Recently I joined 9 other International Ministries colleagues for a friendship tour to strengthen our partnership with the Cuban Baptists.  When we arrived in Santiago the leadership of the Baptist convention and Oscander, our constant companion, photojournalist and wise cultural guide, greeted us. He told us that whenever anything unexpected or unusual happens and we wonder why, we should just remember TIC. This Is Cuba, that’s why. This phrase reminded me of another one that I’ve seen on bumper stickers and heard my Mother say often: Stuff Happens, though she used the more colorful version. Being with my Cuban friends convinced me again that not only does “stuff” happen: messy, hard and complicated “stuff”, but Life happens and it’s everywhere. No matter bleak the situation seems, Life is tenacious and can’t be destroyed.  The Life that Christ offers will transform every hopeless situation.

 Another phrase that I heard often while visiting Cuba was, “When it seems that there is nothing, Cubans invent from the air.” Having had to survive for decades on very limited resources, they’ve learned to reuse, recycle, repurpose, redeem and deeply respect most things. With little more than their indomitable faith and ingenuity, from what some might consider extreme scarcity, our friends offer the world examples of deep creativity, beautiful art and music, and passionate sacred worship. I was honored to witness This Cuba and see how Life Happens.

 *We were offered clean water, cold lemonade, and sweet strong coffee. We were surprised to learn that the cost of one water bottle was equal to more than one day’s wages for the average Cuban pastor. 

This Is Cuba, Life Happens.

*We were greeted with generous hospitality and warm welcomes from countless new friends. My hand was numb after shaking hands with over 300 young people leaving a Saturday night worship service.

This Is Cuba, Life Happens.

*We arrived in the afternoon to the small house church whose mission focuses on ministering to the large deaf and mute community in their neighborhood.  The smell of roasting pork enveloped us as we caught a glimpse of the huge whole pig, spinning slowing over the open flames in the courtyard.  For more than five hours, our friends lovingly tended and turned the main course of a table abundantly set to honor their visiting guests. They had changed the hour of their weekly worship service to accommodate our arrival and as the benches were filling up with children and their parents, waiting patiently to begin, they insisted we have something to eat before starting the service. 

This Is Cuba, Life Happens.

*We worshipped on Sunday with a thriving community church that had started, like most in Cuba, as a house of prayer. After the service we rode 2X2 in bicycle taxis to a river where we shared umbrellas to shade us from the beating sun, sang songs of celebration and witnessed 6 new believers proclaim their faith in Christ through the act of baptism and promise to follow Him all the days of their lives. We made new friends, ate more food and shared dreams of doing more ministry together.

 This Is Cuba, Life Happens.

*We were to fly into Havana on the same day President Obama arrived. They closed the airport and our flight was cancelled. We regrouped, recorded some needed video footage, and rested.

This Is Cuba, Life Happens.

* We turned the corner and entered sacred space. On nearly every wall were painted murals or hanging appliquéd liturgical banners. The social hall was filled with musical instruments and pianos to be distributed to churches throughout the region for use in their music ministries. Creativity oozed from every corner at El Centro Kairos. With a mission to cultivate creativity, transformation and worship through the arts, my new friends connected with my artist soul and life happened. It was obvious to many that something divinely orchestrated was happening in our conversations and shared commitment. My colleagues had to almost drag me back to the van when it was time to leave. I am convinced that this moment was the beginning of a long and lasting relationship.

This Is Cuba. Life Happens.

*We were driving back to the camp where we were staying and experienced what we kiddingly called the Colossal Cuban Crab Crisis. It was crazy. Thousands, perhaps millions of crabs were migrating across the road from the ocean to lay their eggs in the dry rocky hillside. Though our driver tried to avoid them, it was impossible not to squish some. As we drove by, some of the crabs who had successfully avoided the cars, stopped their sideways crawl to glare at us with outstretched claws and a cocky attitude. Sadly, many did not survive the treacherous crossing, but when I looked over to the other side, it was crawling with countless colorful crabs!

This Is Cuba, Life Happens!

Thanks for partnering with me as I am privileged to partner with our Cuban brothers and sisters. I invite you to pray with and for our Cuban sisters and brothers as they continue to reflect God’s love and grace to a searching world.

Together in Christ Life Happens,

Mylinda

 PS. I leave on Saturday to partner with International Ministries and First Aid Art colleagues in Chiapas and Mexico City, appreciate your prayers as always.

 PPS. – There is a Spring Matching gift opportunity available soon. Any gift received in response to the matching gift opportunity between April 15 and June 15, 2016 will be matched 100%. There is no minimum or maximum gift (up to the dollar amount available to be matched, which is currently at $150,000).

 The opportunity will end on June 15, 2015 or when the matching pool is depleted – whichever comes first.

You may give by mailing a check to International Ministries, making a gift on-line by credit card at http://internationalministries.org/drives/35. This page will be available on April 15. IM cannot accept gifts to be matched before April 15. By whatever means the gift is given, it must be clearly noted (either through the response form, the memo line of the check, the special webpage that will be set up, or during the call to make the gift) that the gift is part of the Matching Gift Opportunity.  Gifts sent by mail must be postmarked by June 15 and credit card gifts must be processed by June 15, 2016