Carlos Waldow (regional representative for Latin America) and Christoph Haus (general secretary) traveled to Cuba in January and visited some of the missionaries and projects supported by EBM INTERNATIONAL.

The missionary work of La Perla (Havana) started with a Bible club for kids. That is how the church arose. Little by little, the population started trusting them and more and more people found their faith in Jesus. In January, the church celebrated their fifth anniversary with 150 people and a baptism.

Erika, 12, one of the people being baptized told us the following: “My whole family was practicing a Spiritism called the Afro-Cuban Santería religion. There were no Christians among us and I did not know God. A girlfriend invited me to breakfast in a church that is across our school. There I was able to write down questions I had for God. My mother was also invited to this church and she would always take me with her. During children’s week, I heard a sermon that really touched my heart. I understood the good news and accepted Jesus into my heart. This moment changed the rest of my life radically. I don’t want to do anything but serve Jesus.”

Hundreds of children, youth, and adults are participating with the missionary sports program in the church of Daniel González. This work opens the door to the good news and to the church. One of the youth told his sport team how he came to faith in Christ in this project and how his life had changed completely. His parents started asking questions due to his big change (before he used to be involved in criminal activities), and they started participating in the programs offered by the church for the parents of the youth. Now they are also believers. He also spoke about how excited he was that the three of them would be baptized together on the same day.

Juanita (name changed), 14, reported: “I was eight years old when my mom died. My dad left me and from then on, I stayed with my older sister and her husband. There both of us suffered terrible things by my brother-in-law. For four years I suffered bad mistreatment, also through spiritualistic and occult practice of the family. I was able to escape to be with my grandmother. There I started participating in the sport project and in the devotions, I heard about God. I gave my life to Christ and was baptized. I’m so grateful to God that he brought me out of this life of the occult and that he freed me from the abuse!”

Havana was hit by a tornado on January 27. With great power, it roared through some parts of Havana with a width of 400 meters. There were some dead and many injured. Many families, including some from the church, lost their apartments. In the following days hundreds of brothers and sisters offered help to the needy. More than 1000 people were fed in the churches. Many families received building materials so they could build a room and a kitchen. We as EBM INTERNATIONAL support our brothers and sisters that are helping the people in need.