On Saturday afternoon, June 2, I went soul winning with Pastor Alberto Castilla and Norje, a young man from his church in Guanabacoa, a suburb of Havana. We knocked on doors for 2½ hours, talked to several people, put a Gospel tract in every door, and saw 3 souls saved. Amen! After soul winning, we sat down in the pastor’s home to make plans to go to Pinar del Rio the next day, which was Sunday, after the morning service.
On Sunday, I preached the morning service in this church in Guanabacoa. However, after the service, a little problem prevented Pastor Castilla from going with me to Pinar del Rio, so he sent Norje to be my companion. “And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God.” (Acts 15:40)
THE JOURNEY TO PINAR DEL RIO!
So Norje and I went to the bus station. After waiting for an hour, we boarded a 1952 American wagon/truck, with a high ceiling and adapted seats for 14 people plus the driver—I had never seen anything like it. So we took off. I thought that the mission church was in the city of Pinar, but NO! An hour and 45 minutes later, we asked the driver to let us off at the side of the road, about 12 kilometers before the city. Then we walked about a mile to the small town of Puerta de Golpe and arrived about 5:00 p.m. We went straight to the house church. Orlando, the man in charge of the house church, met us there. We rested some and got ready for the service at 7:30 p.m.
We had 8 adults show up and a lot of children, 16 total. We sang, and I preached for an hour. Everyone stared at me the entire hour. I gave the invitation for salvation, and 3 children and 1 adult raised their hands and asked Jesus to save them. Amen!
Norje and I spent the night at the church. The next morning after having breakfast, all three of us—Norje, Orlando, and I—made some visits to people in town. In the late afternoon, Norje and I said goodbye to Orlando and his family and walked to the main road, where we waited for some car or bus heading to Havana to pick us up—to no avail. Suddenly, a bus coming from the opposite direction and heading to Pinar del Rio, stopped. We quickly decided to get on, and we made it to Pinar, where it was easy to get transportation back to Havana. A good adventure with the Lord Jesus! Amen.
I need to go back again to that town and help Orlando (the man in charge of the house church); he has many needs. He loves the Lord, and he loves the people of Puerta de Golpe.
Please pray for:
1. God’s power for preaching, teaching, and soul winning.
2. Orlando and his family.
3. Finances.
In His service,
Ricardo Leyva
leyva4christ@hotmail.com Ricardo.Leyva@fbmi.org