Cuba - Day 4

Today marks our halfway point and while the tiredness is starting to become more evident, we are refueled by our ministry. This morning’s devotional was about making memories. We were asked to think about our favorite Christmas present we remember and ask why it has such a special place in our hearts. This morning was all about why we came on this trip. Mr. Scherrei drove this point home with the story of Samuel selecting an “Ebenezer stone” after Israel’s victory.  Ebenezer means “thus far the Lord has brought us,” and he talked about these stones of remembrance.  Just like Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. We must always look back and try to remember God’s faithfulness is always with us every day, and it gives us faith for the future.

After, we loaded on the bus and did our long drive, and headed to see the disabled children and families. It was surprising to find out that about 30 people, not including ourselves, were all hanging out in the back room of a house. Picture the size of a normal Highlands Ranch master bedroom suite, and that is where our ministry took place. We were welcomed by multiple songs being sung, and seeing kids with disabilities find joy in a song was a beautiful thing to me. We then sang to them (definitely sounding off pitch), but had the time of our lives.

After, our bible team taught them the story of the baptism of Jesus. We then helped them create doves, which represented the Holy Spirit, out of feathers and Styrofoam which turned into a glitter, bubble blowing party. Luckily they had a speaker in the room and we were able to dance with the people in classic dances including the Cupid Shuffle. We can all agree on two things: we all need dance lessons and need them in time for tomorrow! After dancing and A LOT of sweating (it is SO humid here), we said our goodbyes until we saw them again tomorrow. These kids and their mothers usually meet once a week, but are taking the time and energy to travel from near and far to see us a second time tomorrow. We then drove to the farm and had lunch which included an 8 inch moth and a frog wanting to join the fun(and hopped onto Kyler).

Next, we hopped back into the bus and went shopping for beans and rice in order to put together a bag for each of the disabled families. We traveled with Cuban people and participated in black market stands where bargaining skills came in handy. As a team we wanted to go even further with our gift to them and decided to drive back to Veradero where we are staying and visit the local super market. We each donated five dollars to pick out a treat for them, which ranged from honey to cookies - things they rarely, if ever, get for themselves. We got back to the church and packaged these bags so we can hand them out tomorrow.

We had time to relax before dinner, which we spent napping, doing Mrs. Spina’s boot camp, or going back to the beach. Dinner was chicken and rice with tiramisu for desert. We decided to debrief earlier than usual and continued to struggle with questions we have and figure out who we want to be and why we are all so blessed. Afterwards we were given free time and either went to the beach or to get ice cream and just laughed and bonded together.  This team is amazing and we are all just soaking up this once in a lifetime experience as much as we can.

Love,

Makenna

P.S. Hi mom!