The fuel blockade is part of the current US administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign regarding the Communist nation. US leaders claim national security concerns and a desire to see political and economic change in Cuba. But as usual, everyday people pay the heaviest price. 

Moisés Pérez Padrón is the director of RTM Cuba, Trans World Radio’s partner in Cuba. Padrón and his team record short-form Bible teachings that reach Cubans via radio or WhatsApp. But power outages have complicated the process.

“In Havana specifically, there have been weeks when outages have lasted more than 24 hours,” Padrón says. “In other parts of the country, we know that blackouts can last two or three days.”

Cuban farmer (Photo courtesy of Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz via Pexels)

On top of power blackouts, Padrón says many Cubans are lacking food, medicine, water, and financial resources. 

“For food, we depend on what small private businesses can import, but many Cuban families cannot afford to buy these products because they do not earn a decent wage,” he says.

Believers in Christ don’t escape these realities, yet they persevere. “The Church in Cuba remains focused on helping those in need and the most vulnerable,” Padrón says. 

“The most affected are the elderly, who, in many cases, were left behind by their families who emigrated in search of a better life. But now they find themselves vulnerable, without sufficient resources, and with no one to care for them or look after them.” (More on the situation of older Cubans here.)

RTM Cuba’s team strives to point listeners to the hope found only in God. It’s not easy to work in broadcasting these days. 

“Without electricity, we have had to reorganize our work schedule many times, and on occasion delay recording times,” says Padrón. 

But they know their programs bring true biblical encouragement. Padrón shares a message from a listener named Alexis from Batabanó, Cuba: “He thanks the Lord for the messages of faith and hope, sharing with us that they have been very uplifting for his life.” 

Another listener, Lazarus, has been tuning in to RTM Cuba for 15 years. “He greatly enjoys the excellent Bible studies broadcast there, which he finds very edifying. He is also grateful for having received a new radio a year ago, which allows him to tune into the signal with much greater clarity,” Padrón says.

Please pray

Cuba’s situation is complex and will remain that way. So, how can you pray? Padrón shares these requests:

(Photo courtesy of TWR Bonaire)

“May the Lord sustain His work in Cuba, and the church keep preaching the gospel faithfully. We believe that the gospel is still the answer that Cuban people need,” he says.

“[Pray for] a change in our nation that allows better times in politics and the economy that facilitate the progress of the gospel.”

Pray also for families in need. Ask God to prepare the Cuban church for any changes ahead.

Finally, pray that RTM Cuba’s gospel-centered content will reach more people across Cuba. 

Header photo: “Wonders” in graffiti above a woman walking in Havana, Cuba (Photo courtesy of Emily Crawford via Unsplash)

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.

But another headline is unfolding in Cuba — another government hanging in the balance, and a Church preparing for whatever comes next.

Duane Friesen, Vice President of International with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says these two nations share a defining question.

Vinales, Cuba (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Chen via Unsplash)

“We have two different countries in different parts of the world, but facing the same challenge, and that is: what does their immediate identity look like? Will they face a radical regime change that results in a radical identity change? And…what will be the response of the Christians in those places in the midst of radical change?”

Cuba is currently experiencing shortages of food and medicine, and facing a U.S. fuel blockade. The fuel crisis has led to power outages.

“This trickles down right to every village in the country,” says Friesen. “They are now in a crisis mode. They realize that they will not have power for maybe most of the day. In many cases, they’re only getting one hour of energy to charge whatever they have to supply. But in the midst of that, they’re wrestling through: ‘What will our country look like a year from now?'”

For Cuban believers grappling with economic challenges, Friesen says they still have a supernatural joy that can only come from the Holy Spirit.

“The Church in Cuba has tried to keep a Spirit-filled expression of grace in the midst of difficulty. But the reality is they have so little and continue to have less and less. [They] are in crisis just to get basic supplies of food, basic medicine, [or] be supported at a hospital.”

A makeshift baptism (Photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA)

When Cubans are looking for relief, the ones who often show up with food, medicine, and encouragement are the local Christians.

Friesen says, “I’ve heard where there are networks of a church community given permission out of Havana to supply medical equipment and drugs to support the local hospitals on the outer skirts of the island.

“From the Church perspective, they’re looking at ways to be ready – ready to share what Good News they have, but also ready to be part of the solution, of blessing a nation in its next chapter.”

Please pray for Cubans to find sure footing in Jesus Christ.

Friesen says of Cuban believers, “Their prayer is that the Spirit would work through them to demonstrate what courage looks like in the midst of fear, in the midst of change, and that they would be a beacon of light to see a nation encouraged and brought to an understanding. There’s hope in Christ.”

Header photo: Wonders in graffiti above a woman walking in Havana, Cuba. (Photo courtesy of Emily Crawford via Unsplash)

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).

The roar of Hurricane Melissa echoed across the island — intense winds, relentless rain, and life-threatening floods that struck two weeks ago and left devastation in their wake. Entire communities are still digging out.

Móises Pérez, director of Trans World Radio in Cuba, describes the reality on the ground.

“It is hard to imagine how those brothers and sisters right now — they don’t have food, they don’t have power, they don’t have medicines, and now many of them don’t have houses,” Pérez says.

Wonders in graffiti above a woman walking in Havana, Cuba (Photo courtesy of Emily Crawford via Unsplash)

Survivors urgently need mattresses, water, food, and roofing materials. While the government has responded, the destruction is so extensive that needs far exceed available resources. Some neighborhoods have regained electricity and communication — but not the communities that lost everything.

The local churches didn’t hesitate. Pérez explains:

“We have sent aid to the eastern side. We have sent food. We have sent clothes, medicines.”

In moments when natural disasters strike, the Church is called to respond — to stand with people whose foundations, both literal and emotional, have been shaken. When a home built through years of hard work is destroyed, many begin to question whether God is still with them.

This is where the Body of Christ steps in as His hands and feet. “In order to be a testimony for them about God’s love in times of crisis and need,” Pérez says.

The Church’s response is reminding devastated communities that God has not abandoned them!

“And they are grateful to God because in Christ, we are a family. We are one people,” Pérez adds.

Pray for families who lost everything in Hurricane Melissa, and for the Cuban Church to use its resources wisely as recovery continues.

Visit TWR to learn more about their work in the region.

Header photo: Satellite image of Cuba (courtesy of Jacques Descloitres via Wikimedia Commons).

“We haven’t got to go to Cuba a lot, but we’ve had the opportunity to send 10,000 Spanish Bibles into Cuba and the surrounding areas,” says Woolford. “We’ve had the chance to put them on a container in Florida, getting to Cuba and then starting that distribution.”

Cuba is number 26 on World Watch’s list of 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. Church leaders and Christian activists who criticize the Cuban regime can face interrogation, arrest, physical violence, and imprisonment; the government often refuses to register new churches, forcing many to operate illegally, which makes them vulnerable to fines, property confiscation, and demolition.

“Our Mission Cry partner there on the ground, he has been beaten, he has been kidnapped and arrested, multiple times, and yet he continues to go back and distribute the word of God,” says Woolford.

According to the Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit, crime is also increasing at an alarming rate. However, that’s not deterring Woolford.

“Crime’s on the rise due to economic hardship and a shortage of food and medicine and fuel. And so it’s so exciting to know that we have the word there, giving it to people that are in a bad way, those that are being persecuted, and then hopefully reaching those that are doing the persecuting and seeing a difference,” he says. “We’re going to continue to trust God and minister regardless of the violent crime and scams and targeted violence against people distributing the Word of God like our guy.”

“When we see the word of God being distributed, when we see lives being changed, if you can imagine stuff going out from Cuba to Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia—seeing how God’s using that as a hub is truly miraculous.”

To learn more about the work Mission Cry is doing and how to support it, go to missioncry.com.

Header Photo courtesy of Mission Cry.

Then, a hurricane comes out of nowhere and devastates your home, city and region.

That’s what happened in Cuba last weekend. On Friday, a failure in Cuba’s largest power plant caused a nationwide outage. Then on Sunday afternoon, Hurricane Oscar struck the east coast.

Millions of Cubans were without power before Hurricane Oscar struck. (Stock photo obtained via Pexels)

“From Friday to Monday morning, the entire country was in blackout. It’s[the] first time [in] my memory that Cuba has [gone] through this kind of crisis,” says Moises* with RTM, Trans World Radio’s ministry to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Moises explains that some of the people in eastern Cuba were unaware that Hurricane Oscar was even coming. At least six people in San Antonio lost their lives. The storm destroyed more than a thousand homes in Guantánamo, among other damages.

“Many churches are concerned about the situation, the needs. So now, mainly the western side of Cuba is [working] to send help to the eastern side,” Moises says. “They are trying to send food, clothes, [as] many things [as] they can do right now.”

RTM is based on Bonaire Island, which lies off the coast of Venezuela. Its gospel-centered broadcasts to Cuba have been uninterrupted. People who still have battery-powered radios can listen in. Moises says the station is working to connect churches with each other’s prayer requests and needs. 

Would you join in prayer for the relief and rebuilding work ahead? Pray for those still without electricity to receive power quickly. Ask for God’s mercy on hurricane survivors and the families of those who were killed. 

“[Ask] the Lord [to] provide both material and spiritual resources to the churches in Cuba, so that besides continuing to preach the gospel, we can help those in need right now,” Moises says. 

“May the Lord allow us to see how through these misfortunes, the Church in Cuba can continue to glorify His name.”

Click to learn more about RTM, a ministry of Trans World Radio.

*Full name withheld for security reasons.

Header photo by MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC — This image or video was catalogued by Goddard Space Flight Center of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: 2024-10-22., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=154163831.

FARMS International offers interest-free loans to Christians to help them work their way out of poverty. Even with this backing, though, farmers in Cuba are struggling.

Scott Clifton with FARMS says, “We had someone who was planning to build an irrigation well that decided instead to pivot the business and to plant rice because of the immediate need for food.”

But then flooding damaged part of this man’s crop of corn.

“He said [that in addition to the flooding] they go without electricity 10 to 12 hours a day. They can’t get fuel or supplies. It’s actually gone backwards — so instead of using tractors for harvesting and for planting, they’ve had to go back to using animals,” says Clifton.

“They always find a way to make things work, but it’s taking double the effort that it used to take. It’s really a desperate situation that we can be praying for there.”

The bright side to this is that God has been building up the Church in Cuba.

“The Church is exploding in Cuba. It has been for the last decade or so,” says Clifton. “We hear reports about, ‘Oh, this church used to be one church, and now it’s grown into three churches.’ That’s happening all over the place.”

(Photo courtesy of FARMS International)

Clifton also says churches are having events where they supply food to their congregations to bless them. “It’s really something that God is using. In the crucible of challenge and hardship, He’s developing and growing the Church.”

Support believers in Cuba by praying for solid church leaders and for fruitful harvests. 

“For this project that I mentioned, where they’re farming rice, now they’re hoping to quadruple the size of the rice paddy. They’re working on the business plan and logistics for that,” says Clifton.

Ask God to bring stability to Cuba’s government and continue to soften hearts and change lives in Cuba.

Learn more here about how you can come alongside Christians around the world with FARMS International.

Header image of Cuba courtesy of Jennifer Chen via Unsplash.

The national power grid collapsed last week when Hurricane Ian swept through as a Category 3 storm. It’s the first time Cuba experienced a total blackout in modern history.

“We first communicated with a pastor, a brother of ours, in western Cuba,” Tim Landis of FARMS International says.

The partnering pastor told FARMS:

The western area of the country is destroyed. Cuba’s national electrical system is collapsed, [resulting in] a total food crisis; we lost three of our churches, three parsonages in their entirety. It’s painful [because] those pastors and families lost everything.

Many families lost at least a week of groceries when blackouts cut power to their refrigerators. FARMS’ partner is looking for ways to help.

Damages in western Cuba following Hurricane Ian.
(Photo courtesy of CubaNet via FARMS International)

“Recently, he was banding together with a bunch of other people to see if they could put some food and goods together for the people that had lost everything,” Landis says.

Through a microcredit program, FARMS International helps believers overcome poverty and support the local church. More about that here. “We’ve had a program in western Cuba since 2012,” Landis says.

FARMS works in partnership with a leadership training ministry in Cuba. While FARMS equips Christians through entrepreneurship, their partner trains church leaders and pastors.

Watch an interview about FARMS’ work in Cuba here.

Pray that Cuban believers will share the hope of Christ with their neighbors. Supply chain shortages and poverty resulting from the pandemic fueled civil unrest in Cuba. Then, Hurricane Ian came along and added another layer of stress.

“God’s people have a way of rallying around [people in need] when calamity happens. Pray that God’s good grace would be on them, and they will be able to continue in the mission of spreading the Gospel,” Landis says.

The header image depicts Hurricane Ian on September 26, 2022, when it was south of Cuba. The Expedition 67 crew onboard the International Space Station captured the photo. (Wikimedia Commons)

Meanwhile, at least 100 people, including activists and journalists, have gone missing during the protests.

The protests had been fueled by Cubans coordinating and sharing their views on the internet and social media. But Brian Dennett of AMG International says, “I was able to reach one of our leaders that actually made it to Florida this week. He said that as of yesterday, all communications that he had with his own team in Cuba had been cut off. The government has cut off the internet to the people as a result of the protesting and so forth. He was very concerned.”

Most Cubans only gained mobile internet access in late 2018. Exposure to media from the outside world has quickly led Cubans to harshly criticize their government. Dennett says, “We need to pray that this changes and that we’re able to be back in touch with our workers, pastors, and networks. They are planting churches and doing discipleship with people all over Cuba. They’re just doing a tremendous job reaching lost people.”

The header photo shows protestors in Cuba. (Photo courtesy of 14ymedio, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)