They now experience the wealth of resources that are available. Our Board is passionate. They, too, want to facilitate this humanitarian outreach. It is a pleasure to serve with our committed staff and Board.

And most of all, I want to thank God for His provision. We have been truly blessed. Of the many things going on in my life, this is truly one in which “I feel God’s pleasure.”

Last year, not only did we have to work with less, but we also faced the challenge of greater need. The independent church in Cuba continues to grow, but the country continues to experience a dire economic situation.   Nonetheless, ECHOcuba continued to work rigorously alongside the independent church in Cuba. In 2010, in our efforts to help the churches, we distributed 2,498 pounds of nutritional supplements, funded 765 new small businesses, and helped build 165 church libraries, and facilitated travel for hundreds of U.S. mission-minded humanitarian travelers.

This time of great difficulty proved that ECHOcuba is a robust ministry on a determined mission. I look forward to see what God has planned for us in the next year and the next decade.

ECHOcuba works to meet the needs of the suffering church in Cuba by providing skills to help them advocate for their freedoms and self-sufficiency.

ECHOcuba works to strengthen the independent church community by enabling them to lead and serve in their restrictive environment. We provide resources and knowledge to advance entrepreneurship, organizational skills, education, religious freedoms, and social services. Our work is critical and unique to the causes that we support.

ECHOcuba has been advocating for faith and freedoms in Cuba for 14 years. The Christian way to succeed is by opening doors to faithful saints.

ECHOcuba’s mission trips allow the participants to learn about the life of the church in Cuba, and provides the opportunity to serve. Each traveler partners with us in endeavoring to deliver much needed humanitarian aid such as medicines and vitamins to Churches on the island.

Travelers have the opportunity to visit various Christian ministries, observe ongoing mission programs and interact with Christian leaders working with local churches, children in need, the elderly, and the disabled.

In addition to delivering humanitarian aid, the Cuban people are greatly refreshed when they receive visitors. The encouraging words and love they receive remind them that God is faithful.

ECHOcuba provides travelers with aid such as: pre-natal vitamins, books for seminary students, and medicine for special cases.

In 2010, ECHOcuba was able to send 2,498 pounds of vitamins and nutritional supplements with travelers.

The aid travelers deliver, not only helps nourish children and families, but also works as a means to reaching people for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In some cases, families have to take turns eating breakfast because there isn’t enough for everyone. At times, children are forced to eat bread and sugar water to subside hunger. Parents would rather go without than see their children suffer.They are extremely grateful when they receive the vitamins from travelers and churches. In turn, those parents become open to the Gospel message and begin attending services at the local church.

In 2010, we received this testimony from Cuba:

“A soon to be father, was extremely distressed after being advised by a doctor that both the child and the mother would die at the time of birth because of malnutrition. During the last three months of pregnancy, the mother began to take pre-natal vitamins that came from ECHOcuba by way of a traveler. When the baby was born, he was underweight, however, the doctors said the vitamins that the mother had taken saved both their lives.”

ECHOcuba’s Cuban representatives look within their churches and local communites to fi nd individuals who have a skill or trade, and desire to start a business but lack the materials. These individuals are provided a Business in a Box (BIB), a box filled with tools and supplies on a specific trade. Our Business in a Box is provided to the entrepreneur along with training on basic free market principles, such as: how to price their services, and how to market their business. Since the program began, approximately 1,000 Cubans have received a Business in a Box and started their own small business.

A Business in a Box was given to a gentleman for his small business as a baker and pastry chef. The box included a complete set of baking accessories, utensils and decorating supplies. “Mateo”, the baker who received the BIB, wrote: “This has been such a great help and opportunity. Everything I received will help me to produce much more and make better cakes for my clients. I know this will better my w ork conditions, and I hope my home.”

The Women’s Network is ECHOcuba’s network of women leaders who have been trained to coordinate a national ministry dedicated to reaching and serving the neediest in their communities. Since its beginning, the Women’s Network has grown and spread into four provinces of Cuba. Each group is formed with a provincial leader and 16 women who join with the desire to discover their talents and how they could use them for the Lord.

Today more than 80 women have taken part of this initiative and served their communities by praying for the sick, visiting and assisting the elderly, caring for orphaned or abandoned children and even assisting their local churches with resources. The ministry has grown and so have the women who meet monthly to plan and evaluate their community service activities and their effectiveness.

Most of the women share a testimony of gratitude for the opportunity to take part in the ministry and for discovering that in God’s hands they are useful and can contribute to better their society. One of the women testified: “I do not have many words. I wanted to serve the Lord but I did not know what to do until the day that the Lord called me to serve in the team and today I feel like a new woman. This ministry showed me that we are all important to God and that for Him nothing is impossible. This has been a gift from God to me and I do not grow weary of thanking the Lord.”

ECHOcuba is grateful to the Lord for all the women in the Women’s Network and their committed service to the Lord, their church and their community.

One group of women in the ministry, felt particularly led to reach out to the poorest in the Guantánamo area by holding a clothing drive in their church and community. In spite of the little they had themselves, people donated several pounds of clothes. By God’s grace and with the support of ECHOcuba, they found the means to drive eight hours to bring the aid to the church pictured here and allow church and community members to select from the clothes they collected. Praise the Lord!

In the island nation, religion is still severely restricted. It still takes stringent permission from the Cuban government for overseas volunteers to preach, teach, or evangelize.

Over the past year ECHOcuba has developed a flexible, informative, and fun way to support the Cuban Church, Cuba Nights.

Cuba Nights is a casual Cuba themed event, centered around fellowship and raising awareness in churches on how to get involved with the work of helping Cuba. Cuba Nights gives believers the chance to understand the Cuban culture and the dire conditions of the Cuban Church, with the hope of giving them a desire to help meet the profound need, both spiritually and physically, on the island.

Cuba night serves three purposes:

ECHOcuba coaches the church group or event coordinator on how to put together this gathering. ECHOcuba contributes the expertise, tools, contacts, and material to make the occasion motivating and enjoyable.

In December 4th 2010, ECHOcuba held its second Cuba Nights in Sarasota, Florida. To bring the Cuban culture to Central Florida there was roasted pork, a great salsa band and a dance competition. Thanks to the help of a willing and excited church, ECHOcuba was able to share with about 200 people from the congregation about the struggles of the church in Cuba and the opportunities to serve the people there. The hosting church has become a partner and plans on hosting the event yearly.

Although the Cuban Government has established laws and rules to give the church more freedom, in practice, the government continues to deny the Church the liberties that most of the western world is accustomed to.

As a nation that declared themselves atheist for more than 40 years, the Cuban government has created a very difficult existence for churches on the island by denying free worship, and controlling, amongst other, religious literature, education, and association. ECHOcuba has launched a program called Advocating for Freedom of Religion.

Through this project we seek to promote rights of religious freedom for the individual as well as religious institutions; help Cubans have access to instructional religious material; strengthen existing churches; increase the availability of religious resources through church libraries and programs; and promote the right of religious expression in public places.

The emerging Christian Church in Cuba needs our help to be empowered to have access to freedom of religion, access to capacity training, access to knowledge of the free market system, and access to hope. ECHOcuba needs your partnership to make this happen.

Rev. Dr. Ken Smith Senior Pastor of Princeton Presbyterian Church Stephan N. Tchividjian President of Christian Community Foundation of South Florida Richard A. Dearolf Director of Development for the University of South Florida

Evangelical Christi an Humanitarian Outreach for Cuba, Inc.
P.O. Box 546135
Miami, FL 33154
Ph: 305.884.0441
www.echocuba.org
info@echocuba.org

You may also view or print this 2010 Annual Report in a PDF format