Farewell to Cuba

So, it's been a while since my last blog post. The end of school got really hectic and then I got home and guess just became a lazy bum and didn't even use my laptop anymore. So here I am, back. I figured this post would just mainly be pictures of me in Cuba with my most favorite parts of the trip. Since I never got around to writing about each day individually. So bear with me, there won't be tons of pictures, just my very favorites!

All of these pictures bring back so many memories. Cuba was such a sweet time. I wish I could go back right now, but I can't. My prayer for each of you would remember to be on mission. Whether you're in your hometown or in Africa or anywhere in between, remember that our call as believers is to go out and make disciples. Thanks for bearing with me in my time of bloglessness, and I hope to be back to a more regular blog posting cycle now.

Lord, thank you for my time in Cuba. I am constantly reminded of all of the memories made there and the many blessings I saw you provide for me and my team and the people in the area while I was there. You are a good God. I ask that I would not become stagnant in my faith. That just because I went to a different country to share my faith I wouldn't stop sharing my faith here. I pray for a boldness. I ask that you would constantly be on my mind, and I would be living my every hour, minute, second with you as my focus. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for me. I pray this all in your Son's name. Amen.

out of the darkness.

It begins with darkness,

I desperately need You.

Crying out for mercy,

Is all that I can seem to do.

//

You are the greatest of all,

The most loving, just, and mighty.

If anyone is compared to You,

There is no way they can be tidy.

//

God You are forgiveness,

And our souls shall wait,

Because we can constantly fear you,

Our redemption is Your fate.

//

So from darkness You bring light,

Something only You can do,

With You there is steadfast love,

And that will forever and always be true.

A Timely God.

God is so faithful. I know this is said so ofter, but it is just so true.

He is a prayer answerer.

I am so thankful for a Lord who is constantly providing. I have been praying for certain things for a year or more now, and although they weren't answered in a day like I would like, God has truly been growing me and stretching me in my faith and constantly helping me to have steadfastness. The Lord is continuing to answer prayers each and every day in my life and it is SO exciting to see the work He is doing!

I just wanted to share that and let you all know that GOD IS SO GOOD! And yeah, some days may be hard, and you might sometimes get frustrated that your prayers aren't being answered on your time, but they are being answered on His time, and that is the greatest thing that could ever happen for us.

He continually provides at the exact moment we need it most, and he is a way of supplying goodness to our lives at the most pivotal of times. He is our rock and our constant.

He knows the desires of our hearts, and when we are fully dependent on Him and not our own timing, He provides in ways we could not have even imagined.

Thank you Lord for constantly reminding me of how BIG You are! You are a Lord that can do immeasurably more, and help me to remember that each and every day.

"He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just us he."

-Deuteronomy 32:4

Cuba: Day One in Baire

After a great night of rest, we woke up prepared and expectant for all the God was going to do today in the town of Baire, Cuba. We got up, got on the bus, and rode to Biare where we were going to present the Gospel to households all day today. What I was so excited about for this day was it was going to be my first time to just present the Gospel flat out to someone I didn't know at all before. I was excited because this was nothing I was prepared for or had tons of practice in, but this was going to be 100% God's doing, all I was doing was showing up, God had the rest. Like our leader Tommy said many times on this trip, 90% of missions is just showing up.

Once we got to Baire, we went up to the top of the church again to the sanctuary and had a little church service type thing. We sang a couple songs and had a devotion taught on a chapter of the Bible. It was an awesome way to start out our day just preparing for all the work God was going to do in this place. After the service, we got paired up with our church planter who would be with us during our time sharing here and then we were off to share. I wasn't sure I was prepared, inside I was freaking out because I wasn't quite positive what I was going to say to the people I was going to be speaking with. I mean sure I knew the Bible verses we were supposed to present and the gist of what I was supposed to be saying, but I had no plan. We got outside the church and starting walking down the block and then we turned right into the first house we would be speaking it. OF COURSE my piece of the city I would be working with was the closest to the church, no time to practice or anything. This mad me even more nervous, as we walked in my heart was beating so hard I thought it was gonna jump out of my mouth and land on the chicken walking next to me into the backyard where I was gonna be presenting. I walked up and saw a sweet older woman who was sitting alone on a bench in her backyard. She looked so weak and lonely and I knew God was ready, and his Spirit was in this place.

I sat down with her and Got her name. Angela. She told me she had no family living with her, and that she was very sick. She needed hip surgery badly. I was so heartbroken for this woman and her need for Jesus. And then it happened, I just began to speak. I mean obviously words didn't just come out of me like lava, I had to talk slow and give time for my translator to do what she does best.. translate. But God was so good in that time, He had his hand on our time with Angela, and I just said what He lead me to say. I presented her Bible verses, and told her about the Good News of the Bible. Then I asked her if she wanted to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior, and you know what she said next? YES! She said she wanted to accept Jesus into her heart, and she believed what I had said about Jesus being our Lord was true, and this just brought me overwhelming JOY! I was so thankful that the Lord had provided in a time when I was so nervous. Angela was my first stop, and there were many to come, but she helped build up my courage and my reliance on the Lord, and I was so thankful for a heart like hers.

(left: church planter Iliannis, Angela, translator Yusmara)

After my time as Angela's house we were off again, to share at the next house. Every house was so exciting and so filled with God's presence. I shared with 5 people in the morning, and 4 of the 5 accepted Christ into their hearts. It was such an exciting feeling to know that although I may not see these people again in Cuba, I will now see them in Heaven because they know the Truth of the Bible. God is so good, I don't think I can say it enough!

After the houses in the morning we had lunch, and it was MARVELOUS as always. The sweet women of the church prepared a lovely meal and we all sat around a long table and just talked and laughed, and I really was beginning to realize that this was my new home, and these people were my family now.

After lunch we went back out and shared some more. Seeing as each house was so unique and all the stories would take a lot of space, I am only going to share one story per blog post from here on out about a house I went to, and this post I chose Angela because she was the first person I was able to speak with on my journey to Cuba. But in the afternoon I talked with 19 people about Jesus. It was astonishing to see how God was working in these people's lives whether they accepted them into their hearts or not. God continued to appear time and time again. He helped me out countless times when I didn't have any words to say to the people I encountered on my journey. 13 out of the 19 people accepted Christ that afternoon, and it was nothing that I said or did to these people, it was all pure Jesus and His love for these broken souls. Here are some pictures of the sweet people I got to meet during the afternoon in Baire.

After we shared in the afternoon we went back to the church, but earlier in the day I had made a challenge to some tennis, so we went over to the tennis court for a quick match of tennis while dinner was being finished. It was raining but that didn't stop us from going out on the courts and having a good time. It was such an awesome time of fellowship with out translators. We were able to bond even more and just become so close. Tennis was so much fun, and I was able to kick some butt while playing it too... KIDDING! They were super good at tennis, and what was so great about tennis was the fact that this was a way they used to reach out to their community and talk to people of the town about Jesus.

After tennis we walked back to the church and ate dinner and had flan, then best dessert ever. It was just another countless time we were able to be in fellowship with our new family and just praise the Lord together over a wonderful home-cooked meal. After dinner we headed back to our hotel in Bayamo. We had a team meeting about our time in the town, and I was able to see what God had been doing in others lives as well as mine throughout the day. I was just continuing to thank God for all He was doing in this place. After the meeting we played cards of course, and Anna, Mani, Drew, Dustin, and myself were all able to just talk about our days even more and just bond. I was thankful to see how God was using them, and how evident it was how much these people loved Jesus. After cards was time for sleep, and preparation for another big day ahead of doing the Lord's work.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

-Romans 6:23

Cuba: The Arrival

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have been super busy with school work and whatnot, but here is day two of my mission trip to Cuba. I promise the next few posts that will come after this one will be much closer in proximity to one another, but for now just read this and see what went down during my time in Cuba!

After a flight that seemed like forever, with emotions built up in me ranging from scared out of my mind to more excited than I have ever been, we finally landed in Cuba on March 13. The airport was the tiniest airport I have ever been to. Almost as small as a regional airport. After walking down the stairs of the plane, I had finally for the first time touched Cuba soil with my own two feet. Walking towards customs, I was so nervous about what I was going to say. Anna and I had practiced a lot over the past day, and now it was this... I don't know exactly what I was scared of. I guess just the unknown of what would happen if they didn't let us in.. Would I just sit in Cuba for a week in the airport? Would I starve?.... (overly dramatic thoughts once again coming from yours truly).

We walked into customs, waited in line, as our leader got pulled over to the side to get checked, of course. I was freaking out on the inside, but played it cool. When I finally was up next to pass through customs, I walked up to the lady at the counter and did what I knew might work best... Complimented her on her mascara of course. That's what you gotta do, just catch them off guard, and it's all uphill from there. She barely asked me two questions and let me through with no problem. There it was.. I WAS IN! Cuba, here I come.

Everyone got in with no problems, we waited for our bags and walked outside in anticipation of what was to come in the next week. Of course, our leader was again stopped and searched in another room for what seemed like forever. The car was there waiting to take us to our first destination of the trip, and Tommy was stuck in another room. So we waited, and waited... and waited some more. Until finally he was released and we were on our way! The first city we would visit was called Baire. We drove for a while, and I just took in all the beauty of Cuba. Now when I say beauty, I don't mean like Hawaii, or Jamaica. Cuba is beautiful in its own way entirely. It is dry, but also has so many vibrant colors. Lots of flowers, and palm trees. And every once in a while on our drive we would make it to the top of a hill where you could see the beautiful outlook of the ocean. It was breathtaking.

We finally made it to Baire, where we walked into the church that would be hosting us for our time spent in this city. I was overwhelmed walking into the church. Not because of its looks, but because of the people who automatically came running up to us, greeting us with hugs and kisses.... Yes, I did say kisses. It's actually totally normal to give EVERYONE you see a nice hug and kiss on the cheek each time you see them. So although that sort of took me off guard, I was so filled with joy to see the excitement these people had for us to be in their church and city. They even told us that this was our home now, and we were their family.

They made us a wonderful meal of chicken, vegetables, beans, rice, and so much more. I was astonished by the excellence of the meal, and how it was all prepared right there in that tiny church kitchen. These people had already stolen my heart with their kindness, love, and hospitality. After lunch, we went upstairs into a room that was open with glassless windows with the breeze coming through and the smell of the fresh Cuban air. This was the churches sanctuary, and it was so full of God's presence. We all introduced each other, and then were placed with our translators. My translators name was Yusmara, and she was amazing. I was so excited to be able to get to know her more over the next few days.

After we met our translators, it was time for us to go. So we hoped on the van back to the hotel where we put up our bags, took a small nap, got to walk around the town we were staying in called Bayamo (there weren't hotels in Baire, so we had to stay about 30 minutes away in another beautiful town), and then meet back up with our translators for dinner... Yeah, I thought the same thing.. "Dinner?! Again?..." Yep, the Cubans provided us with enough meals to last us a lifetime, I told you, they are hospitable. The restaurant we ate at was right next door, so we got to sit down, relax with our translators and get to know them a bit more before our full day of evangelizing the next day. It was a great time in fellowship and was just so much fun to joke around the dinner table, just like we do here in America. We had pizza for dinner, and I was so excited for the days to come. After dinner we went back to the hotel. We played cards and just hung out, all so excited for our first day of our mission. We went to sleep, and got a full nights rest in preparation for the life-changing events that were about to take place.

Cuba: The Beginning

Over Spring Break I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Cuba and serve the Lord. I was such a life-changing experience and I just wanted to share some of my day-by-day experiences with you guys!

Leading up to Cuba I was super excited, but also very scared. I knew that Cuba was a hard place to go as American's, but I didn't realize how hard it truly was. When I realized how dangerous it could be for a 19 year old American girl to travel there, I began to freak out honestly. I thought "Oh great, I am gonna go over to Cuba and get taken and never come back to my family and friends and I am just gonna die there." (Yeah, I realize that thought was probably a little over dramatic, but hey, I am just being honest here and these thoughts really did cross my mind quite often). On March 12, our team was to meet at 10 AM sharp in the Sherman Bible parking lot to head off on our adventure to Cuba. Let me tell you something, March 12th really snuck up on me. One day it was February 2nd, the next it was March 12th, BAM! just like that.

I loaded my bag up with last minute things we had all brought to give away to the Cuban people once we got there, said bye to my family, hoped in the car to head to the airport, and the rest is history. We were off! A new adventure, with people I had only partially known, going to a place I was certainly quite afraid of.

We arrived at the airport, said goodbye to the man who had driven us there, and entered into the airport. Our first stop wasn't directly to Cuba, it was to Canada. And although we rode to the airport with 7 people from our team, we were meeting two more people at our terminal inside the airport, and one more in Canada upon our arrival. The first day would really mainly just be travel (lots and lots of travel), in route to our final destination. We met the two members of our team who live in Houston named Wayne and Pat, and then we hoped on the plane and were off to Canada around 1:30 on March 12. This was it. No turning back. I texted my parents that I would miss them so much and that I would see them when I got back from my trip (hopefully, unless I got taken).

We landed in Canada at about 6 in the evening, and boy was it cold! Coming from Texas, you expect everywhere to be about high 60's/low 70's and sunny, but Canada was definitely not that. Snow on the ground, -3 degrees... CELSIUS. I loved it. We really didn't do too much after arrival, besides meet the newest and last member of our team at the hotel, Dell, who is from Pennsylvania. We also had our last "American" meal, at a restaurant connected to the hotel. It was only 9 by the time all of this was done, and me and the "younger" part of our team weren't really all that tired at all, so we decided to play cards in the lobby of the hotel. That was a super great way to really start off the trip, creating a bond with some of the people that would end up becoming like family to me. I taught them one of my favorite card games, and they enjoyed it, and we just all had a relaxed time before our big week ahead.

When we finished the game, we all headed to bed, and me and my roommate Anna just couldn't go to sleep. Anna is super special to me, we went through discipleship together and she has grown to become like a sister to me. We were the only girls on the trip, and I was so thankful that God paved a way for us to go on this trip together. We laid in bed until about 12 tossing and turning, every once in a while saying to each other, "Hey, are you still awake?" "Yeah, I can't sleep, I keep thinking about tomorrow and how scared I am of entering Cuba." "Yeah, AND being taken." These types of conversations happened 3 or 4 times until Anna and I finally fell asleep, and slept like angels until we had to wake up at 1:45. A solid one hour of sleep really does the body well, let me tell ya! We got up, I zombied my way down to the hotel lobby, hopped on the bus to the airport, and then zombied my way all the way through the airport to our gate. Our flight didn't leave until about 6:30 in the morning, so we had about 4 wonderfully long hours to hang out in the airport. Once the time finally approached for us to board our flight, I was super nervous, but also just so excited to finally be there. We took off, and there we were, on our way to our final destination of Cuba!

Back in the States

Over half of Spring Break and all of last week I was given the opportunity to serve the Lord in Cuba. It was definitely a very life-changing experience. Over the next few days, I will be sharing things that happened each and every day while on the trip, like people I met and places I went. Also the ways God worked in my life while over there. Right now though, I just wanted to share my thoughts as I make the transformation back from Cuban lifestyle, to being here in the USA.

Although I was only in Cuba for a week, it felt like Cuba had become my home. I got so accustomed to the way I was living my life there, and the best part was how dependent I was on God in that time. Being back in the States has definitely been somewhat of a struggle for me. Although I am super thankful for toilet seats and water I can drink, I miss the sweet Cuban people who were so loving and accepting they even called me their family. I miss how willing the people were to open up their doors and invite me into their homes to preach the Gospel with them. Today I am in America, on my MacBook Pro, about to attend a college class that will further my career, and although I am blessed with these materials and experiences, my heart is still in Cuba. Thriving off of the memories I made while I was there.

Yes this time last week I was in a strangers home in Cuba presenting God's truth and telling them the Good News the Bible provides up. But this week is a new week. I am in the USA, my home, and I am here for a reason. I am here because God wants me here, on the campus of Texas A&M, to make a difference in the lives of the people HERE. My mission field last week was Cuba, but today it is College Station, TX, and I need to remember that as I am transitioning back from Spring Break.

I am reminded today to pray constantly, stay in the Word, and seek the lost. And I would encourage you all to do the same. Don't let what happened to you last month, last week, or yesterday determine the way you share the Gospel to those who need it so desperately today. I pray that we would be people who present the truth of God often, not because of anything we do, and not to build us up, but to seek and save the lost, and build up the Kingdom of God.