Lifeline
in Cuba
The church
support ministry in Cuba began in 2004. During a visit to
Cuba, Bob DeVoe and Ralph Lemmon made contacts and began the
ministry of encouragement, prayer and financial support for
two Christian churches. Restrictions imposed by both Cuban
and U.S. governments prohibit Lifeline from providing a
physical ministry to the poverty-stricken people of Cuba;
the needs are great there.
There are
more than twenty organized house churches with a married
couple leading each one. Lifeline sponsors two of these
house churches. They meet every Friday for the entire day
and, among other things, discuss the sermon that will be
preached in every house church the next Sunday. There are
over forty-six small groups meeting for Bible study and
prayer every Tuesday evening, twenty-four baseball teams for
youth and children as an evangelistic outreach, and twelve
branches of children’s ministry.
Under
Communism, the government is the employer and provides for
the people through socialized medicine, food ration coupons,
among other things. The visit revealed that even the most
educated persons earn less than $300.00 U.S. equivalent per
year and that what is provided is not sufficient to meet the
needs of the people. For example, the monthly food
provision is only sufficient for about three weeks. Bob
described that most everything is as it was in the late
1950’s when Castro took office - even the vehicles and
buildings. One of the pastors in the church Lifeline
supports is a painter by profession, yet the home where he
resides, though clean and neat, is very sparse; the walls
are cracked, laden with water stains and mildew as
renovations, construction and expansion are not permitted.
But most important of all is that the people are open to the
Gospel, hungry to grow in Christ, and eager to share Him
with their countrymen. God is reaping a harvest in Cuba.
Historical
Overview of Cuba
Christopher
Columbus discovered the island in 1492 and it was developed
into a Spanish colony. Havana became an important port for
departing ships to Spain filled with treasures from Central
America and diseases from the settlers and sailors decimated
the native population. In the early 1800’s large numbers of
African slaves were imported to work in the coffee and
sugarcane fields. Spanish rule became more and more
repressive and US intervention during the Spanish-American
War in 1898 overthrew the Spanish. After Cuba was freed
from Spanish rule, a treaty made Cuba an independent
republic under U.S. protection. Cuban independence was
granted in 1902. Although U.S. occupation ended in 1902, it
had brought large American investments. A group of army
soldiers overthrew the Cuban president and in 1940 Baptista
began running a corrupt police state.
Fidel
Castro launched a revolution in 1956 and in 1959 Castro took
over the government forming a communist state. The U.S.
broke relations with Cuba in 1961 as Castro strengthened his
ties to the Soviet Union. Cuba experienced a severe
economic recession in 1990 following the withdrawal of
Soviet subsidies. The U.S. has had embargos against Cuba
since 1961.
Religion in Cuba
Before Castro took power, 85% of the population was
considered Roman Catholic. In 1997, Christmas Day became an
official holiday in response to Pope John Paul II’s visit to
Cuba. Today, the government controls many aspects of the
churches, including church size and number of churches
permitted.
Facts &
Figures
Population
11.3 million
people
Capital
Havana
Language
Spanish
Currency
Cuban peso
Illiteracy
rate 3%
Unemployment
rate 1.9%
Average
yearly income $300 (U.S.
dollars)
Population
below poverty line NA
Life
expectancy average 77 years old
