Mar 20, 2019
By Danny Lee
President of Missionary Society
As I travel the world, I am humbled to see how God is working in so many ways. Recently I was fortunate to complete a mission trip to Cuba on behalf of the Missionary Society. I was equally blessed to take with me a wonderful Christian, Ricardo (Richie) Sepulveda, member of the Riverside Seventh Day Baptist church. Richie has an outstanding testimony: he was a former hit man with the Cartel, who was in prison and on death row. Through the grace of God, his life was transformed, he accepted Christ in his heart and the rest is history. As I was looking for an interpreter to take with me, I had checked with a couple individuals who were not able to make the trip. So, I called my good friend Gabriel Bejjani, who instantly recommended Richie. At first, I thought to myself: wait a minute, going into a communist country with an ex cartel hit man? If we get stopped at immigration and they check his background, we are both going to prison! I can’t do hard time, my muscles are weak, I don’t know how to fight, I don’t speak Spanish and not to mention Danita would be upset with me. Well by the next day, I was given complete peace and knew this was God’s plan, so if I had to go to prison at least I was going to be with a great guy.
Cuba currently has a Christian group meeting on the Sabbath led by a Godly man and his family. As we have seen in so many other countries, Christians study their Bible and are led to the Sabbath. Through their convictions of the Sabbath, believers begin to look for a Bible-based denomination they can connect with and ultimately they find the Seventh Day Baptists. When this happens, the Missionary Society will begin to visit with them. When Cuba reached out, the Missionary Society began communications with them immediately. I was humbled and blessed to be able to go and meet with them.
During our trip we were able to take part in a variety of activities. We visited several schools, which gave us a chance to interact with their principals, teachers and students—an opportunity to see how the children are learning. As you can imagine, it was an eye-opener to see students being taught in a communist manner. We were able to deliver a braille machine to one school, for which they were very grateful. Everyone was amazed that the Cuban airport customs eyes were closed and I was able to bring the machine in my suitcase without trouble.
Also, as with most trips, we were able to hold several services. It was a blessing to give a message at one of the services and talk about the miracles of God. Everyone was blessed to hear Richie’s testimony—his impact on people is great for the kingdom of God. It was such a blessing to see lives changed by his sharing of going from a dark life to an enriched life with Christ. When he speaks, people cling to every word he shares.
The Pastor invited us to an idol-breaking party. First for me— however nothing surprises me on mission trips. There was an individual who was heavily into witchcraft and idols, who had recently given his life to Christ. So, with hammer in hand, we went to his location and busted dozens upon dozens of idols. I was amazed at the dead animals within the idols that had been sacrificed. We then burned the idols and prayed with the young man. Please continue to pray for him: his wife is still trapped in the Satanic cult that God saved him from.
On our last day we were blessed to attend the baptisms of two local individuals. We went down to one of the beautiful beaches to participate in the baptisms. The young man I mentioned, who had given up his idols, and a blind girl, who attends the church, were baptized. With tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat I was humbled, as was Richie, to witness these two wonderful individuals’ baptisms.
During this trip, I was reminded once again what an awesome God we serve. Missions is so much about building strong relationships and loving on people you meet. This trip was no different. Richie and I made lifetime friends for whom we will be praying every day. We need to understand the government attempts to control the churches and makes it very difficult for them to meet and grow. For example, one night when we were near a park, I asked if we could go over and do street evangelism with some of the youth. It was quickly explained to me that in their country that would have ended up with someone possibly being arrested by government officials. I ask that we all pray for the Cuba group as they grow and now earnestly want to be a part of the Seventh Day Baptist family.
The Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society is excited to announce Pastor Andy Samuels as its new Chief Executive Director.
He assumed the role effective March 1, 2019. More information to follow!
