Cuba Mission Trip 2013

So, about a week ago, I came back from a mission trip to Cuba. That was my first time to ever go there, considering it's a bit complicated. But we ended up taking three families, making our a team a total of 10 people. And it was incredible.

We landed in Havana, Cuba on Saturday, July 13th, and drove about 2 hours to Matanzas, the city where we were going to be working the most. That's where Tony Fernandez and his church is. Tony was basically the one in charge of our work, and we couldn't have been more blessed.

We got to ride in the church bus, which in Cuba they call a guagua. The church found the guagua practically destroyed and rebuilt it in order to transport members of the church (and even strangers who just need a ride) to activities.

That night, one of our team, Steve Austin, got to direct the church choir. And let me tell you, they are fantastic. There's not that many of them, and yet their voices fill whatever space they're singing in. They sing with so much passion that you feel every word. Being a choir girl myself, it was definitely a treat hearing them sing and watching them rehearse. They ended up doing four performances while we were there.

For four days (Monday-Thursday), our team went around to four different locations and did a VBS for the kids there. Our theme was prayer, so we told the story of Daniel in the Lions' Den. We would tell them the story, and then they would get to act it out. They loved it; we even had little lion heads for the lions!

After that, they split up into three groups. One would make a puppet that was praying. Another would write a letter to God saying thank you for... well, they filled out that part. And the last group got to do different activities with tennis balls. All four days were a success, and we had great turnouts. All the kids loved every part of the VBS.

After that last VBS day, our team got to take a little break and head to the beach. I can't even put into words how beautiful the water was. I mean, just look at it!

So yes, I kind of enjoyed the beach. It was a nice break after four very full days. 

That Friday night, the youth conference started. The great thing about the conference was that our whole team was involved in something. The teens were all either teaching a class or helping someone else teach, and the adults either had sermons to preach or also helped with the classes.

I was very honored to be asked to teach a class about theatre and how the young people in Cuba could use that gift to share their faith. I was extremely nervous going in, considering this was my first time teaching and it had to be in Spanish. Luckily, my mom was there to help me out. And it went perfectly. The class was very attentive, and they participated in my activities. They even got to do a couple of skits. The first one was a pantomime, which is a skit with no talking. They all did great on that one! We ran out of time, so they didn't all get to do the second skit. But I had students coming up to me and saying thank you, asking for my email, taking pictures with me. It was a great experience.

The last night we were there, we got the chance to serve dinner to the elderly members of the community. Tony and the church usually do this, and we asked if we could do it one time before we left. We got to go around and say hi to everyone, give them each a plate full of food, and there was even a live band playing. Eventually, some of the choir people got up and started singing, and then the funniest thing happened. All the elderly people got up and started dancing! They were doing the cha cha and forming a conga line. It was so infectious that all of us joined in.

One of the things I learned in Cuba is that, even though they barely have anything and the government controls everything, they are so willing to give. Not one person had any hostility because a group of Americans were trying to help them out. They welcomed us with open arms and friendly smiles, and shared their joy and faith with us proudly. I saw so much love there; pure, unfailing love.

I loved this trip particularly because, even though I was one of the youngest in the team, I was still considered important. I had a reason for being there, and everyone else knew that, too. We young people got told so many times how we were the main characters in this story. The thing that made me realize that the most was when two of our teens, Daniel and Daniel (yeah, weird, I know), got to baptize three young boys. They were so inspired when they saw us four young people coming and participating in everything that they wanted the same type of faith that we have. One of those Daniels is my older brother, and it was a very touching and memorable experience watching him baptize people for the first time.

I really can't express how much I enjoyed and needed this trip. My dream is to be a theatre teacher, and I got my first glimpse of that life, and it was amazing. I met some of the most loving people, and the most adorable and fun children. This trip to Cuba was a true blessing, and I hope I get to go back next year.