LAS TUNAS CONFERENCE: DAY 1

Wed, Aug 10, 2011

We checked out of our hotel in Bayamo just before 9:00 am. We were to leave for Las Tunas at 9:00 but our host was busy making purchases for the event so we didn't leave until around 10:00.

The two hour trip brought us through a more rural part of Cuba. We noticed sugar cane and corn growing in the fields. We passed by several farms with great quantities of cows grazing in the fields.

The conference is to be held at Second Baptist Church. Youth were checking in as we arrived. They will be staying with Christian families in the area.

I woke up in the morning with an upset stomach, headache and sore bones. A big part of this seemed to be the result of the heat. I was glad to finally be able to get to our hotel room around 4:00 where I could rest and cool off in preparation for the evening meeting.

While I have a religious visa to work in Cuba, Las Tunas is in a different province from Bayamo and Manzanillo. The government requires that my passport and visa be registered with immigration in each province I work. My host and the pastor of Second Baptist church prepared a letter letting immigration know what I was doing, the subject of my messages and when I would be leaving. I am now free to speak at the youth conference.
The evening service went well. I am always impressed with the quality of musicians in Cuba. Music seems to form a big part of their lives. The youth sang with joy and enthusiasm. I spoke on Colossians 1:19-20 sharing how it was the pleasure of God to send His Son to die so that they could be reconciled with Him.