CRC Marks 50 Years of Ties with Cuba

Fifty years ago this summer, the Christian Reformed Church Synod agreed to look into opening a mission field in Cuba and to help support the Reformed congregations that already were in existence there.

But that was 1959, the year that former Cuban President Fidel Castro came to power and instituted a socialist regime that slapped many restrictions on the practice of religion, and the CRC had to remove the missionary couple it had sent to begin work in the island nation.

Since then, while the CRC has been limited in whom it can send to Cuba and how long the person can stay, it has nonetheless kept ties with Christian Reformed congregations in Cuba over the last half century. Those links have helped to maintain and foster vitality in the Cuban CRC.

"Today I see enthusiasm for a renewed commitment to evangelism in Cuba," says Luis Pellecer, Latin America director for Christian Reformed World Missions. "A new generation of pastors is being formed."

There are 13 CRC of Cuba congregations in existence right now, but there are also as many as 100 house churches or prayers cells that have developed, says Pellecer. As many as 5,000 people have been worshipping at one time or another over the years in the Cuban CRC. 

CRC connections to Cuba go back to 1940 when a 20-year-old woman named Bessie Vander Valk, a member of Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Paterson, N.J., "became convinced that God wanted her to go to Cuba to spread the gospel," says Dan Miller, a historian at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Vander Valk married a young preacher by the name of Angel Vicente Izquierdo and they established an independent church. Eventually, she convinced LaGrave CRC in Grand Rapids to become interested in the work. LaGrave as well as other churches and at least one classis have been active in Cuba in many ways over the years.

LaGrave played a role in the 1959 decision to initiate ties between the CRC in North America and what became for a time the Interior Gospel Mission of the Christian Reformed Church.

Although it was difficult, the church in Cuba has kept on, often in a low-key but persistent manner, says Rev. James Dekker, who served for short stints as a missionary and teacher in Cuba.  Members of the church have remained faithfully submissive to the Cuban government, Dekker says, but "they have pushed from inside against the restrictions put on them from society."

Despite an economic embargo placed on Cuba by the United States, people of faith in the U.S., Canada and Europe have helped to support social programs: interest-free loans to enable home owners to improve their properties, free meals delivered to seniors in their homes, rides for people with medical appointments, and distribution of relief supplies following hurricanes, says Miller.

Tensions have occasionally run high between Cubans who remained in their country and those who left for other countries. Through it all, the CRCNA has steadfastly remained a friend of believers still living in Cuba while also carrying out ministry among Cubans who live in the United States.

World Missions continues assisting the Cuban CRC with periodic visits for leadership training and youth programs. In addition, financial grants have been provided for literature and church reconstruction.

With Fidel Castro now longer president and reportedly in poor health, there are likely to be changes in Cuba in the near future. While those changes are uncertain, some things are possible. "If freedom comes to Cuba, the churches will grow," says Pellecer. "The future looks bright."