The Celebration in Cuba

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A Word From Cuba

Translation: ​

Ormara Nolla Coa
​World Day of Prayer National Committee Chairperson of Cuba

We have gone through a very interesting process in writing the World Day of Prayer worship service program, dedicated to Cuba. It was a lovely experience because it allowed our group of Cuban Christian woman to unite to work on this program which I think has been such a blessing to all of us but also for the women in Cuba and around the world. We had a beautiful celebration here this past March 4th, 2016, not only here in Havana, but also, from what I know about how the program had been celebrated in other parts of our country, their celebrations have been beautiful with a big turnout of both women and men and where the Spirit of God has accompanied and guided us. We give thanks to God for this great experience He has permitted us to have as the World Day of Prayer Committee of Cuba. 

Around 400 people attended the World of Day Prayer worship service on March 4, 2016 at the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of La Habana, where WDP was celebrated in Cuba for the first time in 1930. A childrens chorus with more than 50 participants from different places presented the Cuban songs. The next day, they had their own program at the Baptist Church “Ebenezer”, Marianao, Cuba.

Havana, Cuba

Receive children, Receive me was the theme assigned for the annual program to be prepared by the World Day of Prayer Cuba Committee. For them, it meant an opportunity to get closer to children’s realities, receive Jesus with the simplicity and transparency of a child, and sustain the hope because children “are the hope of the world.”

In the midst of everyday life affected by the blockade imposed by the United States more than 50 years ago, which has endangered the health of children, we pray with them “that the walls erected be transformed into wide open doors that are ready to receive.”
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The offerings collected at the services channels the connection between prayer and action. It provides a visible sign of ecumenical collaboration and solidarity with women and children around the world. For the World Day of Prayer Cuba committee, the areas of concern for a shared resource and partnership are children living with disabilities; violence against women and children; children and youth living without parental support; children of addicted parents, and the building of the committee in the country. 

Lléname tú, Jesús

Lléname tú, Jesús was one of the hymns featured in the worship service material written by the women of Cuba. It is being performed by the composer Lysbeth Riera in her native tongue.  

Informal Translation:
Fill me, Jesus, who is my brother
Fill me with your peace, Fill me, Fill me with your joy
Clean my heart, use my hands
Clean my heart, use my hands
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All of my life, all of it, I offer to you
I don't have anything else, this I can give you
All of my life, all of it, today I offer to you
All of my life, all of it, today I offer to you

On the Threshold of Childhood 

Receive children, Receive me. ​

The World Day of Prayer theme suggests welcoming and openness. The image evokes a welcome door, a path, an openness to hope. We are on a permanent journey. These human beings, whom I imagined as a mother and a child, in the miscegenation of Cuban families, enjoy a walk in the countryside, which is also the concrete and living environment of many children in Cuba. Looking at the drawing in detail, we can reconsider the common misconception that any movement requires the adult to guide the child. Why do we hardly think that children can guide adults to show the universe? In truth, only Jesus is the guide for this side by side walk.” 

by Ruth Mariet Trueba Castro
La Habana, Cuba​