By Mandy Cloninger
July 9-10
I’m convinced that I’m convinced that God can do anything and everything, Pastor Bianco shared with us today in his church in Bauta, which was built by an UMVIM team and where the Cuba team served last year. We were expecting a service a little more subdued than our worship experience in Central Havana, so we were a little surprised when they started stacking the chairs up to make room. Well it was time to worship, and you need room in the house of God to express el poder del fe (the power of faith). Pastor Bianco’s message seemed to brilliantly sum up our time here in Cuba, how si puedes creer, if you can believe, anything is possible. Todo, todo, todo, todo, todo es possible. Anything, anything, anything, anything, anything is possible.
We have spent a lovely weekend enjoying some of the sights and sounds of Cuba. Saturday was spent enjoying the sun and the waves crashing on Baradero Beach. The intricate rock formations, cliffs and paths created along the coast were remarkable, carvings in nature so wondrous that it illustrates clearly that with his hands, anything is possible. From crabs scurrying along the formations to the sound of thunder made by the waves crashing and echoing in the caverns and the simple beauty of too many blues to count in the transparent water, his wondrous work was all around us.
Saturday evening culminated with a dinner of thanksgiving for the wonderful staff and their families at the Methodist Center who have hosted us all week, cooked our meals, done our laundry, and fellowshipped, loved and served alongside us with such amazing loving care that many of us don’t want to go home to our microwave meals, folding clothes and dry cleaning! It was a beautiful evening of fellowship, especially watching the little girls chow down on platefuls of delicacies like popcorn, ice cream, cake, cookies as well as several platefuls of dinner too. Such treats and dinners out in a restaurant are all too uncommon in Cuba.
Sunday we worshipped in Bauta, had an amazing lunch (my favorite so far) of abondigas grandes (big meatballs), and we also spent some time in the marketplace. Then we were off to see the sights of the Capitol and Revolution Square. We ended the day at the Cabaña, or fortalesza (fort) and the changing of the guards. It was a beautiful evening, the lights of downtown Havana could be seen across the water, and we all experienced one “big bang” from the cannon, which made us jump and our hearts skip a few beats.
I’m pretty sure Dan and I both had our hearts skip a few and swell with love this afternoon as well as we played with the children in the neighborhood again. We had the hula hulas out, jump roping going on, and even some baseball as well! It was fun to tell Jean Pierre that he could keep the glove and baseball he’d been playing in the street with, but the smile that spread across his face was more than priceless. He shared so much love in that one smile, and Dan said it best, “Dios to bendiga,” God Bless You.
Pastor Bianco preached on the power of faith from Mark 9:14-29 this morning after our spirited worship, dancing and prayers. This particular story of an exorcism from a young boy strongly emphasizes the power of faith and prayer. We have witnessed that with certainty in Cuba. The people we have met have a deep and growing faith, the presence of the Holy Spirit is strong and working within the people and the church in Cuba, and the prayers, oh my, the prayers.
Please continue to pray for our team and our brothers and sisters in Cuba as we wrap up our trip on Monday with our last visit to Havana Central Trinity United Methodist with Pastor Guillermo, lunch with the bishop of Cuba and preparing for our travels home on Tuesday.
If I learned nothing else on this trip, it’s the power of prayer to heal and break your hearts to intimately know God, your friends, your brothers and sisters in Christ. It is my prayer that the relationships that we have formed with one another and our Cuban amigos are only strengthened now and in the future. So that as Mike said, I will be back, but I look most forward to the day that you can visit our churches in Tampa and Atlanta and teach us how to worship, pray and strengthen our faith.
“He said to them, ‘This kind can come out only through prayer.’” Mark 9:29.
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