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SUMMITCUBAIN

November 2009

LEO CASTRO | 7075 PYRAMID HWY | SPARKS NV 89436 | LCASTRO@IGLESIASUMMIT.ORG | IGLESIASUMMIT.ORG

Dear friends and family,

Our trip to Cuba was fantstico!

Please forgive me for taking so long in providingthis report. The move to Sunday services andprepare our new series, APOKALYPSIS, has beena bit strenuous.

CUBA: AMAZING! In a matter of hours we traveled50 years back in time. The country lacks manybasics we so take for granted in the States. And itis illegal to share Christ outside of the church walls;

something I forgot.Eating at a restaurant,I shared the gospelwith the waitressesand three of themmade confessionof faith after themeal. Despite all the

restrictions of a communist country the Church isgrowing at a great rate. We met several pastorswith large ministries in different cities.

A total of 6 people went to Cuba, including the

contact pastor Pablo Garcia, his wife Marthaand their son Jacob. From Reno, we had FrankMeitz, Adam Barkley (both from Discipler TrainingInternational) and me. We had asked manypeople to pray for our passage through customswith the training manuals that we were taking in.We had planned the training for 400 pastors sowere going to cross with 400 manuals. Well, therule is that you are allowed into Cuba with a fewbooks, no repeat titles, (just for your personal use).So we knew that we were asking for a miracle. InReno, the pastors prayed specifically that the Lord

would place a person either that was a Christian orsympathetic to the Gospel in customs that wouldguide us through. And that is how we continuedto pray. When we arrived in Havana, we startedthrough the line and I was able to get through ina matter of minutes (it was either my last name orGod I think it was God). The rest of the team had10 large suitcases filled with the 400 manuals. Twoof the suitcases got through the door undetected.The other eight had a BIG L written on the tags.

L for Libros (books). The team then was sent tothe section where tourists are usually not sent andthere was a woman there who was very harsh. Ofcourse the team was directed to her line. But allof a sudden another customs officer (what webelieve is part of the answer to our prayers) cameover to the team and asked why they were in thatline. She asked the team to please step out andgo into her line. The team did so at the obviousdiscontent of the officer who was to attend them.Up went the first suitcase as all of us prayed for amiracle. One of officers askedWhy do you have

so many books? Why are they all the same?We are going to a pastors training conference,We have been extended religious visas, and weare expecting 400 pastors. So weve brought 400manuals for the training. One will be given toeach pastor. She just looked at them. Then shepicked up a manual and began leafing throughthe pages. She stopped and began reading on aparticular page and BOOM lightening struck thebuilding. The lights went out in the section of theairport where we were standing.

The officer put down the book and motioned for

the whole team to stay where they were and towait until the lights came back on for the rest ofour inspection. In the meantime I was waitingoutside of customs with my suitcases where Ihad met a Christian woman that happened tobe an evangelist in Cuba. For about 15 minutesthe team stood there waiting and praying. Whenthe lights came on the officer began shufflingthrough the suitcase and saw that all of the bookswere the same but shedid not open anymore books.She zipped the suitcase

back up and motioned for thenext. Oneby one shewent through all eightsuitcases. After what itseemed like an eternitythey let them through!Words cannot describe our emotions during thosecouple of hours through customs, other than tosay God is a God of miracles! As we shared this

Please pray for cuba. Please pray

for frank martinez and those who

attended the conference. We

discussed returning to conduct

training for the two other regions

in cuba.

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story with the pastors in our small groups, we kepthearing the phrase this is not possible. Well, weare living testimony that God is the God of theimpossible.

THE CONFERENCE was held in Bayamo on the

eastern side of the island. After landing in Havanawe traveled two hours south of the island to a citycalled 100 Fuegos. I had the privilege of speakingat the Host pastors church that night. The nextmorning we got up early and traveled about14 hours. Unfortunately the government did notallow us to rent one of their campgrounds for theevent, so there was a change in venue. A localMethodist church opened up their sanctuary forus to use. This changed so many of the logisticsthat the leaders traveling for the conference wereall housed in private homes and transportation

was hired to shuttle them back and forth eachday. Because of these changes, fewer pastorsattended the event. We heard repeatedly thatour coming to Cuba with the material and ourteaching of the discipleship concepts was ananswer to their prayers. They cant just go downto the corner Christian bookstore and pick up abook on discipleship! Its very difficult to obtainChristian books, and almost impossible to printany materials. So having an extra manual foreach pastor was a blessing.

Each day the conference was divided into three

main sections:1. Worship Martha, the wife of the pastor fromMexico took her violin and had an amazingexperience playing the different types of musicwith the worship team!

2. General Sessions the Discipleship materialtaught by Frank Meitz and translated by Pablothe pastor from Mexico.

3. Breakout Groups we broke into four groupsto discuss the concepts in more detail that weretaught in the general session. The DTI materialis intended for one-on-one or small group use.So the breakouts provided a perfect platform,facilitating a style of teaching in which everyoneparticipates in the learning process.

We were impressed with the pastorscommitment. For example: Four pastors fromwestern Cuba traveled the long distance fromHavana with us, so they could take the conceptsback to their own churches immediately andbegin training their leadership.

Frank Martinez (the Cuban leader) asked thepastors, How do you plan to implement thismaterial in your church? In many cases theconcern was the lack of manuals. Frank suggestedthat not having a manual should not stop themfrom discipling. Just ask the disciple to bringa pencil and three pieces of paper and copydown the lesson points and Bible references forthat week, he said. In this manner, over time, thedisciple ends up creating his own manual that hecan use to repeat the process.

PLEASE PRAY FOR CUBA. Please pray for FrankMartinez and those who attended the conference.We discussed returning to conduct training for thetwo other regions in Cuba. We will do so only ifthe pastors who attended are using the material,training their leaders, and then those leaders are

beginning to disciple others. We challenged thepastors in Cuba to disciple another believer withthe goal for that believer to disciple someoneelse. This would show a commitment to applyingthe concepts, not just learning them, indicating asolid reason for our return.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND FOR YOUR

FAITHFUL PRAYERS. I could write so much more;about the people of Cuba, about our individualimpressions, about the ministry that is happeningat the moment. But I do not want to overwhelm youwith the length of my letter! I hope that you enjoyed

the DVD with pictures I left you a while ago. Someare explained and some are justsites of Cuba.

SUMMITCUBAINNovember 2009

LEO CASTRO | 7075 PYRAMID HWY | SPARKS NV 89436 | LCASTRO@IGLESIASUMMIT.ORG | IGLESIASUMMIT.ORG