US and Cuban church leaders seek 'normalised relations'

Church leaders from ecumenical councils in the US and Cuba wrapped up a five-day meeting in Havana on 2 December with a call for "normalised relations" between the two countries - writes Josef Kuhn.

"We declare the following shared conviction: that the half century of animosity between our countries must end", said a joint statement issued by the National Council of Churches USA (NCCUSA) and the Council of Churches of Cuba, Religion News Service reports.

The US delegation of Protestant, Episcopal and Orthodox leaders discussed humanitarian issues with leaders of the ecumenical movement in Cuba, strengthening ties that were formed when Cuban church representatives took part in the NCCUSA's 2010 General Assembly.

The delegates identified the half-century-old US embargo against Cuba as "the major obstacle to the resolution of differences, to economic interaction, and to fuller engagement of our peoples and churches."

"For over five decades, our policy of trying to economically and diplomatically isolate Cuba has not achieved its goal of changing the regime to our liking. Instead, it has economically and diplomatically isolated the US," said the Rev Wes Granberg-Michaelson, the former General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America.

The church leaders thanked US President Barack Obama's administration for lifting some restrictions on travel to Cuba last January, but called for the "speedy and complete fulfillment" of the president's public intention "to review and revise long-standing US policy toward Cuba."

Other humanitarian concerns at the meeting included the imprisonment in the US of five Cuban intelligence officers known as 'the Cuban Five', and the incarceration in Cuba of American citizen Alan Gross.

[With acknowledgements to ENInews. ENInews, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

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WCC workshop explores 'transformative masculinities'

Participants of WCC workshop
 “From Hegemony to Partnership” in Havana, Cuba

Violence against women is endemic both in conflict zones and so called peaceful situations.

According to a study conducted by the University of Lausanne, in Switzerland, more than 26 per cent of women there experience physical violence throughout their adult life. In a country of a similar size but with fewer economic opportunities such as the Dominican Republic, every 36 hours a woman is killed by her partner or husband.

This culture of violence was strongly challenged in a World Council of Churches (WCC) workshop on “transformative masculinities” focusing on a Caribbean situation.

The workshop took place last month in Havana, Cuba, addressing the theme “From Hegemony to Partnership”, and was organised by the WCC programme of Women in Church and Society, in collaboration with the Christian Institute of Gender Studies (ICG) of Cuba and the Caribbean and North America Council for Mission (CANACOM).

Around eighteen church participants from the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba and Curacao attended the workshop.

Together they made a concrete analysis on how churches can be engaged in awareness raising about gender issues, and counter stereotyping of women and men.

The Rev Dr Ofelia Ortega Suárez, WCC president for the Caribbean and Latin America, shared the importance of including gender perspectives in the educational system for pastors. She stressed that silence of the churches reinforces situations of violence against women.

For Dr Fulata Lusungu Moyo, WCC programme executive for Women in Church and Society, this workshop provided a unique space for churches in the Caribbean region to identify existing resources that lead to deconstructing hegemonic masculinities of violence.

“It is crucial to reconstruct transformative masculinities, which lead to mutual partnership for an environment of justice and peace. Therefore, the experience in the Caribbean will be contextualised by other regions, since every society has its own ways of how feminine and masculine identities are constructed and understood,” said Moyo.

To unravel various forms of masculinity from a faith perspective, the gender training manual Created in God’s Image: From Hegemony to Partnership was introduced. The manual was jointly published by the WCC and the World Communion of Reformed Churches in 2010, and is being translated into French and Spanish.

The manual was aimed at developing an understanding that gender diversity does not necessarily lead to a relationship of domination. It encourages the hegemonic gender paradigms in Christian history to be questioned. It also serves as a training tool to build communities of women and men, ensuring gender justice.

The key facilitators for the workshop were Dr Isabel Moya Richards and Julio César González Pagés, who are scholars of communications and anthropology. According to them even after a significant historical change, such as the Cuban revolution, the society continues to reproduce conservative expressions of masculinity and femininity.

Such expressions, they said, are tangible in the use of sexist language and the objectification of women’s bodies by the commercial media, which emphasizes “macho” attitudes as the only possible expression of masculinity.

Changing the understanding of what it takes to be a man and a woman, acknowledging that both are made in the image of God, can be challenging. This is especially important in the face of contradictory messages of violence that we receive from media and dominant social behaviours.

There are significant efforts to be taken into consideration, such as the work of the Evangelical Seminary in Matanzas, Cuba, where gender is a transversal subject. This information was presented by Dr Reinerio Arce Valentín, the director of the seminary.

The workshop received consistent support from the Stichting Rotterdam Fund, along with the strong involvement of Moraima González, coordinator of ICG.

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Baseball is opening doors in Cuba

Cuba (MNN) ― You may not have heard about this ministry before, but it's having a profound impact on the church and government leadership in Cuba.

Global Baseball is a ministry that's dedicated to using baseball as a way to spread the Gospel and plant churches around the world. Cuba is one country in which Global Baseball is having an eternal impact.

President of Global Baseball Jeff Siegel says baseball is growing in popularity around the world. "Actually, in some countries it's like the king in their country. For example, in Cuba, baseball is the king."

Siegel thinks he knows why. "The people don't really have much hope outside of the Gospel message. And one of the things that gives them a little enjoyment is sports. For whatever reason, baseball is just something that really brings people together and brings a little happiness to them."

Global Baseball is designed to do a couple of things, says Siegel. "One of the things we really focus on is being able to do free baseball schools or clinics for children in countries where they would never get this kind of instruction."

While baseball is the tool, Siegel says, "We do it through the local churches so we make sure that when people get saved, there's going to be follow-up."

Global Baseball brings more than sports. "We bring humanitarian aid, and we bring baseball equipment that we leave in the churches so we can begin baseball programs and tie that to the church."

Global Baseball has been going into Cuba for several years. Siegal says, "A famous national team player named Raul Valdez got saved. Now we were going from 4 house churches to 8, 8 to 16, and 16 to 20, and he introduced me to the second-youngest son of Fidel Castro."

This son eventually came to Christ, which opened doors to meet people across the Cuban government. As relationships have blossomed, Siegel says, "We earned the government's respect in Cuba where I can bring in Christian colleges, Christian baseball teams, Christian singing groups, and humanitarian aid. They give me religious visas now in Cuba."

The only thing Global Baseball needs now is a partner who can provide aid silently. Siegel says he already has permission from the Cuban leadership. They told him, "When you're ready, give me the trail numbers of the planes, and we'll make sure they get in and go where they need to go."

This program has been hugely successful, not just in terms of baseball but in terms of lives changed. "Castro's son came to the Lord. Chinese Cubans are getting saved. People right around Castro's inner circle are getting saved."

Siegel is praying that God will encourage more baseball teams to go to Cuba for outreach. Cornerstone University is planning to send their baseball team to Cuba in the next couple of years. Siegel is praying that God will allow him eventually to share Christ with Fidel Castro himself.

If you'd like more information about Global Baseball, click here. 

Cuba sees radical changes

Mission Network News: "Cuba (MNN) ― Economic reforms in Cuba are well underway, but they don't appear to be having the intended effect.

Raul Castro's regime implemented massive layoffs of hundreds of thousands of public employees that were meant to be absorbed by Cuba's almost non-existent private sector. The resulting poverty has given way to despair."

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