My Friend Yudi

Yudismir Matos is the man who is in charge of planning the Huellas de Adoración conference that I will be assisting with and attending in Moa, Cuba.  He is an intelligent yet humble young man about whom I know little for now.  Nevertheless, I am impressed with his abilities and zeal for the Lord.  We have been corresponding through Facebook Messenger for a couple of weeks.  He has helped me tremendously to get a better picture of what to expect at the conference.  He has also shared that his wife recently gave birth to their third daughter.  Here he is pictured with his wife and one daughter.  As you can imagine, they have many needs as young parents.  My own daughter has taken it upon herself to coordinate donations of baby clothes and other items for me to bring to Cuba.  If you would like to know more, please contact me.

Cuba Visa Approved

My missionary partner and friend, Brian Stewart, sent me an email today with a souvenir.  Attached was a scanned image of my Cuban visa.  He wrote that it is unusual to have a Visa approved three weeks ahead of time.  He suggested I put it in my scrapbook.  I don't have a scrapbook, but I have this blog which serves as one.  This visa approval makes my trip more of a reality to say the least.  Everything seems to be falling into place.  I guess that's one way to know that God really wants me to do this.  But even if obstacles were to arise, which they inevitably do, I am still confident that this trip is what God wants for me.  It will take a lot to keep me from going.

Doing Crazy

I'm not a stranger to doing crazy things, and this week I did some crazy things.  I went to Best Buy and bought two laptop computers and two tablets to bring with me to Cuba and leave there for the churches. I am still searching for two video projectors to bring along as well. These are not things I can afford right now. But frankly I'm not sure I can ever really afford them. I just decided that if I don't do this I probably am going to miss a great opportunity. 

I was faced with this kind of decision in the past and I did the same thing: I did the crazy thing.  It turned out great; it was for the best.  I've never regretted it. And I'm sure it will be the same with this.  I am again encouraged and inspired by Bill Hybel's message a few weeks ago to step out in faith and God will provide along the way. I'm confident this will happen, and the real payback will be the delight on the faces of my Cuban brothers and sisters.