Fourth Week

 Matthew 6:26 New International Version (NIV)

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Last Saturday we have the first meeting to formalize the new non-profit, "Asociación de Valores." "Valores" means "values." We have used the name "Valores" in the past when we had sports clinics in town, but now we have a legal non-profit entity in this country with a constitution (16 pages!) and a board of directors. We have a logo and soon we will have a website. I already purchased the domain name. We met here in our condo. The Moras cooked a nice Cuban meal for all of us, and we had the formal meeting after dinner. Carlos and Rosario came from the capital with the lawyer and two other ladies, who agreed to be on the board also. We hope that this organization will facilitate community work in town, as well as sharing the Gospel when the opportunities open. Yunior's brother, who is a pastor in Texas, plans to bring a group the first week in July to do some community work. That might be the first activity under the new association. We did not include the town's name because Carlos, the dreamer, wants to work in other communities in the area, as the Lord provides.

Patricia, the lawyer, reads the constitution

Sergio is the treasurer

Gardy is the president

John is just a board member

Carlos is secretary

Yunior is also a board member

The whole board

On Sunday we met with the couples, now at Gardy's house. Since we were celebrating Saint Valentine's Day, however late, we talked about the Song of Songs. The love between a husband and his wife is sanctified by the Lord and celebrated in the Bible. We had a good discussion about their relationships as husbands and wives.

On Monday, we took the Moras to have a real American hamburger. What they call "hamburgers" in Cuba is some kind of patty with very little meat and a lot of fillers. They loved it! Yesterday we took them to the big town, 40 minutes from here, to catch a bus for the capital. There is a bus connection between the little town and the big one, but the bus leaves at 6:00 am and the bus for the capital at 10:00 am. We thought we could save them a few hours of travel if we took them. They were going to pick up their ID's as permanent refugees which also permit them to work legally here. There is also an organization that has donated a motorcycle for the ministry here; therefore, Yunior will be able to have transportation to look for a good, permanent job and also to visit people at night. There was some kind of ceremony today in the capital about it. Carlos was taking them. It is not clear how they are getting the motorcycle here. Carlos was working on that. Yunior needs to get a learner's permit and then take the test. It will be a few weeks before he will be able to ride it.

No offers on the condo yet. 

Prayer requests:

Good health, safety and stamina for us.

Jobs for the Moras and grace in the eyes of the town.

Safety as Yunior learns to ride the motorcycle.

For the Holy Spirit to work in hearts and minds here.

Pray for safety and health for our family back home.

Until next time...from the beach...