Cuba (MNN) — The ongoing conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran has disrupted the global oil supply chain. Yet for one country in the Western hemisphere, fuel shortages have been critical for months already.
On Friday, Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said that no oil shipments have reached Cuba for three months due to a United States fuel blockade on the island nation.
Subsequent power blackouts have crippled daily life for millions of Cubans, who have already endured years of such struggles. Another nationwide blackout hit yesterday. Moisés Pérez serves as director of Radio Trans Mundial Cuba, part of TWR‘s Spanish-language ministry. He says some areas suffer more outages than others.
“Many of them have about more than 24 hours without power. After that, they receive about two hours of power, and again, another blackout of about 24 or maybe more hours,” he says. “So it’s very, very complicated.”
Under these circumstances, food refrigeration is next to impossible. Access to necessities such as medicine is also limited. Pérez says if someone has family outside of Cuba sending resources home, they have an advantage. But family help can’t alleviate Cuba’s political tensions. Pérez says many in Cuba are calling for change, with protests often occurring during the night when the risk of repercussions is lower due to blackouts.
Photo Courtesy Trans World Radio
Despite the pressures Cuba is under, Pérez says the church is growing as people see Christians help the vulnerable time and again. This has been true of Cuban believers in the past, not just during the current energy crisis. Their actions confirm the message of Christ.
“We are very committed with the gospel. We are very committed in preaching the Word,” Pérez says. “Cuban people [are] sensitive to put their faith in something that really matters, that really helps. The Cuban church knows that Christ is the solution, Christ has the answer.”
Please pray for Cuba — ask that God will continue to grow the Church, and pray for needed change in the nation.
“[Pray] that God keeps blessing the Cuban church, even with these situations that we are living. We want to be living the same experience that every Sunday, people are giving their hearts to Jesus,” says Pérez.
Hope comes through media, too. As part of the ministry of Radio Trans Mundial, Pérez’s team records short-form Bible teachings. These then reach Cubans through the radio and WhatsApp chats. He says some families and neighbors gather around solar-powered radios to listen in.
“We have received testimonies from people who say, ‘Thank you. I felt that God spoke to my life through this program,'” says Pérez. “We also pray for the opportunity to have more impact as a local ministry. RTM Cuba wants to have a bigger place, a bigger impact in the Cuban population.”
Header photo of Havana, Cuba courtesy of Eric Ward via Unsplash.
