Cuba: the gospel marches on

The island of Cuba has recently hit the news again, because the US has finally overturned its 50-year policy of isolation by re-establishing diplomatic relations with this state socialist country.

World politics is not the only area where fundamental changes are happening – the church in Cuba is another one.

Church growth

After years of oppression and drastic decline, the church in Cuba has been growing strongly in the last couple of decades. The gospel is spreading rapidly, producing a huge need for good quality biblical training.

Cuba para Cristo is part of Latin Link and has been involved in supporting Bible training in Cuba for almost two decades, to help train native pastors who can proclaim – and defend – the gospel in the unique environment that is Cuba.

Cuba truly is unique

As with most of Latin America, Cuba’s history was dominated by imperialists in Spain and the US. It was even run, briefly, by Britain! After the Revolution in 1959, the Soviet Union asserted its authority over Cuba for 30 years. It continues to be a state socialist country, ruled by President Raul Castro (brother to Fidel).

Until the Revolution, the country was Roman Catholic. Under communism, it became atheist. Throughout its history it has also seen Afro-Caribbean religions flourish, partly through syncretism, whereby the religion continues under the cloak of Roman Catholicism. Today it is estimated that support for these Afro-Caribbean religions comes from around 75% of the population.

No other country has this mix of culture, religion and history. Meanwhile, in a population of 11million, it is also estimated that the active evangelical population of Cuba is around a million – not much smaller than the UK, and larger than Spain.

Leadership needs

The rapid growth of the evangelical church in Cuba is one reason for the need for widespread, effective Bible training. Another is the exodus of pastors, which continues to this day: no one outside of Cuba can truly understand the difficulties that people face living in Cuba, especially as a pastor.

A third reason is the lack of church buildings. Apart from the prohibitive cost of construction, the government typically doesn’t give permission. This means that churches need to meet in houses, leading in turn to the average size being smaller and the need for leaders greater.

Forming a Hebrew faculty in Cuba

The Cubans we’ve worked with are keen not only to improve their theological education, but also to avoid what they have called ‘microwave Masters’, by which they mean so-called ‘Masters’ qualifications awarded with very low standards (one person explained how he had achieved 101% in a Youth Work Masters course from a foreign institution!). The relative lack of biblical languages in seminaries across Cuba was highlighted as a significant area of need.

The ‘Hebrew Boot Camp Ten’

In response Cuba para Cristo (a network of volunteers keen to support the church in Cuba) have started a ‘Hebrew Boot Camp’ programme. A key aspect of this has been to work with Cuban institutions – the seminaries and denominations which are the backbone of the church in Cuba. They recommended ten lecturers to take part in the boot camp, who in turn have committed to return to continue teaching in Cuba within the existing infrastructure. The map shows who these ten Cubans are and where they currently plan to be teaching when they return.

Cuba para Cristo needed to find a place of excellence in biblical languages to run the Hebrew Boot Camp, and were delighted to be offered to partner with Tyndale House in Cambridge.

Financial provision has come from a number of sources, as testament to God’s grace. Ridley College, Cambridge is generously providing some accommodation for free, and is feeding them each weekday evening. Tyndale House has been incredibly generous. Others have stepped in, from mission agencies in the US and Holland, through even to the collection at the funeral of a long-time supporter of Cuba para Cristo.

There is also a cost to the Cubans, albeit not financial. Life in Cuba is not easy and they have left family and busy churches. One of the team planted a church with 12 members eight years ago. That church has never had a church building – they meet together on the beach or in a park every three months. Yet they are now 36 house churches, comprising an average of 15 or so people. Unlike some rapid growth elsewhere in the world, this is not ‘transfer’ growth – these are conversions and baptisms! This is why there is such a need for leadership training in Cuba – each house church needs their leadership structure, not least to plan the next one.

Benefits of Gospel Partnership

One of the many additional benefits of this group studying together, is that they are in practise forming what we in the UK know as a ‘gospel partnership’ – where churches come together to strengthen each other. This is a novel concept in Cuba, and is proving very exciting for the team.

Our prayer is that after this team of ten has returned to Cuba in early March, six will come back to Tyndale House in April, to continue in another two-month ‘Hebrew Boot Camp’, to build on the first two months. Then, God willing, three or more will be able to come back in July and August, to learn to teach Hebrew poetry and write a Masters module on the Book of Psalms (accessible to those without Hebrew). They will then go back to Cuba and teach those courses to the rest of the original ten, who in turn will teach across the island.

This repeats a model we have supported already both in Masters courses and the Moore College Correspondence Courses.

The Lord has wonderfully provided for this group of ten to come, and to have a Hebrew tutor who is fluent in Spanish. We continue to ask God to provide for the next steps, both in the UK and in Cuba. We know one seminary which already dreams of being able to offer the same kind of intensive study to students from the rest of Latin America. And so the Word of God spreads!