If last week hadn't been so crazy with the Pancake Breakfast (more on this soon) and a quick trip to Florida for a friend's wedding, I would have blogged about our trip to Cuba sooner. But, better late than never.What an amazing trip this was! Twelve members of our Youth Choir and fourteen adults (including many parents, our incredible Children and Youth Choir Director Beverly Escuder, our Associate Organist—now known as "keyboard guy"—Thom Gouwens, Children's Minister Donna Gray, and myself) travelled to Havana to sing and preach at four worship services in the Havana Presbytery. We were graciously hosted by Hector Mendez, the pastor of our sister church in Cuba, the First Presbyterian Church of Havana.
The youth sang their hearts out at four very different worship services. Our first stop was at the Presbyterian church in Guines. This is a church that I had visited when I first went to Cuba in 2001, but I didn't remember much about it. The pastor there did a great job of gathering a large congregation for worship, including several members of the Catholic church down street. The youth were amazing in their first performance, Jaime played his guitar beautifully, and Donna delivered a thoughtful sermon. This stop was also special because Guines is the hometown and home church of our beloved translator, Frank.The next night brought us to the Presbyterian church in San Antonio. I know this congregation very well because my last church, Community Presbyterian in Clarendon Hills, has a sister church relationship with them. Through this relationship I've gotten to know their pastor, Daniel Izquierdo, very well also. It was a personal joy for me to return to San Antonio, especially since I came with so many new friends from Fourth Church. This stop was almost canceled, though, because Daniel's mother-in-law died quite suddenly the previous day. But Daniel and the church leadership were committed to honoring our relationship and our trip to Cuba and graciously went ahead with their plans to host us for dinner and worship. Probably because of these unexpected events, the congregation was a little smaller and more intimate than had been hoped, but our group learned what I already knew so well: the people of San Antonio are exceptionally warm and loving. In addition to the Youth Choir and Jaime's guitar solo, Beverly also sang and I preached. It was another great night.
The next day, Sunday, was a busy one. We began with a chance to sit in and observe various Sunday School classes at First Church in Havana. Most of us didn't understand the Spanish lessons, but the messages were clear nonetheless. We were then treated to a very special and spirited worship service. As Donna remarked, Hector outdid himself. To celebrate along with our Youth Choir, First Church shared music from their incredible salsa band, their adult choir, several smaller ensembles, and their amazing youth choir. It was such a joy to add our voices to theirs in worship. Donna preached again and we were warmly welcomed and gifted by our Cuban friends in this congregation.
After lunch, we traveled to a Methodist church near the University of Havana for the regular worship service of the International Christian Community in Havana. This is an interdenominational all-English service, apparently the only one of its kind in Cuba. This service was quite a bit different from the Presbyterian services we had been participating in up to this point, incorporating more contemporary praise music and a somewhat more evangelical style of worship. After our choir sang one last time, I preached, and we shared Communion with this congregation. It was a different and unique worship experience for us, something I know I won't soon forget.
In all, this was a very remarkable trip, and this report pretty much just covers the itinerary. There is much more I could say about it...much more that I expect I will say about it in the days and weeks to come.
For now, though, check out these galleries of my pictures from the trip:
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