Cuba
(MNN) — The Republic
of Cuba is a Secular
state. The Cuban people live in abject poverty, and the larger faith
communities have faced intense opposition amidst claims of theoretical
religious rights.
At the same time, World Serve's Vice President of Latin American Ministries, Darryl Wright says
their team is reaping a harvest of revival amongst the evangelical church.
"It began to accelerate into a house church movement. There were about 1100 churches and house
churches in 1990, and today, they're drawing close to 17,000 churches and
house churches. That's
revival."
This year, WorldServe and the American Bible Society teamed
up to deliver a landmark gift to the growing church. "It's not just the
largest shipment of children's Bibles. It's the largest shipment of Bibles,
period, in the history of Cuba–more than twice the previous largest shipment. Other groups have sent in large sums of Bibles, but 200,000 Bibles
in one year is the largest shipment in the history of the island."
Many Cuban believers who will receive
their own copy of the Bible will cherish it. They live in such poverty that
they clearly cannot afford to buy one for themselves. In addition to the burden
of cost, Bibles in Cuba
are simply unavailable. The Cuban personal income level averages $15 USD per
month, so neither the individuals nor the churches have the funds to purchase Scriptures.
WorldServe notes that the church
planters working in rural areas of every region still report extreme
shortages. Their teams have a unique
opportunity because they have been given needed permissions to provide large
quantities of Scriptures.
WorldServe has provided 100,000
complete Bibles, 100,000 New Testaments, 500,000 copies of the Gospel of John, 56,000 Most Important Story Ever Told booklets, and 10,000 Most Important Story videos.
Pray for the teams in the days
ahead as they continue to resource the church. Pray, too, that the Bibles will plant the seeds to see continued church
growth.
