Cuba

When we lived in Budapest, our landlords expressed their desire to vacation in Cuba. Really? Cuba? It was a place they always wanted to visit. Later, we sat together in the living room of our flat, looking at pictures of them enjoying the sights of Havana. My American mind thought, Why would someone want to take a vacation to Cuba, a communist country? They wanted to visit while Fidel Castro was still in power; before it changes. 

I met a 20-something young lady from Cuba who was serving at the cafe in the Florida hotel we stayed at prior to the short flight to Cuba. Like many others, her family left Cuba when she was a little girl. Her take on the Castro-rule? We see the face of Raúl, but we hear the voice of Fidel. Fidel, now 87 years old, handed over the dictatorship to his 82-year-old brother Raúl in 2008.

Cuba is hemmed in by the waters of the Atlantic, isolated by the U.S. embargo put into effect after the Revolution of '59, and trapped in a time warp. Think the 1950's. Anyone who has seen photos of Cuba—maybe National Geographic or Havana souvenir postcards— has seen the old American cars on the streets. It's hard to imagine the normalcy of this, but it's true. I gawked out the van window as we drove to the pastor's home in which we stayed. Old cars all over the place. A 1951 Chevy was parked in the pastor's driveway, a car passed down through the generations, kept running and maintained over the years. It's hard to believe that one can enter a very different world in only a 90-mile flight from Key West.

The people have been under communistic rule since 1959, almost my lifetime. Although I am refraining from any details concerning our visit, it was encouraging to see the church thrive in spite of the limitations placed on them. 

Taxis in Havanna

Typical Scene

Street Corner in Havana

Not unusual to see horses or horse-drawn wagons/carriages for transportation

Doors and Windows are intriguing to me :)

A Book, its Manuscript, and Zambia's First President

For those of you who receive our newsletter updates, you will have already read the story below, but I wanted to make it one of my blog posts as well. The event that Dennis and I were privileged to attend in Zambia was one that will not be forgotten. It was a surreal moment for me. What an honor to sit across the table from First President Kenneth Kaunda. At times we would make eye contact and I would give him a smile of honor. The smile that returned to me was filled with humility, grace, and love. He is a man who persevered, suffered, and advocated for the injustices of his people with the heart of Jesus. 

When I had a chance to speak with him, tears filled my eyes as I thanked him for his perseverance so that the people of Zambia could live in freedom. What a delight it was to honor this man who celebrated his 90th birthday last month, the same year that Zambia will be celebrating 50 years of independence come October. He lived through difficult times when his dream was just that, a dream. But, he has lived long enough to see his dream a reality.  

First President to Zambia (1964–1991), Kenneth Kaunda receives the original manuscript to his book, Zambia Shall Be Free, found in The Wesleyan Church archives. 

National Superintendent of the Pilgrim Holiness Church of Zambia, 

Dr. Alfred Kalembo and his wife, Mumbe.

It's quite the story. Kenneth Kaunda was a freedom fighter, but he didn't use violence in seeking freedom from British rule. A man of humility, he instead used the power of wisdom, perseverance, and a heart for justice. The above mentioned book, published in 1962, had a prophetic message in his final words: For a long time I have led my people in their shouts of Kwacha (the dawn). We have been shouting it in the darkness; now there is the grey light of the dawn on the horizon and I know that Zambia will be free. In 1964, two years after the book was published, Kenneth Kaunda became the first president of Zambia. Since 1977, the original manuscript to the book lay quietly in a box that missionaries to Africa had contributed to the church archives. This past fall – 37 years later –during research on Zambian missionary partnership the manuscripts were found. The discovery could not have been more timely. On the 3rd of April, Dennis had the privilege of returning the manuscript to First President, Kaunda, in a special ceremony in Zambia. We couldn't have been more proud of the Pilgrim Wesleyan Church of Zambia in hosting this event, one that in part honored Kaunda's 90th birthday April 28, and the year of the 50th anniversary year of Zambia's independence. Whether you are white, black, yellow or brown – you are all God’s children.  Come together, work together, and God will show the way. – Kenneth Kaunda

Easter as a Verb

Easter as a noun gives images of bunnies, spring flowers, baskets filled with goodies, and Christian celebrations of the Lord's resurrection, but have you ever thought of easter as a verb? This thought came to me several years ago when I was reading Sue Monk Kidd's book, When the Heart Waits (chapter seven - Incubating the Darkness). 

Apparently, it's not a new idea. After some research I discovered that easter as a verb was used by a few others.

Frederick Buechner in his book, Telling the Truth, wrote, "Who can say when or how it will be that something easters up out of the dimness to remind us of a time before we were born and after we will die?"

And, near the end of a very long poem written "To the happy memory of five Franciscan Nuns exiles by the Falk Laws drowned between midnight and morning of Dec. 7th. 1875," poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote in The Wreck of the Deutschland, "Let him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us. . ."

We all love the hope of spring, especially those of us who live through the cold winter months. But, there would be no spring if there wasn't a winter. Seeds lie dormant in the ground. Buds have been waiting dormant all winter to begin their growth, blossoming from the warmth of the spring sun. To easter is to rise up out of the dimness of those things that are shaded or difficult to see due to darkness. It is out of darkness that eastering happens.

The world began in darkness until God spoke life and light into every galaxy. 

Spring breaks forth after the cold, gray days of winter.

Chicks hatch out of eggs incubated by the warmth of the mother hen. 

Plants shoot up from seeds germinated in fertile ground. 

Tulips (my favorite flower), daffodils, and crocuses announce the beginning of spring after bulbs lie in the dirt over the cold, winter months. 

Life gives birth after 39 weeks of darkness in the womb.

A butterfly slowly emerges after weeks of darkness inside a cocoon.

Spiritual renewal often comes after a dark night of the soul.

Jesus resurrected after three days in a cold, dark tomb. 

Eastering. The act of becoming new. The hope of what is to come. 

As Christians, we live in spiritual darkness until we recognize the light that Jesus offers in his death and resurrection. Then, we are born again, this time spiritually, transformed by the light of His salvation. A rebirth that comes from God. 

Easter is about new life. Transformation. 

 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!  2 Corinthians 5:17

For in Him we live and move and have our being! (Acts 17:28)

This Easter I celebrate the act of eastering. Christ easters in me. He makes me new. The hope of now, the hope of ever after.