Cuba
The largest of the Caribbean islands, located just to the south of Florida,
Cuba experiences subtle changes of season in its subtropical climate. The
wet summer season lasts from May to October, and the drier winter weather
lasts from November to April. Temperatures vary between 72 and 81, with average
annual humidity around 80%.
When Spaniards
arrived to colonize Cuba in the late 15th century, the island was sparsely
inhabited by indigenous Indians.
The Spanish colonizers imported
African slaves to work on cattle ranches, producing the leather and dried
beef that served as the mainstay of the country’s economy until they
were replaced by tobacco and then sugar production.
In the early
1800s, Cuba saw an influx of Spanish loyalists from newly-independent South
American
countries. Its own war of independence began in 1868 and,
after 10 years, ended in defeat. This was followed by decades of political
control by the United States, ending when the Depression caused economic
collapse and political upheaval that set the stage for Fidel Castro’s
successful bid for power.
The Church of the Nazarene
Evangelism in Cuba began by holiness believers even before the official organization
of the Church of the Nazarene. In 1902, as many as ten people landed on
the southern coast of Cuba on their way to Colombia. Their trip to Colombia,
however, was thwarted. As a result, many of the group stayed in Cuba to
do the Lord’s work there. Sadly, after the death of the group’s
leader all but three returned to the States within the year. After 3 years
only Miss Leona Gardner was left to carry on the original work. The only
bright spot for her was the conversion of a capable Cuban couple, Teofilo
and Juliana Castellanos. Thus began the Church of the Nazarene in Cuba.
Yet
in 1919, times turned bad for Cuba. When several attempts to supplement
Ms. Gardner’s work with additional missionaries failed, the General Church
of the Nazarene decided to close the doors on the work in Cuba. However, after
17 years of service, Ms. Gardner had other ideas about what God wanted her
to do. She decided to stay and support herself through teaching. She ministered
in Cuba until being reassigned to Guatemala in 1927. With her departure the
work of the Nazarene church was closed in Cuba for the next 18 years. Leona
Gardner died in 1945.
In that
same year the Church decided to reopen Cuba and sent Rev. and Mrs. Lyle Prescott
who had the previous year opened the work in the Virgin Islands.
In 1947, the first of three properties were purchased. In April of 1947,
additional missionaries came to Cuba, namely Rev. and Mrs. John Hall. God
was working
through the missionaries until Castro’s successful rise to power in 1957.
The missionaries were not immediately asked to leave, but the signs were clear,
Cuba was closing its doors to U.S. missionaries. By 1960, all U.S. missionaries
were either reassigned or back in the States. During the fruitful years though,
a Bible college was begun. It was allowed to continue operations and it continued
to be a tool of God’s grace and mercy. Cuba’s future is still
uncertain, but we know that God has not forgotten his children in this
special country.
Sources:
Parker, J. Fred. Mission to the World: A History of Missions in the Church
of the Nazarene through 1985. Nazarene Publishing House, Kansas City,
MO, 1988