| Missions News: On Fire: An Inside Look At The Church In Cuba |
By Paul Lamont.
I know this is an expression that has been used, and perhaps overused, many times before. But there is just no better way to put it: The Christian church in Cuba is on fire. In fact, it is the closest thing to the church we read about in the New Testament that I have ever seen. There are now nearly 10,000 churches, preaching points, house churches and provisional churches. There are also tens of thousands of ministers and well over 700,000 believers -- nearly 200 times the number of believers in 1980, when there were only several hundred churches and a few hundred pastors.
How did the church in Cuba get here? I find that many outside of Cuba know very little about what has happened to the church in Cuba since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.
When the authorities forced believers to go underground in the 1960's, church services were reduced to secret prayer gatherings. Instead of dynamic worship services, articulate sermons with altar calls and boisterous times of fellowship, the average Christian learned to connect with God through small groups and intercession. At times, Christians would enter the basement of a church in pairs and over a period of hours to avoid attracting attention.
Pastors were viewed as the leaches of society, so many were sent to prison camps. They were not released until they had demonstrated their acceptance of the new Communist government.
For years thereafter, Cubans prayed that God would grant them the freedom to worship Him without fear of incarceration.
By the late 1970’s, the tension began to lift somewhat as people were allowed to return to churches, though under strict conditions.
And in 1987, something happened that no one -- including the authorities -- expected. Eruptions of revival and the miraculous began to sweep the island. Churches all over the nation began to experience signs and wonders, healings, and explosions in church attendance.
After several months, the wife of a high-ranking official whose daughter was paralyzed from birth decided to take her daughter to the revival. Putting her husband’s career on the line, she wheeled her daughter up to the entrance of the church. As soon as she passed through the threshold of the church, the girl reportedly sprung up out of her wheel chair. People were soon lining up just to meet the young lady that was healed. The resulting revival lasted for months.
Similar revivals began to occur throughout the country. People in many cities were blocking the streets preventing the flow of traffic so the government eventually mandated that churches meet in “Casa Cultos,” otherwise known as house churches. This turned out to be a great catalyst for even further revival, sowing the seeds of the great growth we are seeing today.
Over the past 29 years, the church in Cuba has endured much, and yet has experienced, and continues to experience, phenomenal growth. Cuban Christians have a steadfast commitment to serve God, to see people come to Christ, and to disciple generations to come, irrespective of their humble $25-per-month salary.
It never ceases to amaze me that in almost every Cuban worship service that I have been in, the congregation sings louder than the amplified instruments! And even though Cuba has been through such great turmoil, suffering and misery -- you will never see so many smiles as you will see in a worship service in Cuba.
This is the first in a series of exclusive reports on the Christian church in Cuba. ______________________________________________________________________________ The International Faith Telegraph
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In one small town, an evangelist preached a two-day mid-week campaign to a church of 150. He left, and the pastor’s daughter continued holding prayer meetings. By the weekend, people started to congregate in the mornings before the pastor was even out of bed. Within several weeks, thousands of people were gathering each day, and the pastor was holding 10 to 12 services a day. Leaders had to hand out numbers to people who were standing in line for blocks waiting to enter the sanctuary. Many people lined up the previous night just to have the opportunity to attend the service the next day. Eventually 15,000 people were gathering to attend meetings at the church each day.