Cuba (MNN) — Imagine this. The power goes out in your house. You soon learn it’s not just you but your entire country that is without power. After two days, the power still isn’t on. Your phone is dead and all the food in your fridge is spoiled. You aren’t sure what is being done.
Then, a hurricane comes out of nowhere and devastates your home, city and region.
That’s what happened in Cuba last weekend. On Friday, a failure in Cuba’s largest power plant caused a nationwide outage. Then on Sunday afternoon, Hurricane Oscar struck the east coast.
Millions of Cubans were without power before Hurricane Oscar struck. (Stock photo obtained via Pexels)
“From Friday to Monday morning, the entire country was in blackout. It’s[the] first time [in] my memory that Cuba has [gone] through this kind of crisis,” says Moises* with RTM, Trans World Radio’s ministry to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Moises explains that some of the people in eastern Cuba were unaware that Hurricane Oscar was even coming. At least six people in San Antonio lost their lives. The storm destroyed more than a thousand homes in Guantánamo, among other damages.
“Many churches are concerned about the situation, the needs. So now, mainly the western side of Cuba is [working] to send help to the eastern side,” Moises says. “They are trying to send food, clothes, [as] many things [as] they can do right now.”
RTM is based on Bonaire Island, which lies off the coast of Venezuela. Its gospel-centered broadcasts to Cuba have been uninterrupted. People who still have battery-powered radios can listen in. Moises says the station is working to connect churches with each other’s prayer requests and needs.
Would you join in prayer for the relief and rebuilding work ahead? Pray for those still without electricity to receive power quickly. Ask for God’s mercy on hurricane survivors and the families of those who were killed.
“[Ask] the Lord [to] provide both material and spiritual resources to the churches in Cuba, so that besides continuing to preach the gospel, we can help those in need right now,” Moises says.
“May the Lord allow us to see how through these misfortunes, the Church in Cuba can continue to glorify His name.”
Click to learn more about RTM, a ministry of Trans World Radio.
*Full name withheld for security reasons.
Header photo by MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC — This image or video was catalogued by Goddard Space Flight Center of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: 2024-10-22., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=154163831.
