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