Credits

welcome

Introduction

Study Session

Activity 1

Activity 2

Activity 3

Activity 4

Activity 5

Activity 6

Activity 7

Activity 8

Activity 9

Activity 10

Activity 11

Activity 12

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Welcome to this opportunity to explore the Caribbean island country of Cuba with elementary-school children. These materials are designed to involve children six to eleven in the ecumenical mission study of Cuba. They consist of two parts: 

• A one-session study plan. This session is designed to take approximately ninety minutes. You can choose fewer activities to adapt it to a shorter time frame or use all the activities to expand the time.
• Activity pages. A variety of activity pages (AP) provide two stories, a song, a game, historical and geographical information, prayers, and detailed instructions for other activities. All the pages may be downloaded. Some are an integral part of the study. Some are optional. 

The goal of the study is to enable children in Canada and the United States to

• explore life for boys and girls in Cuba today
• learn about some of the hard choices children who live in Cuba must make if they are Christians 

• Map & Facts: Cuba (Friendship Press, 1999) 
• World Map: Peters Projection (or other map of the world)
• Cuba: Three Faith Perspectives. 28.47 minute video
• Perspectives on Cuba and Its People by Theodore A. Braun (Friendship Press, 1999)

 

 

• Bibles
• name tags
• copies of a U.S. passport (AP 1)
• small table
• stamp pad and stamp
• copies of "Basic Facts-Cuba" (AP 2)
• index cards
• masking tape
• one copy of "Lightning" (AP 3)
• copies of whichever optional activities you choose and the materials needed to do them (AP 4 AP 11)
• copies of the litany and prayer (AP 12)

 

 

• See the video Cuba: Three Faith Perspectives to learn more about the church in Cuba.
• Read in Perspectives on Cuba and Its People for helpful background information.
• Read Acts 9:1 19 and "Biblical Background" (below).
• Post the two maps.
• Set up a customs table with stamp pad and stamp.
• Download the activity pages you decide to use and gather the needed materials. If you will be doing small-group activities at centers, you should prepare the following:
• art center to make maracas and tropical birds (AP 4 and 5)
• food center to learn the Spanish names for foods (AP 6)
• cooking center to make flan (AP 11)
• music center to learn the song (AP 9)
• story center to hear "Eloísa's Story" (AP 10)
• history center to make a time line (AP 8)

The account of Saul's conversion on the Damascus road is part of a larger picture of conversionexperiences. Beginning with the account of the conversion of the Samaritans in chapter 8, Luke moves to the story of the Ethiopian, then to Saul s life-transforming experience.

Saul, a devout Jew, was a violent persecutor of the Christian community, an enemy of the young church. He initiated the trip to Damascus to extend his persecution beyond Jerusalem. But on the road, something extraordinary happened. Just as in other stories of divine intervention, a voice calls Saul s name twice: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Just as in the story of Samuel in the Old Testament, Saul's answer was the biblical response, "Here I am." 

Helpless and dependent as a result of his experience, the blind Saul was ministered to by Annanias, who laid his hands on him and addressed him as brother. With his sight now restored, Saul rose, was baptized, and took food.

Once an enemy who persecuted the followers of the Way, as the first Christians were called, Saul found his life literally turned around as he journeyed along the road to Damascus. While every conversion is not as dramatic as Saul's, each one involves a response to God's call and a turning around of one's life. Reflect on how God has called you into a covenant. In what ways have you experienced the transforming love of God in your life? 

God continues to call people, but each of us has a choice to reject or accept that call. If we accept, we become new creations with a new purpose in life. Many Christians in Cuba today believe that the whole people of God need to work together-all religions, all nations, and allcultures. People need to be in relationship with God and with one another.

The church in Cuba today includes many different denominations. Check with your own denomination to find out what churches are your partners in mission. Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church support the liberation theology movement that is prevalent in other Latin American countries. Not surprisingly in the socialist nation of Cuba, the large majority of the population considers itself nonreligious. Nevertheless, there is an active Cuban Ecumenical Council, a number of seminaries, and many congregations attracting perhaps half a million people. 

In 1990, President Castro invited fifty Cuban Protestant leaders to a forum, which was taped and shown on prime-time television. Leaders feel that this move legitimized once again the Christian churches. Believers are returning to the churches in large numbers. In 1993 the government permitted Cuban churches to accept foreign funds for church repairs. The visit of Pope John Paul II in 1998 evoked great interest. Protestant church leaders of the National Council of Churches visited Castro later that year.