Africa, Cuba and the Church.

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 The strides that Christianity has made in Cuba - a Communist country is commendable and a big lesson to the church in Africa. This week Cuba will mark 'Good Friday' as a national holiday, a proactive gesture of the Cuban government to a recent visit by the Catholic Pope.
When the the Cuban government announced plans to lay off 500,000 State workers last year, it was a clear signal that time was 'ticking' for the Island Communist stronghold. Citizens have been faced with excruciating economic hardship since the demise of the Soviet Union, which in turn has diminished the revolutionary zeal of the average Cuban family. With little or no subsidies coming from the government, the Cuban families have resorted to Churches as a bridge for survival.

This move has enabled a surge in Cuban church growth from a mere 70,000 in 1991 to over 2,000,000 today, including charismatic Catholics.With the US economic blockade still in force and the effects of a global economic meltdown; the Cuban case has again proven that economic strangulation can be a veritable tool in suppressing the human will. 

Unlike Africa, the church in Cuba is faced with persecution as Pastors are oftentimes adjudged agents of the CIA. Their monthly earnings revolve around a paltry $10 monthly. Environmental calamities have also not helped as Katrina and Ike wrecked havoc in churches, yet with unswayed zeal, they work tirelessly to show Christian love. Like Cuba, the global economic meltdown is also wrecking havoc in Africa. Aid funding has drastically reduced and the poverty index is increasing at an alarming rate. The picture of 'happy family' is fast diminishing in Africa but in contrast to the case of Cuba, the church in Africa has made no significant effort to support social reconstruction. The affluent lifestyle of church leaders; the indifference of an upwardly mobile Christian middle-class engrossed in gigantic and status inclined projects and programs that benefit their ego and worst of all, political corruption and maladministration, have all combined to stifle compassion for the poor.

Generational Happy Families ...rare in Africa now.

 Nigeria is Africa's largest population and it has been reputed to 'import what it owns, and export what it does not own'. A semblance of this is in the church. All the efforts by Nigerian mega-churches to Christianize the world would have yielded more fruit in making Nigeria a great nation if the churches involved channeled their resources to evangelize the nooks and  crannies of the nation. Idolatry and fetish practices still hold sway in the villages, scaring even Christians from visiting their places of birth. Poverty amongst city and rural dwellers is endemic. Islamist Boko Haram threatens security especially in the North; a direct evidence that the Church has not been 'salt' and 'light' in that part of the nation. The church can do a lot to help. Public opinion is that they all venture abroad for the $$$ especially through Africans in the diaspora.

Let's not forget the word in marble by Mahatma Gandhi; “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”
Many Cuban families have turned to churches to fill their economic and existential needs. The Church world will do good to support Charismatic Churches in Cuba with food and material aid.
So as Cuba commemorates 'Good Friday' as a national holiday this week; I can only say 'to God be the glory'.

CUBAN PRESIDENT - Raul Castro.