SANTA CLARA, Cuba — During the first two weeks of September, two groups from N.C. Baptists on Mission participated in visioning trips to Cuba. Two staff members, Tom Beam and Paul Langston, led both groups.
The main purpose of the visits was to learn about plans for a new seminary in Santa Clara. N.C. Baptists on Mission works closely with the Eastern Baptist Convention. Because there are more churches in Eastern Cuba than pastors available, the need for a seminary to train church leaders has grown.
The Eastern Baptist Convention has some 590 church buildings — none have been built since 1959 — and more than 5,000 house churches.
In 2002, the Baptist World Alliance helped N.C. Baptists on Mission to identify work to be done in Cuba. At that time, mission groups were beginning to be allowed to work in Cuba. Its first big project was the construction of a retirement home for pastors in Santiago. Now, North Carolina Baptists are ready to tackle the seminary construction.
According to Langston, mission consultant for N.C. Baptists on Mission, goals for late 2016 through spring 2017 for Santa Clara camp include:
— Construct a two-story house for nurses, pharmacy and residence hall
— Expand the current dining hall and kitchen
— Participate in evangelism and other community ministries alongside Cuban believers
— Assist in the development of the seminary from the ground up, which could later include teaching.
“We wanted to do what it would take to bring students here quickly,” Beam said. “We anticipate six teams to finish the first building.”
Each team will contribute $3,000 with N.C. Baptists on Mission — formerly N.C. Baptist Men — sending another $2,000. Additionally, the projects will employ Cubans who will continue the work after teams leave, Beam said.
“This is a critical part of the project as the average monthly wage of Cubans in $30. Physicians make $50 a month,” Beam said,” while teachers are paid $35 a month.
Because of that, Beam explained, the Black Market is a way of life in Cuba, as rationing is woefully inadequate. The teams are concentrating their efforts in central Cuba — where the seminary is being built — because that is the most unchurched area of the country, he said.
Those who visited Cuba in September included the first group (Sept. 1-6): Andy Wakefield, Richard Weeks, Tammy Weeks, Gary Holland, Tom Nahlen, Maria Nahlen, Brandon Breedlove, Michael Maragelis, Faithe Beam, Gerald Williams, Greg Moore, and Edith Holland.
The second group (Sept. 8-13) included Brandon Powell, Dale Fisher, Glenn Walker, Stephen Daniel, Thane Kendall, David With, Jim Turner, Nathan Morton, Dr. Ron Cottle, and John Rogers.
The Rev. Nathan Morton has served in the ministry for 30 years, but the Cuba trip was his first foreign mission trip. He served Burgaw Baptist Church for five years, and moved to Elizabethtown Baptist Church about nine months ago.
“I want to obey the Great Commandment,” Morton said. “I actively witness to people about Christ.”
Morton said Cuba is a relatively new mission field for American missionaries.
“I want to get in on the ground floor in helping build a seminary to train and support preachers,” he said. “I would love to come and preach.”
Morton was one of the pastors who preached during the trip in September. He shared the Word at a house church.
“The house was packed,” he said, “and there were people listening outside. The pastor had done a good job of organizing the service. There was a sweet spirit in that church. It went really well, and I wasn’t nervous at all.”
Cottle is a longtime family practice physician in Elizabethtown. He’s gone on numerous medical mission trips over the years, and was eager to discover what types of projects are available in Cuba.
He was a part of a small team that went into churches on Sept. 11.
“There wasn’t any particular group that dominated the service,” he said. “The congregation was collectively taking its lead from God. They had a direct communication with God, listening to what God was trying to say. It reminded me of the churches of my childhood.”
During the trips, group members toured the camp, and learned the specifics of projects available there. Beam also explained the nuts and bolts of leading a tour group, recruiting team members, when to apply for passports and visas, and more. Beam estimates the trip costs to Santa Clara to be about $1,700 per person, but that amount may decrease as commercial and direct flights to Cuba increase.
Not only are work trips available, Beam says, but there are also opportunities for youth teams to lead camps, with activities similar to Vacation Bible School and sports camps.
Traveling to a Communist country, Beam admitted, is not easy.
“There are some challenges we face in Cuba that we don’t have in other places. But we do try, within the parameters we are given, to offer a ministry in Cuba,” he said. “Sometimes Americans say, ‘There’s a better way.’ Not in Cuba. You do it the Cuban way. We’re not gonna push the envelope. That will close the door on religious visas.”
Despite the challenges, Beam said, he returns to Cuba, “because people come to know the Lord. If I reacted to frustrating moments, I would have been done in Cuba a longtime ago. People are being discipled and truly living for the Lord, and that makes a difference. In Cuba, you can see the fruits of your labor.”
For more information, visit www.baptistsonmission.org.
Freelance writer Susan Shinn lives in Salisbury.