Volunteering in Cuba
Episcopal News Service. November 3, 1988 [88240]
NEW YORK (DPS, Nov. 3) -- As I write this report, I acknowledge that a year has passed since my return from Cuba as a Volunteer for Mission. Needless to say, it was a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience and one that I wish to share. As it has turned out, I am glad that I did not submit a final report to the Episcopal Church Center sooner, for it truly has taken me a year to digest the Cuban experience.
In order to define my role and purpose in Cuba, I should say that even though I served as a special liaison between the bishops and dioceses of Florida and Cuba in the eyes of the Episcopal Church, in the eyes of the Cuban government I was merely a special student at the Seminario Evangelico de Teologia in the city of Matanzas. It is important to understand this, because it illustrates the delicate balance of objectives that I had to maintain throughout my time in Cuba. It was always a challenge to "keep everyone happy": my bishop; Cuba's Bishop Emilio J. Hernandez; the rector of the seminary; the dean of the Episcopal cathedral in Havana (who was my mentor in my own pre-seminary process); and, lastly, me -- for I was determined to maintain what I saw as my own particular agenda in Cuba.
I arrived in Cuba in mid-September 1986 and promptly began classes at the seminary in Matanzas. Being a seminary student was the only realistic way for me to have been granted a year-long visa: a first of its kind in about twenty years. I was enrolled for two semesters and took courses, for instance, in Christology and ecclesiology, liberation theology, and the history of the Protestant church in Cuba. The seminary is ecumenical, which helped me make lasting friendships with members of Cuba's Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Reformed, and Pentecostal communities.
On weekends I traveled by train to Havana (two hours to the west), where it had been agreed that I would help the Very Rev. Miguel Tamayo, Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral, and the Rev. Marta Lopez, deacon-in-charge of missions in Santa Cruz del Norte and Bacuranao, with their many pastoral duties. It was a rewarding nine-month period in which I was given the opportunity to become a part of local church communities and to share, preach, teach Bible study, paint, clean, and simply be present for whatever might arise.
During the year, I made a concerted effort to travel this large island diocese in order to visit and photograph as many of its remaining functioning missions as possible. By last count, I visited 23 church communities (of the 40 or so that were there), and preached or shared in the interior Comaguey province, and in Oriente province, where Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo are located.
My work as a liaison between the companion dioceses of Cuba and Florida mainly centered on gathering much-needed background information about the life of the Cuban diocese and coordinating four separate visits by clergy and lay representatives from the Diocese of Florida to Cuba. This task of coordination was especially difficult. Cuba is a poor country and a country in which church-state relations are still being worked out. In performing my task, I learned a great deal about the patience that is needed in solving the problems encountered in everyday Cuban life. I enjoyed my unusual role as host, and viewed the trips as very meaningful for both the Cuban Episcopalians, who had a respite from their many years of isolation from the rest of the Anglican Communion, and the Episcopalians from the United States, whose impressions of an "unknown" Cuba brought home the great need for education, the need to know more about our neighbors whose "mysterious" country is just 90 miles off our own coast.
I was grateful for the small size (in numbers) of the diocese, for it gave me an opportunity to get a close view of the whole diocesan community. Starting with weekly access to and regular visits with its bishop, I participated in many a diocesan, deanery, andparish meeting, as well as women's, youth, and family-centered retreats and camps.
Along with Dean Tamayo, I worked to establish a Havana chapter of the Community of the Cross of Nails (CCN), which will be sponsored by members of the CCN chapter in Jacksonville, Florida. It was only natural that a group of people like CCN, called to reconciliation in the most difficult world situations, would have representation in the United States and Cuba. Our work in Havana was slow and our accomplishments small, but the road to reconciliation is frequently like that.
On the personal, social side, I was blessed with having many Cuban friends - within and outside of the Church. I feel especially grateful for my contact with the "children of the Revolution," those Cubans who know nothing of organized religion. It was a heavy responsibility being both a Christian in a nonreligious society and a citizen of the United States. But I simply made friends and, as a result, had times that I will remember for the rest of my life.
The challenges facing the Anglican community in Cuba are serious and many. I have said that church-state relations are improving; but, obviously, further dialogue is needed. Cuba's revolution was undeniably bitterly antireligious. However, I saw evidence of improvement in June of 1988, when I attended a mission conference in Toronto of the national councils of churches of the United States, Canada, and Cuba. Over thirty Cubans were present: the largest single post-Revolution church delegation to attend an overseas conference. Further evidence of the "thaw" was the presence at the conference of Dr. Felipe Carneado, head of the Office of Religious Affairs and member of the Cuban Central Committee.
My recommendations for the future of relations with Cuban Episcopalians center on the need for greater exchange of Christian and societal experiences. We must continue to have personal contacts, however frustrating the travel visa process may be. I spoke to Presiding Bishop Browning in January of 1988 about this need, and he, too, hopes that distances may be bridged; he also hopes to travel to Cuba soon himself.
It is almost impossible to describe briefly such a crucial year in one's life. But it was an invaluable time in my personal Christian development, as I explored my calling to the priesthood in the most challenging and illuminating of circumstances. I hope to return to Cuba one day to serve the needs of the Church.
The Episcopal Church is seeking persons to respond to the following requests for personnel. These positions are for persons to serve in two categories:
- Volunteers for Mission - serve from six months to two years and are supported primarily by their local congregations or dioceses.
- Appointed Missionaries - serve a minimum of three years and are supported primarily through the national Church budget.
- The positions below are for Volunteers except those designated with (A), which are for Appointed Missionaries.