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Christmas In April |
Sometimes, in Cuba, the only Christmas present we exchange is a hug. I have heard that children in other countries receive presents every year under their Christmas trees, sometimes many presents are all for the same person. I never believed that until today. Today, I knew what I was to receive not only one pre- |
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sent, but two dolls to play with! All for me . . . so I decided my personal Christmas
was going to be April 17th, the day I got my two beautiful Christmas presents. |
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The Great Room Of God |
We have been living in this one room for the last 27 years. The term “close quarters” has real significance in our tiny world. But, in-between these two walls we have learned about the vastness of God’s great love for Romans 8:39 states: “nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate |
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us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. We are grateful for the overwhelming amount of space and freedom we have to move around in God’s Love. His Love sure has made this small room seem huge for the last 27 years. |
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Joy Beyond Circumstance |
I journeyed to Cuba to bring relief to the wonderful elderly people in this picture; it ended up being that they unbeknownst to me the people I went to help ended up bringing much needed relief to my spirit. The humble, grateful spirit in what little they had, truly exemplified the glory of the face of Christ. I |
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came to bring joy to them, but left with joy given from them to me. |
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Hunger Satisfied |
It hurts more than can be known for a father to hear the cries of hunger from his children. There are times that I have no means with which to satisfy them, my family goes to sleep hungry and am unable to sleep because of the brokenness in my spirit. With this sim-ple bag of milk, so freely given, I am able to sleep to- |
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night knowing that today will not be the day my family will not go to bed hungry. |
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Burning Bright |
A long time has passed, too long in fact, since our family has gotten together. Last July we decided to venture to Cuba through ECHO-Cuba, to serve those in Cuba with the love of Christ. All of us decided to give back in this way, using our vacation time, and it has been the best thing we have ever done as a fam- |
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ily. Not only did it strengthen our connections with each other, but our bond with Jesus burned brighter as we served His people.
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Love The Lord |
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and |
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his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations”. (Psalm 100: 2-5) |
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Deep Roots |
The picture is painted in my memory forever. The house on the right was my residence for the first 12 years of my life. After 43 years of being an American citizen I returned to my roots in Cuba with mixed emotions--both joy and fear were in the forefront of my mind. Though I did not know the current resi- |
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dents now residing in my old home, just seeing my former house again brought back warm memories of my grandmother’s arroz con pollo. On the flip side of the coin, I was filled with a deep sorrow for those residing in my old house, for it seemed all the joy I remembered had been drained from the property because of the oppression of the Cuban government. I journey to my past with mixed emo-tions, and returned with those same feelings, only more separate and intensified. |
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