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Bici Taxis? Bumpy? It is amazing how quick your perspective can change! Today we hired a horse carriage to take us to the meeting. It’s amazing how that little horse can canter while carrying eight people and the carriage! It’s also amazing how much you notice the flaws in the roads when going that speed! I’m sure, though, that before I leave Cuba I will have found many ways of transportation that are much more uncomfortable! :D
At the meeting, it was my turn to preach to the adults. The theater is quite large, the screen being just as big as some theaters in the United States. When we first walked in there last night, our mouths dropped open. We had not expected a room even half that big. Now, I stepped onto the stage with trepidation. Tonight’s meeting was on the origin of sin, Christ’s sacrifice, and an appeal to accept His salvation. The weight of responsibility for their souls felt like a burden. All I could do was pray. God brought twenty-two adult visitors that night and seven children.
As I sat in the front row for the preliminaries, Michael, my translator, whispered to me what was going on. Then, the pastor came up and began giving some announcement. Michael pointed toward the back. A lady with a stiff pink shirt (and an even stiffer expression) sat in the back. “She is a government official. She is the Secretary of Religious Affairs. She is the one who allowed us to use this theater. She has come to hear you speak.”
My heart jumped into my throat. “Lord?” I croaked.
“Child…I told you that you would testify of me before Kings, and you complain that I ask you to testify before a secretary?”
I bowed my head. “Father, I’m sorry…help me to trust you.”
The talk did not go perfectly. Satan tried many times to interfere. My slides went wrong many times, but God always provided. At the end, 10 people came forward to accept Christ’s salvation. As I said the final prayer, I was amazed. God is so beautiful! We take him for granted. All our lives we have lived with his hope, but some people have never experienced it. They have no concept of his AMAZING love for us, and all that He sacrificed for us. I don’t think anyone can imagine the amazing joy and peace it gives to be able to share that love with someone for the very first time.
-Olivia Antuña, Jiguani, Cuba

Our first night is done…wow. We are already on island time, though. Despite the fact that we knew we should leave our apartment at 7, we didn’t leave till 7:30, much to our translators’ chagrin. We were so late, that they hired Bici taxis for us. Now, a Bici taxi (Bici is short for bicicleta) is a fascinating device like a mix between a tandem bike and a rickshaw. Basically, a driver peddles pulling a double seat on the back. Each bici looks different. Some have canvass shades over the seats, while some have metal shades. The ride was bumpy but really fun. There is nothing like it to make you wish you ate less for supper.
One of the things this pointed out to me, which I have seen all throughout the trip this far, is the clear distinction made between us, foreigners, and the Cubans. My light skin and hair are like a sore thumb pointing to everyone that I don’t belong, but that is common in all the foreign countries I’ve been to. Here, however, the stares are more distrustful, suspicious, or lustful. Even where we stay, our hosts eat in one room, while we eat in another. Maybe more than just the cars are frozen back in the 1950’s.
I gave the kids meeting tonight. It was very interesting. We tried to sing for them Spanish songs, but apparently our Spanish is not understandable. Not that I’m all that surprised. The projector stopped working part of the way through my talk, so we did the craft until I had gotten it back and running. God is good! As Ms. Tara always says, “Plan, plan, plan, and plan to be flexible.” In total we had 14 adult visitors from the community and 2 children. This far exceeded what we expected.
After the meeting we talked with our team, and then walked back. Now, it is time to go to bed, and get ready for a whole list of adventures tomorrow, starting with: showering!

I can’t believe this is real. The chorus of a thousand birds constantly fills the air. The heat, which sometimes seems unbearable, is pulsed away by the cool breeze. I still haven’t figured out if the toilet works, but there is running water! That in itself seems amazing. Even though I know I am only around 90 miles away from Florida, I feel like I’m on the other side of the world.
Cuba seems like a time capsule. A place where time itself stands still. By looking at the architecture and the antique cars, anyone would believe that this was a ghost town from the 1950’s. Then you see the carriages. Cars are so expensive that most “fast” travel is done by horses pulling carts, or sketchy looking motorcycles.
This morning I piled with my team into the back of a…vehicle, I really have no words to describe it, with all our baggage. The cramped conditions had a way of making me wonder if I really needed all the things I’d packed. Bumping along, we sang songs with the pastor who was with us: his Spanish mixing with our English. Through the language of music we were able to communicate that which we could not with words.
Our voyage to our village, however, was not without a problem. We were less than half way to our destination when we were pulled over by the police. We could hear the voices of our driver and the policeman intensely talking with one another, but none of us could figure out what the problem was. Calmly, we took the council that we had been given in orientation: when you run into a problem, pray. A few minutes later, we were on the road again. Later we found out that our driver needed a special permit to carry foreigners. The police man, however, had let him go with only a ten-dollar fine. God is so good!
Tonight we will be beginning our meetings. I’m not sure what God has in store, but I know that whatever He brings us too, He will lead us through.
-Olivia Antuña, Jiguani, Cuba

Climbing into the cramped seat of our vehicle, I wondered what laid ahead on the long road beyond us. Numerous incidents had delayed our departure, and now we were the last group remaining. We had waved goodbye to each of the other 4 groups as they departed from the SDA Conference office in Holguín, Cuba. Finally, our driver, Felipe, sputtered the engine to life, and we commenced the 2-hour journey to La Pedrera, in the northern province of Las Tunas.

Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our meetings in the La Pedrera house church as we had hoped. Instead, our campaign was hosted in the neighboring town of Delicias, a 20 minute bus ride away on potholed dusty roads.

We began our adult and children’s meetings with a presentation on Daniel 2 on Tuesday, March 27. I pulled our projector out of the suitcase and began to set it up. Instantly we realized we had a problem. The power outlet was for a 2 prong plug, not a 3 prong plug. Reaching back into the suitcase, I removed a 2 prong extension cable. But this only moved the problem one step back. The extension cable likewise lacked a ground outlet. I had brought a universal power adapter, but I had left it at the house church in La Pedrera. As I was debating what to do next, the Delicias church member who operated the equipment retrieved the church’s projector and showed it to me. God has ways to provide. But when I glanced at the back of the projector, I saw that it only had a VGA (analog video signal) port. Holding up my HDMI (digital video/audio signal) cable, I tried to explain in my limited knowledge of Spanish that the projector was incompatible, but he seemed unconcerned. I turned around to rummage through our bag of random cables, no HDMI to VGA adapter was to be found. I sighed; we were stuck. I turned around again, but to my surprise, he was holding a dongle. None other than an HDMI to VGA dongle. I thanked him and completed my setup.

After the message, I gave each attendee a firm handshake. When I had greeted the last person, I began to tear down the equipment. My laptop was halfway into my backpack when the realization hit me like a brick. Unlike my laptop that I use on a regular basis, the old laptop I brought to Cuba had a VGA port. However, I had been so accustomed to the absence of a VGA port that I hadn’t thought of it.

It was a silent rebuke to me for my lack of faith. My mind flashed back to an incident 2 weeks prior…

Friday afternoon, March 16, one week before mission trip. I was making preparations for my first sermon. After 20 minutes of work, ShareSynch International, the application created by ShareHim for sermon presentations, suddenly crashed. Down with it also went my work that should’ve been saved. Combined with other technical difficulties and frustrations associated with ShareSynch, I decided that would be the last straw. However, being only a week away from mission trip, there were few other options. I conversed at length with Mr. Krueger, but by the end we had reached no conclusion. The only thing we could do was pray.

I went to bed that night pleading with God. I prayed that He would reveal to us the solution and for the faith to believe that He would carry through. The following morning, I went on my usual Sabbath morning prayer walk. As I descended the shortcut from Squirrel Run to Academy Road, I was praying about the Cuba sermons. I asked God to make it work somehow, claiming the promise in COL 363.1 that when we give ourselves wholly to God in His work, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. I also continued to pray for the gift of faith. Without warning, I looked up, and it began hailing. But to make matters worse, the wind began to blow the hail into my face. I turned around to walk backwards into the hail, slightly annoyed. After a few seconds of debate, I decided to ask God to stop the hail. After about 15 seconds, it seemed like God was answering. The roar of the hail began to decrease, and less seemed to be falling. I was ecstatic! I took it as a sign of assurance that everything was going to be OK. But a few seconds later, the hail began to pick up again. Doubt spouted in my mind. It was a small thing, but confused and dumbfounded, I asked God, “Why?”

Then I realized it. Yes, it was still hailing, but the wind had changed direction. It was no longer blowing in my face. Perhaps God wasn’t answering my prayer as I had asked, but He was answering nonetheless. When I had accepted this fact, God then decided that I was ready. As I rounded the final bend several hundred feet in front of the Weimar Academy wall, the hail stopped entirely. I was overwhelmed with wonder. It was as if God was saying to me, “Is there anything too hard for me? Just trust Me. I’m going to take care of it.”

In my journal, I scribbled, “I don’t know what God is going to do. But He gave me the assurance that morning that I had nothing to fear. So I’ll let Him do the saving, and whatever He needs me to do, I’ll do it.”

And time and time again, God came through for us. I’ve forgotten to bring items to the meetings. My HDMI cable was too short. ShareSynch decided it wanted to crash on me again. I’ve stood up to preach less prepared than I’d like to be. But despite all our problems and difficulties, God has worked through us – in spite of us, in fact. On Saturday night, March 31, an altar call for baptism was made. Five people came forward, including a family who had been studying with our local Bible worker, Osvaldo, for 5 years. Wow, I thought. God works in such mighty ways with such inadequate instruments.

My faith was so weak. We serve a powerful God. And yet we pray as if He lacks in resources. In Mark 9:23, Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Then, in that beautiful prayer for help, “the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’”

I, too, cling to that prayer. In The Desire of Ages, Mrs. White penned these words: “Look not to self, but to Christ. He who healed the sick and cast out demons when He walked among men is the same mighty Redeemer today. Faith comes by the word of God. Then grasp His promise, ‘Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.’ John 6:37. Cast yourself at His feet with the cry, ‘Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.’ You can never perish while you do this – never.” (DA 429.1)

I look to Christ, claiming His promises. I know I am weak. I know I am powerless. I know I am unprepared. But “I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is through the power of Christ alone. Nothing of me, everything of Him.

-Joey Shiu
Team Steward (Mr. Steward, Dr. Kuninobu, Mrs. Ing, Joey Shiu, Matthew Kuninobu, Jared Ing)
La Pedrera, Cuba
WA Mission Cuba 2018

A normal morning starts off at 5:30 a.m. We wake up to the chirping of birds outside our windows and the beautiful scene of nature to begin our personal time with God and prepare for the day ahead. Most of us share a bedroom with one of the MOVE students. Many of the MOVE students do not speak english, so it has been a fun challenge for each of us to practice communicating with our roommates in another language. After group worship we make our way to the mess hall a.k.a cafeteria for a hearty first meal which includes a variety of foods (beans, rice, bread, fruit, etc.) then disperse to our different work stations. Over this past week Soren, Gabriel, Robin, and Amanda M. have been doing construction and working on tresses. Miss Abby, Mrs. Hasse, Sunika, Lydia, Anella, and Mercy have been adding color to the campus with the bristles of their brushes. Mr. Mike and Matthew…well no one knows what they have been up to. The team that has been removing large rocks from the field includes Mr. Poljack, Riley, and Chantal. Miss Amanda has been working along side Tanzi painting one of the dorms and sewing curtains for the cafeteria.

This Thursday we drove into a village called Santa Martha. On the way we passed by hut-like houses often with only half a roof. Many of the villagers have their own plantain trees and chickens. Once we arrived at the church in Santa Martha there were already some Belizean women excited to attend our cooking class and crafts. Eventually, more women from the village came. Sunika, Soren, and Amanda M. demonstrated how to make artisan bread and a lentil soup, both of which the women participated in and enjoyed—even though the bread was slightly undercooked due to lack of time. One event that stood out to us from that night is when Amanda was practicing her Spanish on some of the younger children and she was trying to say un poquito (meaning a little) but, instead she said un pequito (meaning a birds beak) which we all had a good laugh over. The spanglish is real! After the cooking class was over Mercy, Alexis, and Chantal taught the women how to make flowers from paper. All in all it was a very tiring day, but we were (and still are!) excited to see how the Lord will use us during our time here in Belize.

– Amanda McCraw and Sunika Jojo

We have arrived safely in Cuba, and have begun our evangelistic crusade in Calixto.  The people here are very kind.  The host of our group is very self-sacrificing for the cause of God.  His home has both a church and a baptistry, so the evangelistic meetings are taking place right at his home.  He is allowing us to stay in the rooms of his home while he and his wife stay in a tent in the back yard.  Last night we had at least 25 attendees at both the adult and children’s meetings.  We visited people in their homes this morning and personally invited them to the meetings.  We anticipate many more attendees this evening.  The four young people from Weimar (Jaycee, Cristian, Isabella and Julianna) have earnestly taken up their mission and are representing Weimar and their God rightly.  Please keep praying for our efforts in Calixto as well as the other teams in Cuba.

We worked super hard today!! We woke up again at 6 am and got ready and went to the cafeteria for breakfast. Today they served oatmeal, bagels, and Morning Star patties with fruit. It was pretty good. Then the staff told us what we were doing today. Group B and D went to a house that is called “house 60” and put insulation all around the it. We also put up and stapled a thick tarp over the insulation for more insulation. Then we screwed in plywood over the insulation. After the whole house was done, the rest of the time we tore down the siding of the garage. That was REALLY fun. You would swing the hammer with all your might, but that wouldn’t even make a dent in the wall. With persistence, we were able to tear down that wall. Group C finished painting the garage that group A and D prepped yesterday. Group A finished working on the “dog house” and put up drywall and then they dug and put cinder blocks in a hole. That took the whole day. Lunch was really good. It was Asian food. There was rice, curry, punsit, and spring rolls. Yum!! We also played a lot with the kids. It’s fun! Supper was good. We had sloppy joe’s and fries. Around 8pm, we met as a group and talked about what is going to be happening tomorrow since it is our fun day!! YAY!!! I can’t wait to see what God brings us tomorrow!!!

-Mackenzie Jezierski – Junior