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Last November we received a personal invitation from President Dariel Llanes, of the Western Cuban Baptist Convention of Churches, to bring a team of Cuba 4 Christ delegates to participate in the 109th Annual Assembly of the Western Cuban Baptist Convention of Churches. Although we have traveled on mission to Cuba for many years, we have never attended an annual meeting.
Mary, Steve and I accepted the invitation and our adventure began. Weeks and months went by without receiving any news about our Cuban entry visas. We continued to pray and wait. Two days before departure, we received notification our Cuban entry visas had been confirmed! We were thankful and glad to have an answer. After that, petitions began coming in from our friends at the Cuban Convention. We had opportunities to quickly find needed items for the 1,100+ registered delegates and invited guests who were traveling to Havana for the event.
We were happy to include Cindy Bradley, Florida Baptist Convention-Catalyst-Women's Missions & Ministries/Missions Education, in our group. For years Cuba 4 Christ has been envisioning a closer connection with the Department of Women's Ministries in Cuba. After many conversations on this trip, we are thankful through Cindy's connections there are possibilities for future networking and collaboration.
Each night at the Convention, which took place at El Calvario Baptist Church, we were amazed and treated to outstanding choral and orchestral renditions of familiar hymns, praise and worship selections. Guest speakers, included Barbaro Marrero, Director of the Western Cuban Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Tommy Green, Florida Baptist Convention-Executive Director/Treasurer, and President Dariel Llanes.
We thank God we were able to connect with old friends and get to know new friends on this trip. God is allowing Cuba 4 Christ to continue sharing the Gospel through training, presentations and workshops. During the week, God provided opportunities to share the 3 Circles everywhere we ate, walked and visited. On Thursday, we were invited to the Women's Ministry breakout session. We gave a quick presentation of VIVE en Mission, the Spanish version of the 3 Circles, to 480+ women. Even when technology did not work, the audience was engaged and many excitedly downloaded the app on their mobile phones. We are endeavoring to do regional trainings in the near future.
Thank you for continuing to PRAY for us, to GO with us and to GIVE so others can GO.