Hope and the Pastors' Conference

Living with Hope and the Pastors’ Conference January 26-28

“Unlike optimism (when we think that things will get better) hope is the trust that God will fulfill his promises to us in a way that brings us to true freedom.   While optimists speak about concrete changes in the future, the person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.”  Henry Nouwen

As we prepare for our ministry trip to Cuba for the Pastors’ Conference, we are more than optimists, our hope for success is in God.  We know that this is a ministry that God wants us to accomplish.  We know this because we’ve worked with the leaders in Cuba to find out what is most needed and how we can help fill that need.  And one of those needs is spiritual support and encouragement for the local pastors.  The word for encouragement in Spanish is aliento which is the same word used for breath.  And when I think of aliento I think of God breathing life into us.  And how He expects us to breath life into others. 

Thank you for your support of the ministry in Cuba.  Your prayers, your love for the people in Cuba, your donations and financial support encourage and allow the believers in these two churches to be a light in their community.  It gives them “aliento.”

As we embark on this trip pray for this particular mission.  For the speakers (Eric, Carol and Greg) for the team who will be translating, facilitating discussions, and visiting people.  For all the materials we are taking to make it through without any problems or delays.  For the pastors and their wives who will have to deal with transportation and child-care issues.  For Pastor Alexis and the team in Remedios’ church who are dealing with all the logistics of the conference.  May God’s grace and care be upon us. 

Here are some of the highlights of the work in the last half of 2016.

Buenavista “Surmerged” Vacation Bible School.  They made a submarine out of cardboard.

Remedios’ “Submerged” Vacation Bible School.  They have great artists who did the stage 

background.

First Class graduating from the Seminary.  Committed students who braved time, weather, and all kinds of obstacles to attend every week and a Saturday a month to train as leaders.

The soccer games have been a great way to reach young men in Remedios.  Here they are listening to   to a devotional before starting their game.  

For the first time the church in Remedios was able to rent a public space theatre to have a concert.

Buenavista had special children programs at the 5 missions twice this year.

Remedios had a Christmas program for the children at the 8 missions they visit on Saturdays. 

Each child received a little bag with treats

   Even "Santiclo" (Santa Claus) showed up.  And riding a horse instead of a sleigh

Youth Camp 2016

“As we realize that Christ lives within us, we also come to realize that Christ lives among us and makes us into a body of people witnessing together to the presence of Christ in the world.”    

H. Nouwen

YOUTH CAMP IN REMEDIOS - August 2016

When we go other countries to participate in ministry, we get to experience the presence of Christ in the world.  There is a big difference between mentally knowing something and experiencing it.  God has given us the blessing of working with the church in Remedios and Buenavista for several years and every year we learn something new about God.

This year God enabled us to have three new “firsts” at the Remedios Youth Camp.

After two years of holding the Youth Camp at the church in Remedios, God opened an opportunity to hold camp at a facility only  65 miles away. 

This solved the never-ending problem of securing transportation for a long trip and made it easier for the travelers who had to go in the back of a truck. 

To make it even better, the facility (a Nazarene church) had dorms,

all the media equipment we needed,

and—for those who have experienced Cuba's heat in August—an air-conditioned sanctuary.

Secondly, the attendance to camp was blessed, because many young people who had not previously attended camp were able to go.  Six years ago, the first camp had 40 young people.  This year there were 90.  We were indeed blessed to see all of them worshiping and learning about God together.

Thirdly,  SVCC’s Centro’s pastor Juan Murillo was the main speaker for the camp.

This was his first time in Cuba. 

And even though he had heard us talk about Camp all these years, nothing equaled the experience of being there. So Juan experienced the love, thirst for God’s word and excitement of the young people.  But what impacted him most was to see how the young people overcome so many obstacles in their society and draw closer to God in the process.  It changed his outlook of  his work with young people in the U.S.  Although we know that with God’s help we can move mountains, there’s no equivalent to seeing those mountains actually move the way Juan saw it with this group of young people in the center of this small island.   

The study at the Camp was based on Psalms. That God sees and hears us through all we experience emotionally in life: our pain, our anger, our joy, our gratefulness, and our awe of our great God.   

Below is a short video from Daisel, a young man in Remedios who expresses what this study meant to them.

Each day after the study, the young people broke into small groups to discuss what they had learned and how to apply it to their lives.

The second part of the morning was spent learning about modern day psalmists (lyrics and music composers) and Nick Vujicic,  and how they worship God with their lives.

As usual, Oscar outdid himself and here he is trying to imitate Job Gonzales who composed the Camp’s theme song “You Are My All”.

Psalms are a poetic form of expression, the young people were asked to express themselves through art.  They spent a great deal of time on these drawings and presented them to the group the last day of Camp.

In the evenings, the young people took over.  They presented skits, readings, and performance art with mimes. 

Their worship group was phenomenal.  They practiced numerous hours to learn new songs and putting together a very special worship time.

And, of course, you cannot have Camp without competition where the teams scored points by correctly answering questions about the study and the life stories of the psalmists, being on time, winning at the various games and completing their chores.    

Juan asked them difficult questions about the study in Psalms to show they understood how to apply what they learned.  A representative from each team had to answer the question to get points.

Notice the large die on the top left quadrant of the photo and the game board they devised for a game.

Lots of energy went into this competition.

In the end, it was nothing short of spectacular for this group of young people.  They spent a week away from home, focused and dedicated to learning about God and sharing special memories with the community of faith.

Thank you to all who supported this special project through your prayers and financial contributions.

~ Oscar and Rachel

April 2016 - Remedios Children's Camp

From Pastor Alexis:

A few days ago we held the Spiritual Retreat of the Children’s Ministry . As always this event keeps us busy most of the year, because it is no secret that in Cuba things are not black and white--there are many shades. And indeed most of them are gray. But when we serve the I AM despite setbacks and obstacles, which in this case were abundant, the predominant color is green. 

We left Remedios surrounded by a chaotic and joyous large group of children from the town and as far afield as Santi Spiritus and Ciego de Avila, 80 miles away. All under the care of the untiring and dedicated leaders of the ministry. 

When we arrived, we found ourselves in  paradise. Most of the children quickly scattered throughout the camp waiting for their cabins that were being readied.

Suddenly, I found myself alone in the Cuban countryside, amid the beautiful and unknown chirping of countless birds; the breeze stirring the leafy trees. Looking up, my eyes caught sight of a stunning blue sky against the horizon. And in the background a slender royal palm  haughtily tousled by the morning breeze. Majestically the proud flag with its sole star and white and blue stripes waved in the breeze.

 Gently, like the breeze, a feeling of pride flooded my heart, permeating my whole being. And like a whisper my lips murmured a prayer to the Almighty, “I want my country for Christ.” 

I thanked my God for what we can do here and now in Cuba, knowing it is well-worth every effort so that these young people and children can be affected by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to dream that that sky, the palm, and the flag are for Christ.

Alexis.

Every year God as been gracious in allowing the Children's Camp to be held where they have better accommodations.  Although it was not easy and everything came together at the last minute, they were able to hold the camp.  This is such a unique experience for the children and gives them an opportunity to learn more about God.  The cost was $13 per child for the whole camp.  South Valley Community Church in Gilroy sponsored 54 children.  With increased funds they could take even more children to enjoy not only God's nature but also learn about God's word.