Last spring I had the opportunity to be a videographer on a mission trip to Cuba. Stepping onto the shores of Havana in early April, I was aware that I was stepping onto more than an island known for its music and friendly people. This was a space with its own culture, language, and ways of worshiping, and I was eager to taste and see how God was at work among the Cuban people.

I was the youngest by two decades on a team of six. Our goal was to encourage the house church leaders in the Havana region during a brutal economic yet spiritually fruitful time. We were told that electricity cuts occurred daily, and food was often too expensive to buy, yet the house churches were steadily growing. Bruce, our team leader, had built relationships with the leaders over the past decade as the house churches expanded. He took multiple trips to visit them every year, and the team was bringing medicine, books, and various other training materials the house churches had requested. We were also prepared to teach at the worship services we would be attending.

I was excited but had mixed feelings in the months leading up to the trip. Was it ethical to bring in material goods from the US to a struggling economy? How could my team come in a good way to Cuba, keeping in mind the past tensions between Cuba and America? How could someone like me teach and encourage house church leaders who were leading lives and congregations so different from my own? These questions demanded answers. Answers that I would only find in Cuba.

On the drive from the airport to Campo Amor, our team’s headquarters for the week, I immediately noticed the thriving palm trees and candy-colored cars peppering the landscape. Cuba was beautiful! Throughout the week, I also noticed just how much of an economic crisis Cuba was in. It was not as immediately apparent as the country’s beautiful scenery but became evident through conversations with Cubans about not having enough money and being approached on the streets of Havana for cash. I admired how Campo Amor, a bakery run by one of the main house church pastors, hired local Cubans and self-sustained their ministry.

Our team visited the homes of families connected to the house churches and invited Bruce’s friends to Campo Amor to spend time together. While we were chatting with a woman named Ignacia and her granddaughter Thalia, I asked them what the church (Cuban and American) could do to better walk alongside the Cuban people during this hard financial time. The reply was one word: “Pray.” Pray? The response was humbling. Our team had come with gifts, over-the-counter meds, and theological teaching for Cuban believers, and the best we could do to meet the people’s needs was pray for them. The Cuban people needed to know that they were not alone.

Driving back from the Madison airport to my house, I reflected on the answers I had found to my questions. Was it ethical to bring over material goods? Through conversations with Cubans, it became clear that it was more helpful to the Cuban economy for American teams to buy material goods in Cuba using American dollars from local vendors than to bring materials that could easily be found in-country. As to the historical tensions, Cubans still celebrate their own historical victories and ban Americans from staying in their hotels, but that did not hinder me or my team from learning from the people and having an overall positive experience. As for teaching local Cuban Christians, I learned through giving a too-long English-to-Spanish live-translated message that God could use anything to bring people closer to him. It was my job to be obedient to what he had called me to say. Our team came with encouragement to share and materials to give away only to receive hearts full of comradery and unity in the Spirit. The ministry that I was able to witness while there, believer encouraging believer, American and Cuban, was powerful. God was and still is at work in Cuba, and I am grateful to have been a part of that.

Bruce continues to visit Cuba because of his deep love for the Cuban people and to let them know they are not alone—their sisters and brothers in America, and most importantly, their heavenly Father has not forgotten them! May you be encouraged as I was in realizing that God finishes the work that he calls us to, whether that is prayer, going on a mission trip, or encouraging believers. I was blown away at the faith of the Christians I met in Cuba, and at how tenderly God sees, loves, and takes care of them as his own.