Church of God Chaplains Commission

 

By Chaplain Gail Lemmert, M.A., NCC

 

Cuba, only 90 miles from the coast of Florida, but totally cut off from the United States of America for 50 years.

 

Cuba, a land of contradictions; natural beauty, total disrepair; mountains and beaches; smiles, but little happiness; corruptness vs. Christian tenacity, poverty of the masses, yet government prosperity. 

 

For me, visiting Cuba for the second time evokes many contradictorily feelings and emotions. I love the people, the tropical beauty, the hunger for spiritual things and the Word of God. In contrast, I am saddened by the oppression, the desperately poor economy, the lack of hope for a future, and the cost of sin in the lives of people.

 

Along with missionary Willa Smith (also, translator for me) and Pastor Ana Miranda, I was invited this past May to a first-ever women’s congress in Santiago de Cuba at the Templo “Valle de Bendicion” church, established by Reverend and Mrs. Hoyle Case in the late 1950s. Pastors Daniel and Elvis Morales are the pastors there, and Brother Daniel also serves as national overseer of Cuba for the Church of God.

 

About 130 women traveled many miles and hours by primitive transportation to get to the conference. They came to worship God, to learn, and to fellowship with one another. But these women have endured many hardships more difficult than transportation. At the conference, there were pastors, pastor’s wives, workers in the churches, a doctor, nurses, and professional teachers. Each one had a story to tell. 

 

Wages for all are minimal, yet appliances and other necessities that we take for granted are expensive. A doctor makes approximately $90.00 monthly, a nurse $35.00 monthly, and a medical college professor, approximately $60.00 per month. The communist government provides a ration periodically to everyone; rice and dried beans, coffee, sugar, etc.

 

As a team, each one of us took 50+ pounds of extra clothes to give away, gifts of money, shoes, hygiene products, and more. Mostly everyday items for us here in America, but such a blessing to the people there. For me, visiting Cuba is like stepping back 50 years in time, when I was growing up in the mountains of North Carolina. It’s like time has stood still in their country. Television stations are few and controlled by the government. Cruise ships seldom stop in Cuba … the only tourists come from South/Central America or Europe because of the US embargo, so the Cuban people are further isolated from most of the world.

One of our hosts, a college professor said to me, “People in Cuba smile a lot, but we are not happy.” The only people that I met that genuinely seemed to have hope and peace were the Christians. Yet, others we met wanted a Spanish Bible, and they asked us to underline certain scriptures for them. But in the midst of the poverty, the isolation, and the government control of their lives, the Holy Spirit is moving and drawing people to Christ. Lives are being changed as people give their hearts to Jesus. We also spoke in house churches and churches in Havana on the weekend before departing the country.

 

What a privilege for me to speak and encourage and serve my sisters in Christ in Cuba. It is a life-changing experience.