An evangelistic outreach series, which ran February 12 to 20, marked the first time in 42 years that a Protestant evangelistic program has been held in a public venue in Cuba. Sponsored by “La Voz de la Esperanza” (Voice of Prophecy) radio program, it drew nightly audiences of 1,500 people.  The ground-breaking event was made possible after the Cuban government gave permission for the Adventist Church to conduct the meetings at the Mella Theater, a 1,500-seat venue in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana.

Adventist evangelist Alejandro Bullon spoke to audiences at the theater, while Adventist pastors conducted similar, smaller meetings at some 40 sites throughout Cuba.  Demand for seats at the Havana site was so great that series organizers released tickets for seating.  On the final evening, February 20, an estimated 1,000 people without tickets came and stood outside the theater.

Pastor Armando Miranda, a general vice president of the Adventist Church worldwide, was one of the international Adventist Church leaders who attended the series. “This event was truly a miracle,” says Miranda, referring to the lifting of restrictions that allowed the program to take place.  He says that the series was an answer to prayer for Adventist Church members in Cuba, who had long hoped for, and planned, a public outreach event. 

“I was thankful to be able to attend, to show the support of the worldwide Adventist Church community for our brothers and sisters in Cuba,” Miranda adds. While in Havana, Miranda, along with Pastor Israel Leito, president of the Adventist Church in the Inter-America region, and leaders of the Adventist Church in Cuba, paid a courtesy visit to Cuba’s national director for religious affairs.

An estimated 2,070 people have joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cuba as a result of the evangelistic series, reports Alejandro Morgado, a departmental director for the Adventist Church in Cuba. He adds that another 5,000 people have requested baptism.  Church leaders are planning a baptism for 2,000 new believers at the end of March, and a baptism for 3,000 at the end of May.

Daniel Fontaine, president of the Adventist Church in Cuba, says that the amazing influx of new members will place a strain on existing church resources.  “We have no room in our churches to house these new members, nor do we have enough pews, or enough resources at our press to print literature to support their growth,” Fontaine told Maranatha Volunteers International, a lay Adventist organization dedicated to building churches and other urgently needed buildings around the world. 

Three Angels Broadcasting Network, an independent Adventist broadcaster, filmed the Cuba evangelistic series for later broadcast on its international satellite network.