ReflectionsReflections
The January 2012 visit to El Centro
Written by John Walter Sunday, 22 January 2012 17:51
Baltimore Presbytery has just completed its first multi-destination, multi-congregational visit to El Centro Presbytery's northern tier churches. Covenant Presbyterian Church of Hagarstown, MD visited the IPRC church in Encrucijada. First Presbyterian Church of Howard County visited Calabazar de Sagua. Staff members of Baltimore Presbytery and the pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church vsited Sagua la Grande. Veteran and new members of Light Street Presbyterian Church visited their existing partner congregation in Cabaiguan.
Having just returned on the morning of January 22, 2012, our reflections are not yet completely formed; but in a few weeks individuals and groups will be posting their thoughts here in the web site. Our hope is that by sharing these reflections we may empower others to join us in the partnership to begin to see the deep merits of this mission of accompaniment.
Blessings to all, who for a week put their comfort zones at risk to see how faith and love are always the richest rewards of such missions. We know - as do our Cuban brothers and sisters - that this love will continue to flourish between us.
Receive
Written by John Walter Monday, 21 February 2011 20:03
Article for Discipleship 2011Receive
It’s how we’re received in Cuba that most captivates me; received both as individuals
and as respected representatives of the North American nation. Given the political stalemate,
one might well expect our welcome to be somewhat cooler and more reserved; but gladly,
surprisingly, and perhaps miraculously such is not the case.
Five years after Ashland Presbyterian Church began its hermanamiento (twinning) with the
Cabaiguan Church, we were still struggling to understand what we were experiencing when
we visited El Centro Presbytery and interacted with its pastors and leadership. There were,
and quite truthfully, still are surprising cultural enigmas.
However, that mattered very little to our hosts, who smiling, certainly noticed our perplexity.
What was important to them was our commitment and willingness to engage in their daily
activities despite our inexperience with Cubanismo; to fully share ourselves and to purposefully
lay the groundwork for a bonding trust and a deeper inter-cultural understanding.
All little by little, or poco a poco.
Poco a poco is a very important concept for Cubans; it has to do with the density and
subsequent interminable delays in their government’s bureaucratic processes. For instance,
trying to obtain a building permit can take years of cajoling, pleading, trickery, and
(dare I say) outright deception, especially for churches, thus reducing a pastor without
poco a pocoismo to a state of apoplexy and continual frustration.
Yet the majority of Cuban people we’ve interacted with espouse the idea of little by little
not so much as a tactic to avoid momentary rage or understandable disillusionment,
but as a human balancing mechanism which allows them time to (re)consider and
(re)evaluate their objectives, to (re)measure their dreams to clarify whether they really
are a benefit to their community or just a shallow personal desire.
To survive in Cuba one need always to put community before oneself in a sense we have
yet to learn. Scarcity is the main course of the Cuban diet, options are few.
That’s why it’s so important to remember that the most vital component of their receiving
us in their churches and homes is their commitment to a full out, spare nothing, and at
times lavish display of hospitality, often far exceeding our expectations. The real substance
of life: food for both the spirit and body are always abundantly and joyously shared.
John Walter
The Cuba Partnership
Southern Cross
Written by John Walter Monday, 24 January 2011 17:51
Southern CrossMisionero
Written by Administrator Sunday, 14 November 2010 23:41
Matanzas, Cuba, 1.29.2010
During the January 2010 Synod Assembly meeting of the Presbyterian Reformed
Church of Cuba (IPRC) held at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Matanzas,
Cuba I heard someone ask General Secretary, Francisco (Pancho) Marrero, who
I was, and without hesitation he answered, “misionero”.
A Cuba Reflection: The November 2009 Visits
Written by John Walter Wednesday, 10 March 2010 21:55
A Cuba Reflection: 1999 ~2009
John Walter ~ November 2-23, 2009 / Calabazar de Sagua
The visits to: Cabaiguán, Placetas, Sagua la Grande, Calabazar de Sagua and Encrucijada.
You’d think that after ten years of visiting and relationship building with the Iglesia Presbiteriana Reformada en Cuba (IPRC) I’d have devised some kind of method for evaluating my experiences and have reached some broad conclusions; but in fact I think just the opposite is true. I’m still collecting impressions, but now in both a wider geographical and contextual area.
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