Cuba: East, West, and Beyond
By Rachel
Posted in: Go
A huge wood cut map of the world dons the front wall of the Chapel at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Havana, Cuba. Wooden lines string out from Cuba to the other continents of the world, symbols of a robust missionary awakening among the two Baptist seminaries and a host of Cuban Baptist churches, --- and this, in spite of fifty years under a repressive, socialist regime that imprisons Baptist leaders and erects barriers to evangelical and missionary outreach.
Recently, the growing B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, with headquarters in Arlington, Texas, began offering M.A. level courses in Cuba, working closely with the two Cuban seminaries, and targeting seminary graduates who want to continue studying while they serve their churches. Two courses are being offered this Emmanuel term, September to November 2007. Counting on the generous financial and personnel support of one of its “teaching churches,” Park Cities Baptist Church of Dallas, the BHCTI sent David Fite, Professor of Pastoral Ministries, and me, Professor of Baptist Heritage and Missions, to Cuba for a week, to teach courses on Baptist Heritage and Leadership Skills. It was a week of renewing fellowship with old friends I had made during four other visits to the island in the past, and it was a special week of renewed fellowship for David and Margaret Fite, who had served in Cuba as missionaries of the old Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
We both felt the impact and inspiration of the young, enthusiastic Cuban students/pastors, deprived of many things, but revived in spirit and ministry. We felt, especially, their contagious missions zeal. The morning and afternoon lectures were stimulating, but we were personally blessed by the “breaks,” the lunch and dinner times, in which we had spirited conversation and warm fellowship. Missionary strategies and projects were shared, all with the end of “Cuba for Christ,” the motto of the Western Baptist Convention headquartered in Havana.
As a founding board member of WorldconneX, and a long-time participant in its attempts to direct Texas Baptists toward the “New Realities” of the world Christian mission, I realized that my Cuban experience was a fleshing out of some of these realities. For example, the week was coordinated and financed by the BHCTI staff, representing a theological institution; by the Missions Pastor of Park Cities, representing a Texas mega-church; by the two large Cuban Seminaries, representing theological education by extension; and by two of the largest missionary congregations of Cuba, pastored by students. Here was a synergy, a “connection” of local congregations with missionary entities. A ground swell of missionary zeal and calling is being built up in Cuba. It promises to explode when freedom comes. Not only will Cuba continue to experience exponential growth, but also, those lines on the wood cut map in the Chapel will propel a host of Cuban youth directly from local churches to the uttermost parts of the earth. What a model for Texas churches and WorldconneX to follow!
by Justice C. Anderson
Professor of Missions, Emeritus, SWBTS
Founding Board Member, WorldconneX
Distinguished Fellow, B.H. Carroll Theological Institute