Congregation & Community Support Programs

ADOPT A CUBAN PASTOR

If a Cuban church does not have a sister church, then the pastor does not receive a salary. More than 60% of Cuban pastors do not have a sister church.

Near the end of a recent trip, SWDMP leadership traveled to many churches within the Ciego de Avila district, including three churches without a sister church. The first two visits went as expected, but the third stop truly touched the heart of the SWDMP director. 

Upon arrival, the pastor, his wife and children were waiting at the front door. Before Dan could say a word, the pastor was telling him about the greatest day in his life. Because of the Adopt a Pastor Program, he had received his first monthly salary check. He thanked him over-and-over and showed him his new shoes, plus his wife’s new shoes. With the pastor’s voice breaking up and tears running down his face, he showed Dan the new sandals their children were wearing.

For many Cuban pastors, your support is the difference between having to choose whether to feed or clothe their families or struggling to do both.   

Sister Church Relationships

This is a church-based cause. A Sister Church is a long-term relationship between a church in the United States and a church in Cuba.  The sister church support begins with prayers for the Cuban church and paying the pastor's salary of $30 per month. There are countless other ways to support a sister church (as seen in the other program pages), but we encourage a food program to feed the people of the congregation every Sunday afternoon. This cost is approximately one dollar per person for every Sunday morning. Every investment into your sister church will be returned in earnest transformative prayer and fellowship. The Methodist churches in Cuba are growing by 12 to 14 % per year. Only 40% of the Cuban churches have a sister church from the United States.  This opportunity is not limited to Florida. In fact, we are actively looking for churches throughout the United States that want to adopt a church in Cuba.  The church that changes the most from this relationship is not the church in Cuba, it’s your church in the United States.

The Foundation

The Foundation was formed out of shame. On a recent trip, a group of travelers were talking with a Cuban pastor in a remote church in the Guantanamo mountain range. They were the first American travelers to visit.

The pastor said, “For three hundred dollars, or a little more, I could put a floor down and fix the roof, so when it rained it would not drip on the people.” They didn't have the funds to help and had to walk away, despite the pastor’s dream being so close to in reach. On the way down the mountain side, three Southwest District Board members made the pledge that this would not happen again. 

The Foundation was formed from this pledge, to repair churches, relocate churches to a better location, or to enhance the growth of church membership via edificial improvements.

In October 2016, the Guantanamo District had severe damage from Hurricane Matthew. Some of the first funds from The Foundation were donated to the Guantanamo District.

 Currently, there are 25,000 homes without a roof in this district and conditions continue to be very difficult.