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Cuba Partnership Update
“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it;
if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
(1 Corinthians 12:26)
Our siblings in Christ in Cuba are suffering an increasingly severe humanitarian crisis. Daily life is marked by persistent and extensive power outages, fuel shortages, interruptions to health care, limited transportation, growing food insecurity, and a critical lack of access to clean water. These hardships affect every aspect of community life for the Cuban people, including our Presbyterian partner church in Jagüey Grande.
The challenges are profound. Hospitals have been forced to reduce or suspend crucial and life-saving services because of unreliable electricity. Thousands of Cubans, including an estimated 11,000 children, are awaiting needed surgeries. Transportation has become prohibitively expensive and, in many places, nearly impossible, making it difficult for food and other essential supplies to reach communities. In Jagüey Grande, the recent loss of transformers at the city’s electric station has left our friends without electricity, and replacement equipment is not available. Most recently, the only water purification system serving their neighborhood stopped functioning, leaving families without a reliable source of clean drinking water.
Yet even in the midst of these hardships and heartbreak, hope endures.
Earlier this year, through the faithful generosity of First Presbyterian Church, a solar power system was installed at the Jagüey Grande Church. Because of that gift, coupled with the compassion and imagination of our partner friends, the church has become a beacon of hope for its community. Neighbors are welcomed to charge phones, portable fans, and battery-powered lanterns. The church’s refrigerator keeps cool drinks available and preserves life-saving insulin for those living with diabetes. A simple breakfast ministry continues to nourish neighbors and homebound church members. In the face of encroaching darkness, the church has become an oasis of hope—a place where Christ’s light shines through acts of hospitality, compassion, and steadfast love.
First Presbyterian Church continues to stand alongside our Cuban siblings. Contributions continue to be shared to assist with our friends’ breakfast ministry. Through our “Be a Part. Buy a Part.” luncheon in May, our church family raised funds to purchase a complete Living Waters for the World water purification system for the Jagüey Grande church. Installation is planned for November. To help cover installation costs and support the travel expenses of FPC volunteers serving on the mission team, a “Wine to Water for Cuba” silent auction will be held on September 3 at Off Square Books. Watch for additional details in the August newsletter.
Kendall Cox, a member of First Presbyterian Church in Greenville and Living Waters for the World’s Education Coordinator, recently returned from Cuba. Her firsthand account offers a moving glimpse into the astonishing resilience, quiet determination, and abiding faith of our Cuban friends. We encourage you to read her report through the link below.
As members of one body in Christ, we invite you to continue praying for our Cuban siblings. Pray that God will sustain them with strength and unshakable hope, bless their ministry in the midst of unimaginable hardship, and help all of us bear one another’s burdens with generosity, faithfulness, and compassion. After all, this is what Christian partnership looks like: when one part of the Body of Christ suffers, another responds in solidarity and love.
“Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
(Galatians 6:2)
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