December 21, 2006

The Cuban Connection

(Names of key people and organizations have intentionally been left unmentioned to protect their confidentiality)

When Carlos Montoya visited Cuba in 1993, he never imagined that God would use the events of that trip in a phenomenal way 13 years later. At that time Carlos wasn’t sure where God would have him minister to proclaim the wonders of His gospel. On this unforgettable trip, he visited a small seminary in a prominent city where he met the dean, a man full of passion for his people and for training leaders for the growing number of house churches. As a young “want-to-be-missionary”, Carlos had a desire to serve the Lord in Cuba but the doors were closed to do so.

In 2001, by God’s providential leading, after completing his studies at The Master’s Seminary, Carlos and his family moved to the country of Honduras to serve the Lord at Ministerios Evangélicos de las Américas (MEDA). With a conference program, and now an established seminary, MEDA is fulfilling the biblical mandate to entrust God’s truth to faithful men in Honduras, as well as the rest of Central America. By God’s grace, MEDA is making a difference!

In April of this year, Carlos received an email from Len Crowley, with Counsel and Capital, offering an opportunity to extend MEDA’s ministry beyond the borders of Central America – to train key evangelical leaders from the country of Cuba. The plan was to bring 10 men from Cuba and host a two week conference, covering several theological and ministerial topics. This was easier said than done. It is no easy task to bring Cubans to another country. Nevertheless, with great excitement, MEDA accepted the challenge and the long arduous process began.

To briefly outline the general process, it involved selecting the right men from Cuba, securing the necessary funding, securing Honduran visas for each man, securing the permission of the Cuban government for their trip, and organizing the conference. Several organizations partnered with MEDA to bring about this event. MEDA was specifically responsible for organizing the conference, as well as securing the Honduran visas.

The decision was made to bring in several key speakers for the event and open it up to Central American pastors as well. In addition to Carlos Montoya and Adrian Donato (MEDA professors), speakers included: Dr. Evis Carballosa (well known author and conference speaker), Dr. George Zemek (former TMS professor and current dean of The Expositor’s Seminary), Pastor Luis Contreras (TMS graduate and fellow TMAI colleague in Mexico), and Pastor David Diez (TMS graduate and pastor of Miami Bible Church). The conference title was “Faithful Shepherds.” The topics included, “The Shepherd as an Evangelist”, “The Shepherd as a Counselor”, “The Shepherd and His Character”, “The Shepherd and His Doctrine”, “The Shepherd and the Church”, and “The Shepherd and His Preaching”.

As mentioned before, the actual process of bringing the Cubans to Honduras was no small task. Unfortunately, there were many roadblocks which delayed the Honduran visa process. When MEDA received the necessary documents to begin the process, there were only two weeks left until the start of the conference. Carlos Nuñez, MEDA’s executive administrator began to investigate the possibilities of expediting the visa process that would normally take at least two months, only to run into more roadblocks. Discouraged, we began to lose hope of seeing the Cubans attend this conference, until…

It just so happened (God’s providential leading) that during this time a newspaper article appeared in the Sunday paper in Honduras relating the history of a Cuban family that had migrated to Honduras in the 1950’s. It just so happened that one of the members of this family was now the Chief of Staff to the President of Honduras. It just so happened that the director of one of the organizations in the United States helping us bring in the Cubans was the cousin of the Chief of Staff to the President of Honduras. Because of this unbelievable connection, Carlos Nuñez was able to contact the Chief of Staff on his cell phone to explain the current roadblock. The Chief of Staff was more than willing to help expedite the process. Things began to move fast, when suddenly another roadblock appeared that would have held up the process for 2 more weeks. Carlos Nuñez immediately called the Chief of Staff again to explain the latest. It just so happened that he was in a meeting with the President of Honduras when he received the call from Mr. Nuñez. He relayed the impasse to the President, who assured him that the visas would be granted immediately. And so it was…in less than 2 days, the visas were granted. Several days later, Carlos Nuñez secured a special meeting with the Chief of Staff to give him a special gift from MEDA as a token of our appreciation. The gift was a MacArthur Study Bible. He also left one for the President of Honduras. So, the Chief of Staff and the President of Honduras are now owners of MacArthur Study Bibles J.

Though the original plan was for 10 Cuban men to attend the conference, Cuba only allowed three to come. But we praise the Lord for these three men. It just so happened that Carlos Montoya recognized the name of one of them as it matched the name of the dean of that small seminary in Cuba, as he recalled his trip more than 13 years ago. As he shook the hand of this man , Carlos asked him if he knew the dean of that seminary. The man answered, “That was my father.” What an amazing connection! He went on to explain that his father had since gone to be with the Lord and now he is currently the dean of the seminary.

Carlos and others had a special meeting with this man, where he explained the current state of the Cuban church. He relayed that the church in Cuba is experiencing an unprecedented growth in the form of “cell” churches all throughout Cuba. Because of this, there are not enough leaders to lead these churches. He emphasized, “The greatest need in Cuba now is biblically trained leadership.” His desire is to send key men to MEDA to receive training to be able to return and entrust God’s truth to faithful men in Cuba. By God’s grace, MEDA can make a difference!

Before the men left, they expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to attend this conference. Through gifts of various friends to the ministry, MEDA was able to give these men books and software that would enhance their ministry. Each one received a MacArthur Study Bible, as well.

What does the future hold? MEDA looks forward to pursuing this Cuban connection. God providentially has placed MEDA in a strategic ministry to assist the church in Honduras, in Central America and now in Cuba. Pray that we be found faithful!

By HIS Grace,

The Montoyas