Cuba

Whew....it has been a while since we posted anything!  For the last month, we have been BUSY people, but thankfully things are slowing-down enough now to blog again.  Let me pick-up where I left off:  Tim's mission trip to Cuba.

In August, Tim and five other members of our church flew to Miami and caught a charter plane to Santiago for an 8-day mission trip.  

 Upon arriving in Santiago, our mission team met the pastor of the church who was hosting the trip.  Then they toured other Baptist churches in the area...

This church (below) is actually in the living room of an apartment.  50-60 people attend service in this tiny room each week.

Tim was privileged to preach 3 times at these churches while in Cuba, each time through the group's Spanish-speaking interpreter, Gabriel...who stayed with the group all week.  To God's glory, 6 people were saved under Tim's preaching and 50-60 rededicated their lives!!!

At one point while he was speaking, the pastor asked Tim if he would be willing to do a child dedication...which Tim gladly did.  :)

 Below, our youth pastor, Josh (also speaking through an interpreter) preached to the teens at one of the churches.

After one of the services, Sadie handed-out small trinkets to the Cuba women, who were very happy with the gifts.

The mission team also did manual labor.  The church who hosted the trip ran a medical clinic and nursing home which our team members painted while there.

One of the funny stories the team told about was the rickety scaffolding that they had to stand on while they were painting (below)!

Because food in Cuba is scarce, the medical clinic farms sweet potatoes to feed its residents.  Our team helped pick potatoes one day.  To their shock...Cuba still uses oxen and wagons to farm.  Our church actually bought these oxen for the Cubans on a previous mission trip.

Medicine is extremely difficult to get a hold of in Cuba, so our team brought 5 suitcases (around 125 pounds) of over-the-counter meds to the medical clinic.   The Cubans were SO appreciative!!!  The Cubans cannot get medication for your stomach (such as Pepto or Imodium), and even simple pain relievers like Tylenol or Advil are difficult to get and outrageously expensive.  The pastor of the church told our team that he recently had surgery, and he was instructed to find and bring his own surgical staples for the surgery.

 Team-member Sadie is a nurse practitioner, so she was especially helpful at the clinic. 

And finally, here are some miscellaneous pictures from around Cuba where our team was.  Below is a picture of how close the team actually ever got to the ocean.  No time for swimming on this trip!

Interestingly, the team ate little seafood all week.  When they asked their interpreter why there is no sport fishing in Cuba, he responded, "Anyone who has a boat is already in Miami."

 Tim said that cars in Cuba are rare, and that the cars people own are usually from the 1950's or 60's.  More often, they still use horses and carts.

Below, a bus.  People ride in the back of the truck.

 These are the typical Cuban roads.

 While our team was there, it was Fidel Castro's 90th birthday.  

The Cubans were celebrating that heartily.

Below, Tim at San Juan Hill.  

 This is the only mention of Teddy Roosevelt at the site.  The Cubans give the credit for the victory to their own national forces.