October 13, 2024
cuba mission report
KingsWay members Mario & Amy Taracena shared with the congregation on Sunday October 13 about their recent visit to Cuba to encourage several pastors seeking support and encouragement from Sovereign Grace Churches. Mario’s comments are below:
It is with great joy that we are able to share a little of our experience about our trip to Cuba with you. I would like to begin by thanking our God for allowing this trip, not only to make it possible, but also to see His care every step of the way. I also want to thank each of you for your abundant participation in showing your love through your generosity for our brothers and sisters in Cuba.
We had a good trip and saw how God's grace and favor were with us; we were a little worried about the amount of medicine we were carrying. We had already prayed and there were many people praying for us, and by God’s providence, He allowed that when we arrived at customs at the José Martí airport in Cuba, a customs agent asked me to put one of the suitcases on the table for inspection, he told me to open it and when he saw that it was full of medicine he asked me if it was all medicine to which I replied that it was free medicine for children of Cuba and also for adults. Then he asked me about the other 3 suitcases, what the contents were inside and I replied that the 3 suitcases were full of medicine for children and adults, then he looked me at me with his eyes about to cry and said: sir, thank you for doing this for my people, please close your suitcase and he added "welcome to Cuba”.
Outside the airport was the gentleman who was our driver during our stay, waiting for us and he drive us to the place where we stayed the next few days; brothers and sisters, we thanked God for the A/C in that place where we were staying because it is incredibly hot in CUBA. To add to the injury, the government interrupted electrical power every day for 4-6 hrs. But, also, we had the opportunity to preach the gospel to this gentleman, our driver and his wife who were very kind to us.
The three pastors are Pastor Juan Viñeta, Eddy Cambras and Pablo Ruiz, I thank God for the lives of these pastors and for their obedience to the call of the Lord to pastor these beautiful churches; sincerely, pastoring in a context like Cuba requires a deep love for God and having a surrendered heart of love and care for people. As we arrived in Cuba at noon, one of the pastors passed by our place and left us a delicious dinner that his wife had prepared for us; Then, he said that he would leave us so that we could get some rest and that they would return later. At around 5PM, The 3 pastors arrived with their wives and it was a great joy to finally meet them in person, hug them and cry together. We had a beautiful time of fellowship telling a little about each of us and how we had come to faith and sound doctrine, each of them testified how God led them to the need for sound doctrine and a reformed vision... I need to mention that, all this was accompanied by a tasty Cuban coffee, which is the norm in Cuba.
The next morning they returned at 8am to have breakfast together and then we shared a teaching time with the theme which was "Communion between brothers is equal to fellowship with the Father and with Jesus, His Son", based on I John 1:3 that had been commissioned previously to me by Pastor Carlos Contreras of Juarez Mexico, the key leader for Sovereign Grace Mexico. We had a short break to share lunch together and then we continued with the study of the word, and this was repeated for the next 3 days; On Saturday, before starting the teaching, Amy and I surprised them by cooking them a Latin American breakfast, they were very happy and surprised because I think they did not expect it. Brothers, at this point let me tell you that it sounds casual to say that we cooked a very delicious breakfast, but that is almost impossible in Cuba. Food is very limited and what we prepared had been purchased and sent through an online purchase from Spain, It was shipped 3 days in advance. That was how we had everything we needed to be able to cook that morning. In Cuba it is extremely difficult to buy all kinds of food since the socialist regime basically has a list of foods that they give monthly to each family, and in addition to the quantities being very limited, they are foods that barely give adequate nutrition, not to mention quality.
On Sunday we prepared to meet with our brothers and sisters to fellowship and worship together, and the Lord allowed me to share the Word with them and it was a great blessing for their lives because the Word of the Lord was proclaimed and again, it was a specific sermon, it was what God wanted His people to hear. To culminate that afternoon, we shared a delicious dinner with all the leadership of the churches. Again, that is thanks to the fact that we had purchased and sent food via Spain, in advance. After dinner we had a time of questions and answers, we split into two groups, where Amy encouraged and taught the ladies and I joined together to encourage and teach the men.
Thanks to you Church, let me tell you that we together are God’s hands and feet; we bring good news, hope, faith and encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Cuba.
Mario Taracena