Consolación is our last stop in this ministry trip and once more we head out to meet people in the rural areas around there. Club de Cazadores (Hunter’s Club) is about 8 kilometers from Consolacion. Farmers in that area grow rice, corn, green beans, and black and red beans.
We visit with the family and the extended family who live where the mission meets. They grow corn, green beans, red and black beans in land handed down from their great grandparents. They rotate the crops and are eager to show us the red beans growing in the field.
Liban is the young seminary student who leads the mission. Liban’s face lights up when he talks about the people at the Club de Cazadores and it is clear he cares about the people there. He shares in their achievements and their struggles as if they were his own. And he wants them to bring to them the joy and peace only God can give.
Not everyone who comes to this mission is able to join us on this Monday morning because they are working.
There are 3 other villages where the church in Consolacion has missions and 4 small churches in the area that do not have a pastor and Rolando, the pastor in Consolacion, supports. The needs of this community are not unlike what we have witness throughout Cuba. Spiritual darkness experienced through Santeria and Voodoo are strong. Shortages of food, medicine, gasoline and transportation make daily life difficult. But through it all we see the positive spirit of the people in Cuba who face their struggles with courage, humor and hope.