll through the Old Havana streets offers more than the sounds of salsa or son from numerous eating establishments. The sound of Christian singing competes with the secular nature of the city. The House of Light, a worship center in the heart of Old Havana, offers an encouraging site as a group of 40 people follow passages of Scripture in their Bibles.
“For us witness never stops,” says Ariel Tielves Perez, 28, a Seventh-day Adventist minister who is eager to explain what he calls “Operation Door Knocker.” “We knock on the doors of the neighborhood homes inviting people to join a Bible study. Many come. They are here tonight,” he points toward a simply furnished, narrow hall where the study is in progress.
Direct invitations to Bible studies are supplemented by what Perez describes as faith-in-practice. “We do community service. We clean the streets, offer meals to our neighbors, and provide Christian lifestyle programs here,” Perez explains. “This year 18 people requested to be baptized. We hope for 30 more such decisions in 2001.”
Daysi Delgado Batista, 32, has been regularly attending the House of Light for the past two months. She is not shy in commenting that the House of Light is a “place for people to come and breathe air of hope and acceptance.”
“When people come here, they are accepted into a community. Simply, what is there not to like about the House of Light?” she quips.
“There are 11 million people in Cuba, so the opportunities for growth in the Christian churches are many,” says Marcial Miguel Hernandez, executive secretary of the Council of Churches in Cuba, during an interview for Adventist News Network.
“Secularism in Cuba is very similar to that in the time of the Apostle Paul. Many people are agnostic. Secularism is supported by advances in science and developments in technology. But the church is supported by Christ, who can supersede these challenges,” Hernandez explains.
Daniel Fontaine, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cuba, says that for Seventh-day Adventists, mission is realized in a precise and intentional manner. “In the past we were quietly going about our work,” he says. “Now, it’s a bit different.”
Today, the church rejoices in being able to worship in so many new and well-appointed places. Not members of the Council, Adventists feel that in Cuba developments occurring in one church influence other denominations. For Seventh-day Adventists, what is crucial is that the Word of God is preached and lived in people’s lives, says one of the Adventist ministers.
“Oh, yes, we have challenges. There is an obvious need for more places to worship. We need new churches in new areas of the country. But we are grateful for the way the Lord has blessed us over the past few years,” Fontaine says.
Fontaine is eager to explain how the Adventist Church has more than doubled their membership in the past six years and is regarded as one of the largest Christian denominations. “In 1994 our church had 11,000 baptized members. Now we have more than 23,000. We are not counting children; then the figure would triple or even more. The credit for this goes to our Lord. And, obviously, we involved ourselves in a plan,” he explains.
The plan included building new and refurbishing existing churches. Fontaine credits Maranatha Volunteers International (MVI) based in Sacramento, California, USA, with making the plan work. “Maranatha means building churches, but it also means winning people for Christ. What we have in our church today is a direct result of their work,” he does not hesitate to state.
Since 1994 this missionary organization of volunteers [MVI] built more that 100 new churches and refurbished 80. Funding to accomplish these building projects came largely from private resources and under the auspices of the Global Mission ministry of the Adventist Church worldwide. In 1997 a completely new seminary was built, and today 80 students are taking ministerial courses and other curricula. Maranatha remodeled the church headquarters and contributed to give the church new press facilities.
“Over the years we also became involved with direct evangelism. An expression of our legacy is that there were more than 2,000 public evangelism programs which contributed to the large church growth,” reports Don Noble, president of MVI.
Reflecting on the six years Maranatha has been involved in a relationship with Cuba, Noble shares his continued enchantment with the country. “We’ve knocked on the door in Cuba, not knowing whether it was open, and we found that it was open. We knocked on the door and God said: ‘Come on in. It’s open. What are you doing on the outside? How come you’re not in here taking the message to the people?’”
Noble says that from the beginning Cuba was, and continues to be, that magical project even now. “God has turned that country upside down for Himself. Cuba is probably the only place I’ve seen in the world where the biggest problem in the church is that in every meeting they call, there is not enough space for the people to stand. Everything is too full. They preach from the baptistries half the time because there is no place on the platform.”
“God has blessed, and today the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the fastest-growing Protestant denomination on the island. And praise the Lord. We had a little part to play in that. It was one of our more exciting projects because it was well-rounded. It wasn’t just the construction aspect. We had to come in there and share nearly everything. We rejoice seeing things changing now,” Noble concludes.
Last week Noble was among the participants in a dedication ceremony for the latest church sanctuary in Fomento. Designed to hold 350 people, this new church is the latest to be completed by Maranatha in Cuba.
When construction started in Fomento, the church members were so excited that they began a witnessing program. Their commitment led them to request that in spite of a total overhaul of the church structure, the baptistry would not be touched. In just 12 months, 52 people were baptized. During the dedication service, three more were baptized and many more indicated a desire to join the church.
Church growth facts can be duplicated. The most current church project is under way this week in Cespedes. Led by Cuban-born Tem Suarez, a Maranatha board member, a team of 15 volunteers from Florida is constructing a house of worship. The new building will provide room for growth for a group that has been meeting in the house of a church member.
On Friday night, December 1, the new building was completely full for evening services even though the volunteers were only two days into construction. The new house of worship is already becoming a beacon of hope in the town. Several visitors to the meeting reported that they had been impressed to attend through a dream the night before.
Fontaine believes that the effective way for his church to make a difference is by providing the believers and the community at large with a place to worship. They are doing it in their own pace, focusing on the church doing what it does best-sharing hope. “We are a people of hope. A beacon of light. There is strength in sharing what you are overflowing with,” says one of the local ministers.
It is patience that Hernandez enjoys most about Adventists. In a candid comment, he reflected that “in Cuba, a major problem is that there is a lack of patience and hope. The lack of patience conspires against wisdom. The Adventist Church has been very patient and systematic. They have been a mirror for the other churches. They have taught us to be more patient.”
The experiences of Christian churches in Cuba today are a testimony that things are changing. Only a few years ago, they could not distribute Bibles. During the past five years Adventists brought 1.5 million Bibles into the country. Today, they are making plans for extending their witness through access to the media and by public gatherings.
“We are maturing, taking one step at a time,” says one leader.