For God so Loved…

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  

This is my command: Love each other.

— John 15:16-17

No one could have prepared me for this.

Sure, we had talked about the mission trip for a few months prior, scheduling our ministry time so as to fit in as much as possible.  I listened for most of it; I had never been to Cuba and the others had, most of them several times.  They spoke about the house churches and the poverty of the people and the oppression of the government, and it was surreal to me in my middle class suburban lifestyle.  Reaching for words they found something suitable.  “It’s like walking through the book of Acts,” they said, and I nodded, trying my best to imagine it. 

But as we entered the intimidating scene of customs and faced uniformed guards and their rifles, I began to wither.  The stone-faced glare they bore towards us shrunk me from the inside out.  They did not want us there, that was very clear.  The bus ride from the airport was equally disheartening as I watched the people walking, walking everywhere underneath the tall brooding presence of Che and Castro plastered on billboards.  George W.’s face was also there, and although I do not read much Spanish, the official opinion of him was clear.  I sat back in my seat as we tunneled through the collapsing city of  Havana and wondered what in the world I thought I could do here.

But it was in one of those teeming house churches on Wednesday that the Lord spoke loudest to me, rising above the encroaching depression.  As I watched a people who have much to regret celebrate in a way seldom witnessed, He spoke in waves of assurance that threw back the tides of doubt.  And as we were pulling out onto the dirt road after the service, this beautiful sister in Christ, a pastor whom I had known for about three hours, spread out her fingers, framing my face before her.  The moon lit up her smile as she spoke words seasoned with grace and Cuban sincerity.  Simple words, profound ones.  “I love you.”  And as we drove away, I looked back at her, the moon shining on her wrinkled face, and I knew He had answered my question.

The power of her words carries with me to this day, for they encapsulate all that God intends between us believers.  No matter the circumstance.  No matter the language barrier.  No matter the difference of opinion.  In fact, that moment in a ravaged country broke the spell I was under for many years — a spell of despair that encompassed more than the land of Cuba.  I returned to this country with a new song in my heart, first taught to me by the heart of a woman oppressed.  Many would say she is forsaken.  Most of us are overwhelmed by her circumstance.  But God expressed to me through her the strength of His love and the power of it that melts the strongholds we are most fearful of. 

No wonder He has called us to love the world.
No wonder He has called us to missions.