January 16, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

The last day in Cuba and we have much ground to cover. We began our day touring many of the famous sites in Havana including the fort where the Spanish defended the island against the English invasion, a large statue of Christo, and Revolution Square.

After a delicious pizza lunch we headed for the beach and soaked up some Cuban sunshine. The team enjoyed the huge waves and throwing nerf balls in the white sand but soon it was time to pack up and leave. We all understood why people from all over the world come to Cuba to enjoy their beaches. It was beautiful.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped in Old Havana and began our adventure by feeding the hundreds of pigeons in the square. Mario, our tour guide, bought some birdseeds and soon we all had pigeons on our arms, heads and especially our hands if we had food. Some loved it and others were terrified but it was definitely an experience. Then we walked around Old Havana, up and down the cities first cobblestone streets dating back to the 1600s. It was beautiful.

Our last night of devotions was bittersweet, as we know we will be parting ways soon. Even though we will see each other at Trinity, we won’t again have this experience with this group of people. We all agreed that we were deeply blessed by God throughout the week and that we had opportunities few Americans will ever experience.

Tomorrow we will again enter the Havana airport and are praying that we all get out quickly and safely as we make our way to Tampa and then Chicago. Your continued prayers have been a blessing and we are thankful for all of the support from each of you.

In His Service for the Cuba Interim Team, Patti Powell

Dear Family and Friends,

Today we were so excited to be able to visit two Cuban markets. We all loved shopping for family and friends and had fun negotiating with the vendors. We found many handmade Cuban crafts that we will be bringing home to family and friends (as well as a few mementos for ourselves).

Then it was lunch and off for an hour bus ride to one of the ‘Honoring the Father’ baseball fields. The team members were all good sports as many had not played baseball in years and were asked to play a short game against a Cuban team of high school guys. And if that weren’t enough, the stands quickly filled up with what seemed like hundreds of seventh grade boys and girls that began chanting the Trinity team member’s names. I was fortunate enough to man the stands and lead the children in the cheers and soon children asking me hundreds of questions, in Spanish so less surrounded me. I did my best to answer them and much to my surprise, they were learning English in school so they took out their notebook and I found English phrases that helped immensely in the communication.

While I was talking to the children the Cuban baseball team surrounded our Trinity team and began praying all at once for the team. Many of our team had never experienced prayer in that form but were richly blessed. We also had the opportunity to see the churches being built, which Parkview Christian Church, the church Rick and I attend, is supporting. It was a special blessing to pray as a group for the new building and the people that would have the opportunity to worship there in the future.

The evening meal at Templo Bautista was delicious as usual but bittersweet as we knew we would not be seeing our cooks again. We said our good-byes and prepared for an exciting last day in Cuba.

In His Service for the Cuba Interim Team, Patti Powell

PS- I've also added a few pictures from previous events- enjoy!

January 15, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

How can I begin to explain the experience that our team shared at an orphanage near downtown Havana? We were told that it would be nearly impossible to visit an orphanage while in Havana but that was the number 1 thing that almost everyone on the team wanted to do so Pastor Jorge from Templo Bautista Church in Cuba made it happen. We were told that we could not evangelize, talk about Jesus or mention God but we could talk about being good children and leading good lives. So we did a puppet show based on the fruits of the spirit and called them ‘good virtues’ and told the story of the Good Samaritan talking about good neighbors and bad neighbors. We also changed the song ‘I Command My Hands to Praise the Lord’ to ‘I Command My Hands to Do Good.’

After a short program we did crafts and played games with the 20 children who lived in the orphanage, which in Cuba is a combination foster care home and orphanage. But the highlight of the day was hanging a piñata in the back yard full of candy. The children were thrilled to see the huge clown face hanging from a tree knowing that soon they would have handfuls of candy.

We ended our time with the children by sharing gifts with both them and their housemother. We’ve been told that it is better to give gifts rather than money to bless the people we minister to so we’ve made that our practice.

After another delicious dinner we worshipped with the Templo Bautista congregation and shared both short words of blessing for the people and two songs. Tomorrow brings our trip to ‘Honoring the Father,’ a little league baseball ministry. We are tired but thrilled at the difference we are making in this socialist/communist country. Our paradigms of Cuba have shifted dramatically and we have learned so much about this beautiful country and outgoing and friendly people. Most of us are even learning a bit of Spanish since everyone speaks that language.

Please continue to pray for the Christians in this highly government regulated country as well as for the team. As God blesses us, we can pass along that blessing to our Cuban brothers and sisters in Christ.

For the Cuba Interim Team, Patti Powell

January 14, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

Saturday may have been our busiest and most blessed day yet. The day began early with a 1-½ hour drive to a small Baptist church with many children. We had planned a program and games for them including a puppet show of The Good Samaritan and a puppet show sharing The Fruits of the Spirit. The puppets were a huge hit with all of the children. We also taught them a song in sign language, which was also interpreted into English so three languages in one! We also shared Christian versions of the games Simon Says (Jesus says, the Diablo says), Red Light, Green Light (Jesus says), and Duck, Duck, Goose (Pato, Pato, Ganzo). We ended our time together by distributing Happy Meal donkey face watches, which we then had to go around a set to the correct time for each child. They asked us when we returning and it was very hard to tell them that we weren’t. After lots of hugs and kisses we said our good-byes and boarded our van for the 1 ½ hour drive back to the church.

After another delicious Cuban/American lunch (this time hamburgers, Cuban style) we prepared for an afternoon of soccer against some young men from the church. We had no idea how competitive our matches would be but everyone participated and we even won a few matches. The runners on our team, Kasey Zarema and Jimmy Burns certainly got their workout for the day.

Then after dinner we participated in their Youth Service, done each Saturday. They had an excellent worship band, the small sanctuary was packed, and we again had the opportunity to share songs and testimonies.

We have been so deeply embraced by the people of Cuba and looking forward to future events including a visit to an orphanage, the church’s evening worship service, visiting Honoring the Father that is a little league ministry, and touring Old Havana.

Other than a few sniffles, everyone is healthy and enjoying the entire experience, even the food! Please continue to pray for safety and boldness as we continue to step out of our comfort zones and share the love of Jesus with the people of Cuba.

For the Cuba Interim Team, Patti Powell

Dear Family and Friends,

On Friday the Cuba interim team had the opportunity to return to the nursing home and lead chapel. Our team learned several songs in Spanish and gave testimonies and shared Bible verse special to our lives. Ryan Heath was able to share the story of how he and his wife were able to adopt three children from Nicaragua, and he did it in Spanish, which was such a blessing to the residents. The last song we did was ‘It is Well’ half sung in English and half in Spanish with each chorus song in Spanish. The roof nearly came off our meeting room as the residents and the interim team together praised our Lord- It is well, with my soul, it is well, with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul. We were sad to leave our new, now friends, but are confident that we will see them again in heaven, with no language barriers or governments to separate us.

In the afternoon our group was divided into four teams and had the unique opportunity to visit homes of the church’s parishioners and pray for their specific needs. Again, it’s not sure to know who was more blessed by this experience, the team or the church members but each interim member certainly has one or more stories to tell of their experiences.

We had the evening free so we shared devotions and then several students took the opportunity to visit a nearby restaurant where live Cuban music was being played. It was a good day.

For the Cuba Interim team, Patti Powell

January 12, 2013

There was no email from the team today, however we did get these great pictures. Please continue to pray for Megan and the rest of her team!

January 11, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,
Internet is very difficult and expensive in Cuba so I will not be sending regular emails. Everyone is fine and we are having an awesome time in Havana. You can see the photos when we return as it is difficult to send them from here. In His Service, Patti Powell

January 9, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

The Cuba interim team has arrived safely in Havana after an interesting time in the airport. We brought in MANY baseballs, bats and gloves for Honoring the Father and one of the students got stopped, each ball went through the scanner and then two drug sniffing dogs came to smell the balls Of course everything was clean and we all made it through the airport in record time.

We've met with our Cuban team, Mario, Jorge and Noel and revised our schedule for the week. It will be a busy, fun and God-glorifying week.

Please pray for continued safety for the team and the people we minister to. We are in a VERY safe and beautiful part of Havana and are blessed to be able to minister in this beautiful country.

We have found that it will be difficult to send pictures from our hotel as we don't have a wireless connection but we'll do our best. We will be making a video of our trip so at some point all of you are invited to view it.

In His Service, Dr. Patti Powell and the Cuba Interim Team

January 8, 2013 

Dear Family and Friends,

The Service-Learning Interim in Cuba group arrived safely in Tampa, Florida today to sunny blue skies and temperatures in the 80s. We are spending the night in the Chase Suite Hotels since we have to be at the airport tomorrow morning at 9:00 am to leave for Havana, Cuba. At devotions this evening we talked about how God has put us together and given us the opportunity to minister in Cuba at this exact time. We have a full week of ministry ahead of us and are eagerly and expectantly looking forward to what God will do both in and through us as we visit nursing homes, an orphanage, house churches, a little league ministry and various other evangelical opportunities. Please pray that we are used mightily this week and that God is glorified in all we say and do.

In His Service, Patti Powell and the Cuba Interim team