cuba Archives

A beachhead for ministry in eastern Cuba

Posted August 29th, 2018

It’s Friday night in Holguín and the streets of this city in northeastern Cuba are filled with noisy revelers — just like bustling metropolises everywhere. Music is in the air, motorcyclists roar up and down the street, people laugh and talk.

Closing churches due to size unthinkable in Cuba

Posted July 24th, 2018

It is simply inconceivable to the hardy band of Presbyterians who are the Presbyterian Mission in Camagüey that a denomination — whether it be the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba (IPRC) or the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — would close a church because it is too small. Though they are a small group of less than 25 in a large city — Camagüey is Cuba’s third largest city, with a population of some 300,000 — the members of the Presbyterian Mission here consider their ministry vital.

‘We will be fine’

Posted June 13th, 2018

The modest little stone chapel sits on a hilltop overlooking Centro de Actividades Nacionale Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada (CANIP), the national camp and conference center of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba (IPRC). The scene is one of devastation.

Living Waters for the World joins with Cimorelli to highlight water crisis

Posted June 12th, 2018

Living Waters for the World (LWW), the global ministry of Synod of Living Waters, has partnered with popular all-girl singing group Cimorelli to raise awareness of the world’s water crisis and LWW’s efforts to address it. The group’s youngest members, Dani and Lauren, along with their father, Mike Cimorelli, traveled to Cuba with LWW earlier this year to meet with partners there. Their resulting awareness campaign, which includes release of the song “Thirst for Life” and an accompanying music video, has generated an enthusiastic response. The video has received over 100,000 views worldwide.

Despite Hurricane Irma damage, Presbyterian mission at Cuban camp continues

Posted May 23rd, 2018

The modest little stone chapel sits on a hilltop overlooking Centro de Actividades Nacionale Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada (CANIP) – the national camp and conference center of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba (IPRC). On this day it overlooks a scene of devastation.

Hope in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma

Posted September 15th, 2017

After changing its annual meeting location from Houston to Chicago due to the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, members of the Cuba Partners Network found themselves listening to reports from their Cuban friends recounting Hurricane Irma’s slow, spinning assault on their beloved Cuba on Sept. 8.

Big Tent workshop offers stories and struggles of reconciliation around the world

Posted July 12th, 2017

At Friday’s Big Tent workshop, The Church’s Stories of Struggle and Reconciliation, representatives of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s (PMA) World Mission talked about the accompaniment of global partners in the work of peace building in South Sudan, Cuba and Israel-Palestine.

The ties and tithes that bind

Posted March 27th, 2017

New Castle Presbytery looked to its roots during an especially difficult time of church dismissals. However, by remembering where it came from while looking to the future, the presbytery better understood its calling.

Fellowship Community explores ‘connection between spiritual formation and missional transformation’

Posted March 3rd, 2017

Midway through The Fellowship Community’s 2017 national gathering—held February 21–23 at the First Presbyterian Church, Lakeland, Florida—incoming TFC Board president, the Rev. Dr. Jerry Andrews, led off the board’s presentation on “The State of The Fellowship Community” (TFC).

Cuban-born pastor prays for continued hope and reconciliation for his homeland

Posted January 25th, 2017

The Rev. Tony Aja returned to Cuba last October for only the second time since he fled the country with his father in 1967. Strolling through his old neighborhood, he remembers all too well how his family and friends suffered during the Cuban revolution, but as a minister of the gospel he clings to the hope that forgiveness and reconciliation, even at the political level, will come eventually.