I am a cockroach...

Apparently Havana was once called the Paris of the Caribbean.  Despite their recent history apparently they still enjoy favorable status as a former Spanish colony.

 

There are a number of ways you can see the European influence here.  The first morning I got on the elevator to go down to breakfast, pushed '1', and promptly found myself on the second floor! 

 

Breakfast itself tends to be dominated by cold cuts and sliced veggies.  But my new word for the day yesterday was 'huevos revueltos' - scambled eggs.  Yummy.

 

One very fascinating difference between this people and some of the peoples I've met in the formerly Communist countries of eastern Europe is their general outlook on life.  There they can tend towards a pessimistic "can't do that" approach to life and circumstances.  When you see them on the street you can see the traces of hopelessness still etched on their faces.  But that doesn't seem to be the case here in Cuba.  The people seem to be much more upbeat and innovative.

 

One time in Slovakia we were playing around with the language and, being silly Americans, we learned how to say, "I am a cockroach."  When we used that phrase around the Slovaks they were generally dumbfounded and insistent that no, no, we were not cockroaches.

 

I decided to try that phrase out yesterday (Yo soy un cuckaracho) and the Cubans instantly laughed.  Whether it's an ability to see outside the box or their sense of humor or just something cultural, it was fascinating to see their response...

 

At lunch today Manny's worker, Felix, was telling us how the people aren't able to buy satellite dishes but have figured out how to make their own.  Fascinating!

 

In case you've been wondering about where we're staying and food and such, we're in a '4-star' hotel maybe three blocks from the water.  There's no sand at this part of the island - just rocky shore.  Today was the first day the water had calmed down since we arrived here - finally Paloma is long gone.  We haven't so much gone in the water or anything - but we do see it as we're driving to and from our hotel to the various churches.

 

The hotel is clean and fairly nice.  It has a large pool that we also haven't been in, and a nice workout room which most of us have used once I believe.

 

Most of our meals have been at nicer restaurants - there's one Italian place that Manny seems to like.  I've tried to order the Ravioli each time and have been shut out each time.  'No se puede' is another phrase I've learned down here - 'can't do it.'  But that's mostly been with the ravioli - that and the internet.  The connection at our hotel is painfully slow and usually hasn't let me get to a page where I need to log in. 'No se puede...'

 

Yesterday we travelled to the extreme western part of the island to speak in a church there and do baptisms.  Took six hours to get there.  On the way tho we took a detour to a place called "Vinales," meaning vineyards.  We drove through these amazing valleys surrounded by hills and rocky outcroppings filled with palm trees and other lush vegetation.  It was beautiful - and obviously popular as we must have passed 15 or 20 tour buses along the way.  There are lots of Europeans on vacation here.

 

Barry spoke on the armor of God - afterwards when Manny gave an invitation around 8 people indicated decisions to trust Christ!  Then came the baptisms - Eric was up next.  We sort of lost count after ten again - so many people coming to Christ and following Him here!  Manny's worker there has planted some 18 churches already or something like that - I'm losing track of the numbers.

 

This morning we went to this smaller church out in the country.  They meet outside on rough pews - many of them took off work for the day just to be at the service.  I saw homemade speakers and a mic stand with 'new' legs made out of rebar as apparently the original ones had broken. George spoke about God's love and when Manny gave an invitation maybe 9 or 10 folks indicated decisions for Christ!  On our way to the baptisms we drove past the site where this worker is trying to build a church building (along with some rooms for his family).  By himself.  He has all the material he needs in order to finish except for the mortar - cost to finish is around $1000 and we left there wondering if maybe we could each come up with $200 to allow him to finish.

 

'Only' two folks were baptized this morning.  This time in a small river - Steve had the honors!

 

Another service tonight, two more tomorrow - apparently the morning one will feature baptisms in the Caribbean!

 

It's been a tremendous week but I know we are all looking forward to seeing our families in two days!

 

Thank you again for your prayers...