Gama speaking to children

Gamaliel and Ligia Canul‘s ministry is focused primarily on evangelistic and discipleship camps for children and youth in Merida, Mexico. Gamaliel recently reported on their efforts during Holy Week:

“This Easter we held three camps. One of these was in the Mayan village of Dzitas and had over 200 children in attendance. The majority of these children, and some of their parents, indicated that they received Christ.

“Over 100 youth attended one of our other camps. Most of the attendees came with problems related to drugs, alcohol, poverty, and parental separation. The Lord manifested Himself at this camp in a very special way. We had initially been worried that we would not be able to reach these youth adequately, but God taught us that humility, the power of His Word, and dependence on Him was all we needed to reach these young people. We have already received letters from these youth asking that the next camps be doubled in length. Others did not want the camp to end. Some young people have asked me how to prepare for a life of ministry.

“I am so thankful for each of these young people and for the Lord’s work through these camps.”

The Canuls hope to hold evangelistic camps this summer. It has been two years since they have been able to have summer camps due to a shortage of resources. Please pray that they would receive the necessary volunteers, equipment, and finances for this important ministry.

Bishop Ismael Laborde Figueras

Brian Stewart, ACTION Cuba Director, wrote the following about his recent trip to Cuba and the state of the church there:

“One of the speakers at our April conference with CIMPEC (the national pastors’ and ministers’ association) was Bishop Ismael Laborde Figueras of the United Evangelical Church – Lutheran Synod. He presented his research on church growth in Cuba from an evangelical perspective, which included an overview of the current challenges the church faces.

“If you would like to read his entire presentation (translated into English by ACTION missionary Rob Dods, please click here.) Otherwise, I will share a few excerpts below that I found most interesting. I praise God that ACTION is heavily involved in assisting the growth of the Cuba church in the area of pastoral leadership development through regular conferences and book distribution.”

On the recent revival of faith in Cuba:

When the 1990s arrived, almost 20 years had passed since Cuba had experienced a revival in the church. This was due in part to the trauma of what is called in Cuba the special period, the fall of the socialists, and the quest by Cubans for a new spirituality. These factors were aided by specific openings in the government and the Communist Party of Cuba in the 5th Congress, in which a modification of its statutes in favor of the inclusion of Christians was approved, and some philosophical interpretation errors regarding religion and believers were rectified.

Without a doubt, all of these circumstances and proceedings in Cuba showed the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit. Atheism, a staunch opposite to Christianity and all religious manifestations (which it considers occultism), began to lose ground until reaching the point where it was considered nothing more than a dogmatic and archaic model. The different factions of atheism practically denied the Christian background of many of the martyrs of Moncada and of various heroes of our independence.

However, since the first years of the Cuban revolution, which started in 1959, the government publically declared guarantees for those who profess their faith. The process of alienation and self-defense of evangelical Cuban congregations typical of the post-revolutionary period, political compromises, the narrow-mindedness of some pastors and believers, and the tendency of evangelical communities to cloister had been overcome. God was speaking to Cuba!

The visit from Pope John Paul II In 1998 and the Evangelical Celebrations organized by Cuban churches under the leadership of the Council of Churches in Cuba were the detonators that revealed the mobilizing power of Cuban Christians, after 30 years of limitations on living out and organizing their faith. The churches carried out religious celebrations in public places. Cuba was opening up to faith. Being a Christian was no longer an ideological problem. Religious prejudice had officially been overcome and faith was no longer seen as a threat to socialism.

The growth of churches and the back door theory:

In Cuba there are close to 100 evangelical denominations, some are registered but many are not. At this moment there close to 60 that are registered. Although there is no official ley de culto (law establishing worship), some churches have received official recognition by the government and others function under the legal protection of the Council of Churches in Cuba. Many of these evangelical groups have been the fruit of divisions in other denominations. In other cases, brothers and sisters who have been lay workers in a certain denomination emerge on the evangelical scene as pastors. Some of them put forth the argument that God gave them a revelation, others go forth in rebellion, and still others start their ministry in goodwill, usually with the aid and counsel of some exterior leader or pastor, who don´t always agree with their earlier beliefs.

In the midst of this process of the atomization of the evangelical church in Cuba, one might have a distorted image of the true growth in the church, since crowds of people constantly move from one church to another seeking in the visible church what can only be found in the invisible church.

Some of these churches are small groups that meet in private houses, with leaders who haven´t received adequate biblical theology training and who haven´t matured enough in their faith. This causes many people who sincerely converted in services or evangelistic events to feel dismayed and to move on to other churches or simply to fade away because of the lack of spiritual food that their pastor or leader can give them. This happens as a result of limitations in their pastoral training, due in part to the confusion between the universal priesthood of all believers and the ordained ministry or public pastoral position in the Christian church. In the case of many of these churches, the growth is inconsistent.

If you were to carefully observe the people who congregate in many of these communities you would see that they maintain a certain number of members. The number can even grow, but if you continued observing you would notice that they are not the same people, illustrating the back door theory, which states that many enter and many exit. One of the reasons for this is that the church hasn´t been successful in being a community of faith, but rather they continue to be merely a group of people who meet, or to put it another way, the local church hasn’t been planted.

Most of the small churches in Cuba have small buildings and limited sources of economic resources. Some don´t have partner churches abroad, and others have strayed from the fundamental doctrines of their founders, which has led us to the point where we don´t have our own identity or our own theology or ecclesiology.

Zambian mother with infant

ACTION Zambia recently received the following letter from its partners in ministry, Theuns and Karin Englebrecht, who minister in the rural village of Sinazongwe:

“Please receive our heartfelt thanks for the supply of infant formula we received from your organization.

“We currently have ten babies who receive infant formula through the Orphan Milk and Nutrition Support Program. Five of these babies are orphans and five are exposed children, which means their mothers have tested positive for HIV-AIDS and are no longer able to nurse them. Without our program these babies would have a very slim chance of survival.

“Due to the current restrictions on the importation of infant formula into Zambia, we were unable to purchase the formula. Praise God for partners like ACTION Zambia that immediately rushed into action when they heard of our plight!

“It is difficult for us to truly express our gratitude to you for taking the time to source, negotiate, and purchase the formula. Thank you on behalf of these precious babies!”

Someone Else's Faith

Each month missionary Wayne Mac Leod makes one of his e-books available free of charge. This month’s title is “Someone Else’s Faith.” The book asks the question “Is your faith a second hand faith, or is the faith your profess really yours?”.

You can download the PDF version of this book by clicking here.

An ACTION missionary since 2003, Wayne has been publishing a variety of Bible study books for distribution to Christian workers in over 40 countries.

New missionaries

11 new missionaries were recently accepted to serve with ACTION worldwide. They will be ministering in the Philippines, Southeast Asia, the United States, Zambia, and in the Pastoral Leadership Development division of the International Office.

Please pray that God will direct each of these individuals as they continue to serve Him.

T-shirt

The profit from the sale of each T-shirt and hoodie with this design is generously donated to help support the ministries of ACTION Gulu. ACTION Gulu reaches out to orphaned and abandoned children, former child soldiers and their families, youth and adults with HIV-AIDS, and pastors and their families, in Gulu, Northern Uganda.

To learn more about the t-shirts and to purchase one, please click here.

Rob with puppet

Rob and Catherine Taylor are missionaries in the USA. Rob is the ACTS USA IT Director and provides computer services from the ACTION USA office to fellow ACTION missionaries and staff worldwide. The Taylors recently took a ministry trip to Chile.

Catherine writes, “When we got married, I told Rob right away that we just had to go to Chile. It was important for several reasons: we wanted to see if the Lord had any ministry opportunities for us there, I wanted him to see where I grew up as a missionary kid, and I wanted to visit friends. What made this very possible was that Chile had become an ACTION field because of Fernando and Carmen Corales in Reñaca.

“The plan was that Rob would take his puppets to Chile to use down there and then we bring them home. Things do not always go as planned and Rob forgot his puppets in Seattle! So on the way to the Houston airport, we said a prayer and headed for a toy store. After some searching, we found some amazing puppets with interchangeable facial features and hair. They were also the size Rob is used to and everything! Because we got full funding for our trip plus a little more, we were able to purchase these puppets, take them down, and leave them there for Carmen and Fernando’s children’s ministry.”

Derek and Kristin Dearth

Derek and Kristin Dearth created the following video to share about life in Zambia and the C.R.O.S.S. Project.

Through the C.R.O.S.S. (Churches Ready to Overcome Silence and Stigma) Project, ACTION Zambia hopes to encourage churches to honestly engage and confront culture with the Word of God in regard to HIV-AIDS.

The Summers family

Mark and Nancy Summers serve the Lord in Quito, Ecuador, through leadership development, evangelism, and discipleship. They recently had an opportunity to disciple couples in their local church.

Mark writes, “We praise God for the chance we had to minister to a small group of couples in our church. We spent seven weeks studying the movie, ‘Fireproof,’ and corresponding materials. We had a blessed time. One of the couples is having their church wedding this weekend. It is a joy to see the commitment they made during the study time. Please pray for them as they grow in their knowledge of the Lord and for each of these couples as they seek to strengthen their marriages with God’s help.”

Conference attendees in worship

Brian Stewart, ACTION Cuba Director, writes, “Our trip to Santiago and the two events held there  – an interdenominational pastors’ conference and a pastors and families retreat – were really blessed by God and therefore very successful in all regards. Not only were our prayers answered but we also had new doors open for us as well as some divine appointments that helped us see God’s involvement in every detail.

“I am especially grateful for Dr. Stewart Brown from Edmonton, Alberta, who accepted the challenge to return to Cuba only five months after our November trip together. He did a fantastic job teaching at both events. His topic for the conference with CIMPEC (Cuba’s national pastors’ and ministers’ association) was ‘Transforming visitors into passionate church members.’ His 14 hours of teaching included many practical tips on how pastors can help their congregations become more intentional in welcoming and retaining visitors.

“Other speakers at the conference included Rev. Angel Cordero, national president of CIMPEC; Bishop Ismael Laborde of the United Evangelical Church; and Dr. Enoc Mustelier, provincial president of CIMPEC. I also gave a brief message on ministry burnout based on Numbers chapter 11, entitled ‘Moses, the exhausted minister.’

“We were blessed to have over 270 pastors from 25 denominations participate in this three-day conference. Since this was an event covering all of the eastern region of Cuba, some pastors traveled over six hours to arrive in Santiago, and our event budget was sufficient to lodge them in an inexpensive hotel near Santiago’s baseball stadium.

“Please pray for our May conference with CIMPEC, which will be for pastors in central Cuba. This will be held at Camp Canaán and 400 pastors and leaders are expected to attend.”