Cuba Update
October 14 to the 23, I travelled to Cuba and, as many of you remember, there were major blackouts there at the time that created many challenges for myself and the pastors I was visiting. For many years now, I have been working with young adults teaching them how to produce videos and take photos.
This trip was exciting for me as I was to teach a class of about ten students some video production skills. Well, as usual, it was not so simple. The night before the class, it began raining very hard, and by morning, most buses were cancelled and only the two people who had organized it and one other couple were able to attend. But that was okay.
After about four hours of teaching, we began to talk about the distribution process for videos and other media in Cuba. This group that I was working with distributes their Christian videos and others they collect from overseas, through a sort of underground system called “Packet.” They have to pay $10 per month, and videos are distributed across the country where individuals can download them onto jump drives or hard drives for a fee. I was able to give Abraham and Geisy a copy of all of CMRC’s Seminary courses that we have produced at the Guatemala Bible seminary.
I gave them enough money to put one course a month into the distribution system. Cuba has no cable TV and only a couple of government channels available over antennas. Now, with this “Packet” distribution, CMRC and our friends Geisy and Abraham have made our courses available to approximately four million people. Pray that pastors and other Christians will grow in their faith as they watch and learn from these courses.
Peru Update
On Wednesday November 27, I landed in Lima Peru and began a ten day journey of meeting with the people we work with in that country. Thursday, dinner was with David and Dena and their two children. David has been our translator many times, and in January 2023, along with Dena, we worked in a church three hours south of Lima on renovations and upgrades.
Friday I flew to Iquitos to meet with Karen to learn about the status of our Young Women’s Education program. Karen and I met with the young ladies, and in the next few weeks, we will post a video of one of the young ladies and her thoughts on the program.
Sunday was a big day as Karen and a couple of the girls met with Keny and his family for a boat ride down the Amazon River to a village where we have sponsored the construction of a church that is in very rough shape. I spoke in the service, after which we had lunch of fresh fish at the pastor’s home.
Over the next few days, Karen and I planned for the future and met with a local pastor, Rodo and his wife. We have ministered with Rodo in the past in the slum area, in prisons, and in the community of Iquitos. Rodo and his wife have an orphanage with 15 young children. I also met with Joel and Amy who are missionaries from Bellingham, Washington. We have worked together on various projects in the past.
Much is happening in Iquitos, and we will continue to be involved there as long as the Lord provides and we are able.
Doug Springer
Executive Director
Cuban Chaplain, William writes:
First of all, I want to thank God for the life of Douglas and his family, and also for the brothers and sisters in Canada. Their love and care gives us help and financial support so that we here in Cuba can survive and maintain our needs. My wife and I keep you in our prayers. I have been working as a chaplain, and I am the coordinator of all the chaplains in Villa Clara province.
As the chaplain, I have been celebrating worship services in the Guamajal prison for women, the Guamajal prison for men, and the AIDS prison. The word of God is being ministered and preached to 50 people. We also work with the families of these prisoners. We visit their homes and share the word of God with them. We are visiting nursing homes: Caibarién, Zulueta, Placetas, and Santa Clara.
The preaching of the word of God is being shared with 180 elderly people there. We also work with children with problems whose parents are in prison or whose parents have left them, and their grandparents have raised them – 20 children in total. Finally, we are working with alcohol and drug addicts, ministering to their lives.
I thank God for the possibility and opportunity to serve Him, and I also thank God for the life of Douglas and the brothers and sisters of Canada, to whom I send a cordial greeting.
2024 Charitable Tax receipts:
There is some talk that the government will extend the donation deadline until the end of February 2025. There is no official notice from the CRA at this time. If this happens, and you desire January and February included in your 2024 tax submission, please request a second receipt just for January and February.
Prayer Requests
- Continue to pray for the pastors and families in Cuba as they endure blackouts, lack of food availability, and daily challenges.
- Pray for Maria Elena, one of our leaders in Santa Clara Cuba, as she struggles with health issues. Maria has a tear in the retina of her right eye and needs to be very careful. She had an appointment to have laser treatment on it, but the laser was broken so it needs to be done in Havana on January 29.
- Pray for Doug and two men who will be going to Guatemala for 10 days to work on the video / audio studio renovations and painting of dorm rooms at the Guatemala Bible Seminary. If you want to go, we can try to get you in on the flights. Call me ASAP.
- Pray for Karen in Iquitos as she looks for new women to introduce into the program.
