God Wants Me to Go!

The first time Charlene Bouma went to Cuba it was part of a Caribbean Cruise. Such stops are no longer allowed, but a few years ago when she and her husband visited Cuba during a cruise, the culture and people peaked her interest. She held that interest inside, not knowing what she was supposed to do with it. And then our church had Cuba night. There was Cuban food and talks from our missionary to Cuba as well as conversations with our members that are immigrants from Cuba. She was totally and completely hooked on Cuba. She had never done a mission trip in her life; she had never wanted to do a mission trip in her life, but after Cuba night, she knew she was going. She has no explanation for her pull toward the people and to that land, but there it was, a clear message to go. Now she wants to go back every year.

The two-year COVID interruption was heartbreaking for her, but now she has once again been there (last February with Hillside’s ESL group). She is amazed at how deep the friendships she has made—the kind of friendships where she can just pick up where they left off even though those years were missed. With her halting Spanish and their halting English and lots of body language they are able to communicate pretty well. On her last trip, she still felt incredible warmth and affection from the people despite the missing years. She says that even though they had to skip those years, the people care enough to remember the details of her life. When she gets there each time, she is blown away by their loving and affectionate nature as they extend that love and kindness to our team.

The Cubans are a people of hospitality. They want to invite the visitors from Hillside to their homes for a meal. They have so little to eat they are willing to go without in order to honor their guests. When our team leaves, there are always gifts of gratefulness. With almost no raw materials at hand, the Cubans have become extraordinarily imaginative. For example, they melt down Styrofoam to make glue. They make a little gasoline fire to melt it. They use this glue to stick yarn designs on little gift boxes. Inside the gift boxes is a little plate of Cuba and a couple of other little items that say thank you to the team for coming.

When thinking about the people, she especially thinks about two little girls that she has grown to love there. Their names are Ashley and Nashley. She has spent lots of time talking to them and learning about their lives. Along with other children, our team teaches them English on the weekends when they are not in school. There is lots of fun teaching them Bible stories and silly American children’s songs. Char says her greatest single contribution to Cuban culture is the Baby Shark song!

Ashley and Nashley used to excitedly tell how they would invite their school friends to church and some came. It was fun. Now and if they try to invite school kids to church they are seriously scolded by the teachers. In fact, the teachers are so hard on the children of known Christians that one little girl has become withdrawn and unhealthy. They look like any American elementary kid may look but they go to bed hungry every night. There is too much stress and not enough nutrition for these young members of God’s family.

One of the mothers wanted to show the team what it was like at their children’s school, so whoever wanted to got up early, before the teaching day began, and observed the school’s morning flag raising. The children sang a patriotic song, and honor was given to Castro. It was the way each school day begins. They are proud of their school, and the flag-raising is as it has always been, since Castro. Our team members said Hello to the children they knew and went on their way, but not before the teacher reminded the mother that she needs permission to bring visitors to the school.

I asked her why, if they are hungry, they just don’t have a garden. I mean, it’s the tropics! Can’t they grow some fresh vegetables for themselves? Char said that if they sell things or raise things the government will take 80%. So how does the government know if they are selling soap or shampoo from their front porch or growing their own vegetables? Char says the people never know who’s watching. Maybe the neighbor is a government informer. Maybe a friendly kid at school is a snitch. Even in the seminary, two of the seminarians turned out to be government plants. Just a few years ago Christians loved worshiping and fellowshipping together on Sundays. Now there is very little visiting because they can’t be sure of who they are talking to.

I ask Char how many hours a day are spent teaching English. She says the people from Hillside teach for eight hours every day except Sunday. She teaches so much that her head hurts! But on a deeper level, she says, “We are there to show the Cuban people that they are not alone in this world. There are other Christians who love them and with whom they can have fellowship. Going to Cuba is the single most enriching thing I have done in my life. There, relationships are forged and lives are changed. I got more hugs and kisses in Cuba than in a year at home.”


And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” - Mark 16:15

Previous
Previous

Who Are The Hilltoppers?

Next
Next

From There to Here