Cuba | Day 2
About 20 minutes outside of Santiago, sits the village of Caney. Known for its fruit production, this town with a crumbling catholic church next to its central park is the location of a small Christian church where students are studying in a Bible institute. Five of those students were graduating after spending the last two years studying the Bible through courses developed by ASELSI—the ministry we serve with in Guatemala. Michael and the team had the opportunity to attend their graduation!
Excitement shone on the students’ faces as they dressed in their dark graduation togas and mortarboard hats. Despite the heat from the sun that baked down on the sheets of roofing that covered the little church, the building was crammed with family members and friends as well as new students who came to witness the first graduation of the ASELSI Bible courses in Cuba.
As the graduation began, the team could barely walk down the aisle in the tiny crowded church. People were even standing outside to watch!
They celebrated the graduated as the first fruits of a growing harvest of hearts that desire to study and live God’s Word in a nation that has lived under restricted religious laws since the Revolution in 1959.
Later, Michael and the team attended a local conference. After a lunch consisting of local dishes including a whole roasted pig that lay stretched on the table, they launched into the conference workshops with a focus on helping families grow stronger – a big need in a region where many couples are on their second or third relationship. Many of the new believers in the church are trying to apply biblical principles in their lives and establish their families on a strong foundation.
Michael and two team members then spent three hours teaching about 30 children in an unfinished yet crowded room. Many of the children responded to accept Christ and the impact on the families from the whole graduation and conference experience would be more evident during the next several days. What a good start to their trip!
