Season 4 - Episode 5

To listen to an audio version of this post, visit www.covenantchurch.ca/podcasts/covenant-weekly.

Today I’m excited to give you an update about a developing ministry partnership at Covenant. It started almost one year ago and as I look back at the timing of it all, it seems as though that was perfect timing. It seems as though God has been working to bring things together at just the right time and in just the right way for our connection in Cuba with the University Church in Santa Clara. I know that not everyone is interested in participating in this relationship, but I hope, with some things I share today, that you might understand more of its importance to both Covenant and the University Church and be moved to pray for or think well of this connection. That is today in this Covenant Weekly for October 8, 2024.

In considering our Cuba partnership, I had a whole bunch written to give the back story for our connection with the University Church in Santa Clara. But that just made this too long. Instead, I’m going to focus on why is this so important to them and to us? And why is the timing so significant?

First, let’s consider their context. Most of you are aware of the 60+ years of US embargo on Cuba. What you may not be aware of is that about 10 years ago that started to change and things began to open up. It began to give hope to a beleaguered people in Cuba.

This hope was quickly dashed, however, and for the past 8 years, there has been a steady, deep economic decline on the island. The embargo was reinstated and restrictions were made harsher than they had ever been before. Then, the COVID pandemic hit and the nation’s primary source of income - tourism - stopped immediately and completely. At the same time, Cuba began to lose the ability to get fuel from their primary provider. It didn’t take long for harsh sanctions, no tourism, and fuel shortages to take a massive toll on the people of Cuba.

The depleted economy led to drastic wage cuts. At the same time, the cost of items began to rise as the lack of trade limited or completely stopped supplies of items. Despite being able to grow significant amounts of food on the island, the lack of fuel has prevented it from getting to the people who needed it. Food rots while people suffer hunger and deprivation. In the past year since Letitia and I first visited Santa Clara, many on the island have begun to experience freshwater shortages. It isn’t because there is no water. Rather, it is because the infrastructure to deliver the water is crumbling and the government doesn’t have the money or the means to repair it.

Our friends in Santa Clara have been experiencing rolling blackouts - 8 hours without electricity and 4 hours with. Food acquisition is increasingly challenging. And wages continue to drop. With no end to the embargo on the horizon, there is little hope for improvement. This lack of hope has led to a mass exodus from the island. Some estimates suggest that since 2021, 18% of the 11 million people in Cuba have left the country for Nicaragua, Mexico, and elsewhere. Most of these are young people - the next generation of Cubans. To put it in perspective, this would be the equivalent of Canada listing over 6.5 million people - mostly our younger workforce and talent - between 2021 and today…on the heels of the devastation of the pandemic. The ripple effects of this population crisis added to all of the other challenges are devastating.

In the midst of this, a small church, in a university neighbourhood, in a struggling country has a small church in Canada reach out to them and say, “Let’s be friends. Let’s be family. We love you and want to be connected with you.” We have heard over and over again from the leaders of the church that this helps them feel not alone. This offers them hope and light in a world of (often literal) darkness.

And, although we are a small community, we can provide them with resources that would otherwise be impossible for them to acquire. Some of the resources can be life-saving. On this trip, we’ll be taking baby formula that they cannot access. Medicines and ointments which are nearly impossible to find there can clean wounds and help them fight diseases we barely think about, but could be devastating there. Sending these things is impossible. Only through relationships and visiting can many of these things be delivered. And with what we take to them, the church will share the love of Jesus far beyond the confines of their congregation.

Before COVID, the meaning and depth of this connection wouldn’t have been as significant for them. During COVID, it was impossible. Now, the significance and depth of the relationship and the need for practical support are very real and only increasing.

Now, let’s consider our context. We’re having challenging conversations about our finances these days. When those conversations come up in churches it is not unusual for a church to circle the wagons, adopt a scarcity mindset, and cut spending beyond their walls. During the past 7-8 years, we have demonstrated that raising money for refugees - to assist those beyond ourselves - has not hurt our general fund. The healthiest years we have had with our general fund have been the years we have raised money for refugees. Our conversations as a congregation and a board have demonstrated a commitment to living open-handed, with generosity, not tight-fisted, with fear. Five or seven years ago, we may not have been ready to do this.

Additional timing considerations include the fact that if we’d started this before COVID, it likely would have stalled. Brent and Letitia wouldn’t have been here to engage in the conversation and key roles. And some who are going on this November trip wouldn’t have been able and ready.

In the book of Esther, Mordecai muses that perhaps God has Esther in her position, “For such a time as this.” It seems that may be true for this relationship, too. Perhaps God has brought us together for “such a time as this” in the life of Covenant and the University Church.

I invite you to be praying for the team - Letitia, Brent, Juillyanna, Carrie, Vera, Noah, and Josiah - as they prepare to go to Cuba from November 20-27. Be praying for the trip to be funded fully. (If you are interested in contributing, you can give at www.covenantchurch.ca/give and designate to our Global fund.) Be praying for the health and strength of those who are going. Be praying for the church family in Cuba as they deal with deep daily struggles. Be praying that the resources we deliver will be used in ways beyond what we can imagine. Be praying that God will use the University Church as a source of encouragement and learning for Covenant as we serve our community, too. May the life and love of Jesus grow among us here, and in Santa Clara.