With all the attention on immigration issues these days, it’s easy to forget the hundreds of thousands who have been trying to flee Cuba and communism for decades. News reports tell us more than 4,400 Cubans, including some Haitians, have arrived by make-shift boats in Florida since August 2022.
Some of our Cuban pastors and families are included in those news reports — most with young families. We have mixed emotions when they find a way to leave Cuba in search of a better life. They have powerful impacts for the Gospel in their local Cuban communities and, while we’ve witnessed first-hand their needs and struggles, it is a great loss for the church when they leave.
I suspect if any of us were in their position, we’d do everything we could to get out as well. Even so, our hearts ache knowing the very difficult choices they face. One of our featured “National Missionaries of the Month” from Cuba wrote and said, “The situation here in
Cuba is unsustainable and we could not survive.” We then learned they left everything behind and fled to Dubai where they have family.
The cultural shock, as you can imagine, was very difficult for them –especially for their 14-year-old son. After a few months they knew they could not stay in Dubai and were desperate to relocate anywhere in Latin America. We don’t know how they did it, but they are now living in Nicaragua. They recently told us that they are struggling to start all over again but are very thankful to be there.
Meanwhile, in a remarkable contrast, we just received a report from a lifetime Canadian missionary in Cuba who told us, “We have seven physical centers across the island with a total of only 15 resident students. On the other hand, we have over 1,700 studying with us by correspondence and online in theology and leadership training.”
As you know, LOGOI’s Bible courses and resources are part of the training and Bible studies for those 1,700! In fact, the director of the Los Pinos Seminary recently wrote our Grandma Carolyn to say:
“Abuela, we are using LOGOI courses every day!! Thank you! Despite our difficulties, the Gospel is spreading. We are encouraged.”
Our world seems to be such a mess. We long for the day when Christ will make everything new! (See Revelation 21:5). But in the meantime, we still have work to do.
In God’s grace, you and I get to be a part of their journey whether they flee to a new land or stay where they are. God’s Word never returns void, and it always produces fruit. In fact, be encouraged by reading the last sentence of this wonderful promise from God from Isaiah 55:11:
“It [God’s Word] will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
So, while some feel they must flee and find a new life for themselves and their families, God’s Word will prosper wherever they land. And for those who remain in Cuba, where communism has tried for generations to wipe out Christianity, there are a host of others (we know of at least 1,700) whom God can use to accomplish all He wants.
Amazingly, it costs LOGOI less than $60 to provide free Bible training and resources to one pastor or teaching leader for an entire year — even in Cuba.
We therefore boldly and joyfully ask you to be a part of sending out His Word. This $60 invitation — or whatever the amount — comes with a beautiful promise from our Lord: His Word will always prosper, will always produce fruit, and will always accomplish all He wants it to.
In His service,
Ed Thompson
President, LOGOI Ministries