You can feel it . . . there’s a certain warmth, a special kind of joy, as we head into the fall, the holidays, the end of the year . . .
Yet at the same time, life outside our borders keeps churning like stormy seas! I witnessed it: I just got back from Cuba.
We began ministering there 26 years ago. It was a deeply needy place, with more problems than we could count. If anyone had told me then that things would actually get worse over the coming quarter century, I would have said, “Preposterous!”
I remember a pastor calmly assuring me back then, “In five to seven years, this country will open up and become just another easygoing Caribbean nation.” If this pastor had lived in Old Testament times and offered such a “prophecy,” he would have met his demise! His prediction could not have been further from the truth.
I arrived in Cuba with a group from Fort Worth prepared to share the gospel with the Cuban people—but not prepared for the shocking conditions on the ground. Gas stations are shut down. Where gasoline was offered, the price was $25 per gallon. (Today, as I write to you, it has soared to $40 per gallon!)
Electricity is almost never available. In a very precious few situations, the power is turned on for a time. Only a few private citizens have managed to acquire solar panels and batteries to make their lives work.
Yet the hearts of our Cuban brothers and sisters were glowing with love and thanks for you, your prayers and your giving, staying connected and in tune with them as you’re led by the Lord. Again and again, we heard expressions of profound gratitude.
Some noted how beautiful it was that we would show up when even the best hotels are being abandoned by the Europeans who built them! “This is a critical time,” one brother said, “when the Cuban people need the voice of the Lord in their ears.” This, you are providing!
It’s difficult to communicate how extreme the challenges are in a place of extremely limited electricity—a more desperate situation than ever, in all our years of work there. We came face-to-face with it when we arrived at the hotel where our team had reservations: It was completely dark, not a single light burning, inside or out.
We scrambled to find another hotel and discovered most were already booked because of a regionwide “Gay Pride March” scheduled for that weekend! (The Cubans noted that the idea came from the U.S. Our Fort Worth guys could respond only with a sad, “Sorry.”)
We tried a local hotel that “guaranteed” electricity from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. We left our luggage and went to that evening’s evangelistic meeting. When we came back, there was no electricity. They finally turned it on at 6 a.m. the next day.
Why had they turned it off? Our Cuban pastors explained: Those with access to any electricity provide an absolute minimum so they can sell the power on the black market. They make a small fortune extracting the power meant to be used for hotel guests.
We ended up dividing our group among various homes with available guest rooms, where our entrepreneurial hosts were equipped with solar systems that power air conditioners.
Still looking for a longer-term hotel situation, we tried to visit the “keys,” a long chain of islands on the north coast. They were all shut down except one, and that one had no electricity to operate its electronic sales system—which is necessary for issuing an official voucher. The police controlling the passage to the coastal keys require such a voucher to visit.
Why? Because the keys are closer to the U.S. mainland, so Cubans have escaped their country from these islands.
Bottom line: No voucher, no access.
Trying to escape is serious business. The father-in-law of our Cuba national director is in prison, serving a 12-year sentence, because he came to Cuba on a fast boat intending to return to the U.S. with his second daughter. His boat’s propeller got tangled in seaweed, and he was hopelessly stuck. The Cuban Coast Guard captured him and sent him to jail—even though he had a resident visa in the U.S.
(Ironically, the boat stayed put for two weeks, then mysteriously disappeared. It’s now been confirmed that one of the guards, after making the arrest, returned to the boat, disentangled it, and used it to flee—to Florida.)
Yet the gospel shines in all circumstances! Against the backdrop of Cuba’s many sad stories, I’m delighted to report that God is at work. By His Spirit, He is drawing many who will be “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37) in even the most difficult situations.
Case in point: We had wonderful Vacation Bible Schools, for kids and parents. We rejoiced in 1,846 children’s decisions for Christ, plus more than 600 parents’ decisions. We held evening evangelistic meetings, and separate weekend events. Four whirlwind days. Fantastic results!
Yes, it was perhaps our most expensive campaign ever, due to fuel prices—but this was nothing compared to the price paid through the sufferings of the Lamb of God!
Cuba today is a sad, beautiful example of this truth: Wherever man’s bright ideas fail miserably, God’s plan is the perfect help in trouble. The congregations of several recently planted churches came together at a river for a Sunday of joint church services and baptisms. What a glorious time, seeing throngs of people—who till recently didn’t know the Lord—now worshiping and functioning as the church on the move!
At the end of this trip, the team and I were glad we went . . . glad we endured . . . glad we fulfilled our intended mission. As the old song says, we came back rejoicing, “bringing in the sheaves”!
And you were there in spirit . . . in the Spirit. You played a vital part in the process. You are blooming and bearing fruit as the vital root that God uses to bring about fruit!
More evidence of your ministry bearing fruit: Just as I write these words to you, I’ve been interrupted by our field director in Kenya, Wanje Kazungu. He is beaming with excitement, reporting on our bold initiative there: planting 300 churches. It’s happening! Wanje says the first 210 of the 300 are taking shape around the country!
He is extra delighted because Kenya’s history of “church work” is littered with unfulfilled promises. Mostly they’ve been empty dreams, wishful thinking. But as Wanje observes, we are not “tilting at windmills” like Don Quixote. This is real.
Wanje has caught a look at a new reality for Kenya—the kind of reality you and I have come to see, and now fully expect, in every field where the Lord has led us!
(I have to smile. Wanje’s message is so exuberant. He’s reporting to me as if he’s seeing something nobody else has ever seen; he’s trying to convince me how good it is! Ah, that’s fine . . . he’s “preaching to the choir” about the great blessing of joining the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the work they’re doing all around the globe. You and I already know this blessing!)
And now, we turn to the next challenge. I am hours away from going to China.
It’s actually the plight of our Cuban brothers and sisters that takes me there. As I’ve shared with you, we’re launching a program to collect solar panels—coming from China—to install in Cuba’s churches. I’ll be setting up a self-sustaining program which will bring urgently needed electrical power to our fellow believers struggling to survive in a place of physical and spiritual darkness.
In spite of all the trials and troubles, we can rejoice. Your kindness and generosity, your faith in action, is the living embodiment of James 2:8: “. . . You are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.”
James is writing about a Christian walk that practices what it preaches. He points to “the Law of our King” . . . the law that governs all laws dealing with human relationships . . . the decree of the Head of the Church, Christ Himself! “All authority was given to Him in Heaven and on Earth.” When He gave us His Great Commission, He called us to make disciples who will learn to obey everything He has commanded.
Obedience to the King compels us in our ministry together. We are not saying, as James warns, “Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,” without giving people “what is necessary for their body”—which would be “useless.” We are reaching people where they are, in their unique settings, meeting their physical and spiritual needs.
God wants us to be about a ministry to the whole person. Thank you for the grace you demonstrate as you take the gospel to lost multitudes and also to deliver practical help to people in urgent need.
We do what we can, whatever the Lord has empowered us to do. We give our loaves and fishes. And as we do, we—like the small boy with his basket lunch—witness God doing mighty things!
As small as we may think ourselves to be, we have a BIG God! Our God has always multiplied our seemingly meager efforts!
Are we a helpless minority in the world? By the mere fact of our joining ourselves to Him and to His purposes, we become a majority!
We’re into a new school year, another year of ministry. Let’s walk in step with Him. As we do, we’ll see the wonderful ways in which He takes our loaves and fishes and uses them to reach the masses with the Bread of Life.
You and I live a dream life! God has saved us, and He, as our Shepherd, provides for our needs, and truly gives us abundant life through the Chief Shepherd of the operation, His Son!
We are so blessed! As challenging as circumstances may be, He is totally able to make all things work together for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
I hope you can give again today. We know what will happen when you do! God has a wonderful track record!
Keep blooming and bearing fruit right there where He has planted you and established you. We will march rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves together, in the train of His glory!
Dr. Manny Fernandez
P.S. As I invite you to give, I do so in the promise of Hebrews 6:10: “God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His Name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.” I look forward to hearing from you soon! God bless you!