Sitting just 103 miles off the coast of Florida, Cuba is a close neighbor that is a world away. Due to the rise of communism during the revolution lead by the Castro brothers, Cuba has not had good relations with the US in decades. If you are a part of my generation you know very little about this island paradise. The descriptions of Cuba are telling. They reveal an old beauty, threadbare, and worn. Here are just a few descriptions that I have come upon.

“Timeworn but magnificent, dilapidated but dignified, fun yet maddeningly frustrating – Cuba is a country of indefinable magic.” travel writer, Gabbi Brondani

“Cuba is like a prince in a poor man’s coat.” Unknown

“Havana is one of the great cities of the world, sublimely tawdry yet stubbornly graceful, like tarnished chrome” American journalist, Jonathan Mile

Cuba is just a little larger than the state of Tennessee, and has a population of over 11 million inhabitants.

Cuba’s History:

It was colonized by the Spaniards in the 15th century. In 1868, Cubans began to fight for their freedom, a goal that would take three wars and over thirty years to accomplish. The first war was known as the “Ten Years War,” and was fought from 1868 to 1878. It finally ended in a truce
with Spain due to the rebels lack of organization, inability to organize, and racism among the parities. The next war was known as “The Little War,” lasting from 1879-1880. Then finally the War of Cuban Independence was waged from 1895-1898, during which time the United States government became involved, starting the Spanish-American War.

From 1898 to 1902, Cuba was a protectorate of the United States. Then it gained its complete independence in 1902. From 1902 it struggled as an independent nation, suffering from political radicalization and then a governmental coup in 1952 by Fulgencio Batista. Because of the corruption under the Batista’s rule, a movement called the 26th of July Movement helped oust Batista and his dictatorship. This movement would eventually establish Fidel Castro and his communist rule. Cuba has been officially a communist country since 1965.

During the Castro regime many have been imprisoned for political reasons. It is estimated that around 200,000 from 1965 to 2010 have been imprisoned for their political beliefs. In 2010 an unofficial report by the Cuban Human Rights commission estimated that at that time there were 167 political prisoners. During this time churches were persecuted as well.
Their rights were restricted and people who adhered to any religious belief were excluded from the Communist party.

In the early 90’s things started to change. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba fell into a economic recession. The government also began to relax its hard stance on religions. The constitution was amended in 1992 to declare it a secular state instead of an atheist republic. Because of these changes there were more freedoms and believers could attend church free from fear of retribution. The churches began to grow.

Religion In Cuba:

As in all Latin Countries, Cuba has a large Roman Catholic population. 60% of the Cuban population claim Catholicism as their religion. Cuba is a melting pot of cultures as well, and mixed in with the Spanish culture that was imported there by the conquistadors, African culture was imported by a large slave population. From the slave population a religion that became a mixture of some Roman Catholic teaching and a African tribal religion emerged. It is known as Santeria which means “worship of saints.” This African spirituality represents around 11% of the population.

A very large portion of Cuba’s population identifies as non-religious. Around 24% claim to be unaffiliated with any religion, due in large part to the past Atheism that was promoted by the government. Other groups that have a strong presence are the Seventh-Day Adventists who have around 34,000 members. There are also around 96,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Cuba.

The Baptists:
The Baptists have a rich history in Cuba. The first Baptists were Cuban patriots who were sent to the US as exiles during part of Cuba’s war for independence in around 1870. One exile, Albert Díaz, joined a church in New York City. In 1882 he returned, and organized an independent congregation in Havana, and in 1885 he was ordained as a Baptist minister and led his church to become a Baptist church the following year.

A year ago I had the opportunity to speak with a Cuban missionary who pastors a Baptist congregation in Peru. He and his wife grew up as believers and they were old enough to remember the revolution. The pastor’s mother-in-law would not permit her children to pledge allegiance to the communist government. She taught her children that only God held their allegiance. They grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, and were married in the 80’s. They told me how the churches were small and weak, but that during the early 90’s, when the government relaxed regulations on religion and when the country was in a dire economic situation, people flocked to the churches. Baptist churches that only had 30 or 50 people were in a few years running several hundreds of people. Today, they told me, the Baptist churches are thriving still.

I read one report that said in 1960 there were 210 Baptist churches, by 1990 there were 238. 28 churches were planted in 30 years. However from 1990 to 1993 there were 28 more churches planted. The Baptists in three years did what had previously taken thirty years. Supposedly there are 1,051 Baptist churches that are recognized now in Cuba with a membership hovering around 50,000.

We praise God for what has taken place in Cuba, but much more needs to be done. Pray that
God would open doors for more workers to enter this fruitful field. Pray that the churches would maintain doctrinal purity as Pentecostalism and the prosperity gospel have claimed many Baptist churches. If the statistics are correct, Baptists still represent less than 1% of the entire Cuban population, and there are reported to be around 445 ordained pastors. Truly the harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few. Please pray for Cuba.