E-TEAM Cuba News Archive 2009 We Made It!

June 30th, 2009

We are back in Nashville! After traveling all day yesterday, we arrived in Nashville at around 7:00 pm. We were met by: Joni, Heath, Neil, and Alicia and then we were treated to an excellent meal.

Our time in Cuba was an amazing experience! We visited more than 15 churches and performed our songs, mime, and gave testimonies. It was interesting to see all of the different churches. Some looked like they could have been a church in the US and others were only a small room in the back of a house. It was inspiring to see the dedication of the Cuban Christians and how much they have to go through in their everyday life.

We experienced many different things while we were in Cuba. The food, fun, scenery, mountain climbing, transportation, people, and most importantly God.

The food was interesting to say the least. Some of the meals we enjoyed a lot but others weren't so great. We felt very blessed that the Cuban people went above and beyond what they actually have and fixed us some amazing meals. We had beans and rice at almost every meal that was sometimes accompanied by spaghetti, fish, mashed potatoes, pork and on one occasion beef (which is extremely rare in Cuba).

We had so much fun in Cuba. The fun began on the first day we arrived when we were able to play baseball with a few of the seminary students and continued all the way until the very last day when we were able to play dominoes and joke with the Cubans. We enjoyed going to the ocean on two different days and experiencing the beautiful beaches. We also enjoyed just being to able to hang out with the Cubans who have a wonderful sense of humor and would have you laughing the whole time.

Cuba is a beautiful country. Words can't quite describe how beautiful it is with its mountains, valleys, rivers, beaches, and a multitude of palm trees. We enjoyed the scenery while we drove to the different churches we visited. We also stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks. You can really see God's handiwork in the scenery of Cuba.

Mountain Climbing... Our team climbed the second highest mountain in the Pinar del Rio province. It was a hard climb but was worth it when we saw the view from the top and had a prayer service at the top with some of the Cuban youth.

The transportation in Cuba varies widely. Some people drive cars, others ride horses, some walk/hitch hike, others ride in the back of dump trucks, we were fortunate to have a bus with air conditioning for most of the time and did have the opportunity to ride in a dump truck a couple of times.

The people from Cuba are amazing. We got really close to the people and will miss them a lot. They were so welcoming and very loving.

We all became so much closer to God on this trip. We visited many different church services and even though we couldn't always understand what was being said, you could feel God moving. We also had a morning of fasting, silence, and prayer where we were encouraged to pray but also be still and allow God to speak to us. God moved in big ways in all of our lives and we will never be the same.

Thanks for all of your prayers.

E-TEAM Cuba 09