Story number 2 for 22 May 2002

(Cuba)–Next, President Bush has set tough conditions for Cuba to meet before any progress is made to lifting a decades’ old embargo. The economic conditions have had a severe impact on pastoral training. Bible Literature International’s president, Jim Falkenberg, says that’s where a new partnership will benefit the church. “The primary purpose for BLI was to see how best can we minister to the pastors in giving them some training materials that they so desperately need. Only about 20-percent of all the pastors in Cuba have had any kind of training at all.” Falkenberg says they have the approval to distribute evangelistic materials in Cuba. “The opportunity to minister spiritually has been there for quite sometime and continues to be in place. The opportunity for the Gospels to feed people spiritually is as strong as ever, and we’re just very thankful for that.”