CUBA: It takes a whole team and that means you!
It takes a whole team and that means YOU.
Your faithful prayers didn't just go up - they were answered.
One of the things we love most about this ministry is that we never go alone. When we ask you to pray, you don’t just add us to a list—you stand with us. And over and over again, we get to watch God respond through your faithfulness.
For our last time in Cuba, we invited you to pray specifically for several needs. And look what God did:
• Kathy’s religious visa — approved right on time.
• Extra team members — provided! (Huge thanks to Paul & Tom for your love and kindness to the Cuban people.)
• The Women of Grace Conference — anointed, powerful, and full of God’s presence.
• Time with pastors and their families — rich, tender, and deeply encouraging.
When you pray, you become part of the story God is writing in Cuba. Thank you for carrying this ministry with us. Your prayers are moving mountains.
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us..”
—1 John 5:14
Cuba Women's Conference
Cuba was only half the story. The other half unfolded in the place that still holds a big piece of our hearts—Nicaragua.
NICARAGUA - Full hearts after a fruitful visit
One of the beautiful (and complicated!) gifts of missionary life is that God allows your heart to live in more than one place at the same time. Ask any missionary, and they’ll tell you one of the hardest questions to answer is: “So… when did you get home?”
The truth is, home is woven into the people and places God has used to shape you.
That was never more true than during our recent return to Nicaragua—our home for 19 wonderful years.
We had the incredible joy of reconnecting with our “Nica Family”—pastors, friends, leaders, and faithful Christ-followers who have walked with us through seasons of joy, heartbreak, and deep transformation. Every conversation felt like picking up right where we left off, and every gathering reminded us of how deeply God has rooted our hearts there.
And thanks to your prayers, God showed up in extraordinary ways during the women’s conferences
Kathy and Jennifer Speers & her team led.
Hundreds of women were strengthened in the Word, reminded that resilient hope is possible
—even Living on the Edge of Desperate. Their worship, tears, testimonies, and courage
were a powerful reminder that God is at work in every corner of this nation.
Your partnership made this ministry possible. Your prayers helped open doors, rekindle faith, and plant hope.
And we truly carried you with us into every conversation, every teaching moment, every hug, and every prayer.
We often share the stories of what God is doing, but not always the daily realities behind them. So before we close, we wanted to give you a window into what your prayers truly mean—told in the honest, heartfelt words of one of our national Cuban pastors.
A FRESH PERSPECTIVE Thanksgiving in the Midst of Hardship
A window into the daily realities for a Cuban pastor
From the heart of Pastor Yoan: “If I could sum up our lives in one word, it would be suspension.
This past season has been deeply marked by a severe outbreak of the Chikungunya virus—touching our work, our family, and our entire community of faith. It has tested us in more ways than we could have imagined.
Our children have missed school, not only because of their own sickness, but because their teachers fell ill as well. Much of the ministry work I had planned had to be postponed or canceled. I even had to cut short a translation assignment with an American mission team to attend the unexpected passing of my grandfather—also due to this same virus.
Life has felt like a mini lockdown, with nearly every plan suddenly placed on hold.
And yet… we give thanks.
We give thanks because God has been utterly faithful. Just before the virus swept through our congregation, the Lord allowed us to obtain a batch of highly sought-after medications
—exactly what was needed to help alleviate the worst symptoms. His timing was perfect.
We give thanks for friends in the U.S. who stepped in and sent rehydration salts, fever reducers, and other critical items—supplies that allowed us to prioritize helping the most vulnerable:
children, the elderly, and the families we serve twice a week with meals.
Most of all, we give thanks because while our plans were suspended, God’s plans never were.
He continued to provide ahead of time, to sustain our family, and to comfort our church in the middle of the hardest moments.
Now, as we look back, our hearts overflow with deep gratitude for how the Lord has protected and upheld us—
both as a family and as a congregation.
Thank you, once again, for your friendship and partnership in the Gospel.
Blessings, Pastor Yoan”
PRAYER AND PARTNERSHIP
PRAYER AND PARTNERSHIP
We’d be so grateful if you’d pause and pray for a few specific needs:
- At the heart of it all, we thank God so much for YOU, without God using you, none of what we do would be possible, none of it !
- Give thanks for the fruitful ministry in Cuba and Nicaragua.
- Pray that Jesus remains at the center of all our family Thanksgiving gatherings.
- Pray for Carl as he teaches international students at YWAM in Europe (Dec 1–5).
- Remember Cuban pastors and their families—praying for health, renewed passion, and compassion as they serve.