Cuba (MNN) – Cuba is in the grip of a severe food crisis, with widespread shortages, soaring prices, and deepening hunger.
A Cuban farmer had a farm, and on the farm he had sheep.
Then the sheep were stolen.
The sheep story is real — Scott Clifton of FARMS International says one of their contacts experienced it firsthand. But the losses didn’t stop there.
For years, farmers plowed their fields with tractors. Then fuel costs climbed so high they could no longer afford to run them. So they adapted — switching to bulls to pull the plow. And then the bulls were stolen too.
The root of these repeated thefts is people’s desperation for food. Cuba is grappling with a severe food crisis, with widespread shortages, soaring prices, and rising hunger.
“We’ve just watched since COVID, the conditions get worse and worse and worse, starting with really high inflation and the rapid increase of the price of commodities,” Clifton adds.
Cuban farmer (Photo courtesy of Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz via Pexels)
And it creates a cycle that’s hard to break.
“That problem just is perpetuated then, because it’s hard to grow food, it’s too expensive to import food, and it’s just really difficult predicament,” says Clifton.
Some people leave the country in search of stability. Many others stay — rooted in their families, their communities, and the land they’ve always known.
“There’s a sense, from talking with our contacts in Cuba, that they’re running out of options,” he adds.
And in the middle of deepening hardship, the church is still growing!
“There is an incredible church in Cuba that has been growing over the past decade, has been growing dramatically, and so we want to thank and praise God for that,” says Clifton.
Pray for endurance for believers and families in Cuba — and for the country’s future.
“We need to pray that they would be encouraged in the work that God has called them to, in the location that God has called them to,” adds Clifton.
Visit FARMS International to learn more about the work they do in the places of need.
Header photo: Vinales, Cuba (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Chen via Unsplash).
