Picking up where I left off from my last letter, on August 1, one of my preacher boys and I traveled to the small city of Moa, which is in a remote area in the most eastern part of Cuba. It may be the poorest city I’ve ever been to in Cuba. From the closest big city of Holguin, which in itself is 12 hours by bus from Havana, we took a 1962 Jeep Willys Wagon to Moa. We drove 1½ hours on a decent road, and then we drove another 1½ hours on dirt and mud. We spent five days there in Moa, passing out Gospel tracts and witnessing to people. There is a small Eastern Baptist Convention church there with hardly any Gospel influence in the city.
Afterwards we drove the 1962 Jeep Willys Wagon to the small city of Baracoa, which is even farther east. The road was even worse. We drove for 2½ hours on dirt and holes. There is a very good-sized Eastern Baptist Convention church in town that is even bigger than the Catholic church. The people in this town either go to the Catholic church or the Baptist church. Every Catholic I witnessed to said that they had visited the Baptist church at least once.
In conclusion, during our trip to Moa and Baracoa, we saw 5 people saved, and we passed out about 1,000 Gospel tracts. Needless to say, the small city of Moa is a very needy place.
We had a conference in the church in Cienfuegos. Two Cuban pastors were present and preached the conference. On the final day, we had an Ordination Service for one of the Cuban pastors to become the new ordained pastor of this church. The other Cuban pastor left for the country of Ecuador, and I am going to be fully in charge of the Bible institute and help the graduates to start churches throughout the island.
“Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” (Acts 26:28) Back in Havana, I witnessed to a Madrina Santeria (someone who does conversion ceremonies for people to become saints and be accepted into the Santeria religion.) The Madrina charges a substantial amount to perform these ceremonies. During my witnessing, this lady tried to justify her religion. After a while she felt the need to get saved, and I thought she would. Suddenly she said, “Wait! I would not leave my religion!” That was a very sad statement. I know she didn’t get saved because of the money she would have to give up. The Lord knows I did my best.
Please pray for:
1. Our family’s spiritual life.
2. Our finances.
The Leyva Family
