I want to thank you so much for interceding for Garry Morrison and me, as we taught the “Christ-­‐centered Discipleship” study to pastors, church planters and cell group leaders from all over the Santiago district of Cuba. They came by public buses, from a 70-­‐mile radius, to attend the conference; which lasted from morning until evening, for 4 days. The conference was held at the 7th Baptist Church of Santiago de Cuba. Brothers and sisters, God gave us a glorious time of ministering the Word. There was great liberty in the teaching; there was a manifest hunger for the Word, by those in attendance; and an obvious and mighty application of the truth, by the Holy Spirit, to those spiritual leaders. Several times, during the conference, there was manifested weeping among those in the audience. Even Bro. Garry and myself were overcome and began weeping, as we were teaching and translating these truths! It was such a powerful time of sitting at the feet of our Master-­‐Teacher, as He taught us many profound truths concerning the vital issue of discipleship! One of the wonderful blessings of each of these conferences in communist Cuba, is that these pastors, church planters and cell group leaders take these workbooks and multiply these truths into thousands of lives, whom they teach on a weekly basis! So this really is a ministry of multiplication, for the glory of the Lord Jesus, our Teacher, Priest and King!

 During one of the breaks in the conference, Nelson, a 31-­‐year old pastor came up to Bro. Garry and began sharing his testimony of conversion. Garry was so excited about what he heard that he hurried over to me and said, “Bro. Ed, you need to hear this story”. It was a story of a ‘Divine Appointment’ unto the conversion of his eternal soul! Here is what Nelson said to us.

“I was raised in a town called El Caney, which is close to Santiago de Cuba. I was raised without the presence of my father, because he abandoned my mother. When my father abandoned my mother, my mother wanted to abort me while I was in her womb; nevertheless, I thank God that this never happened. I went to church as a child with a neighbor. However, when I was 14 years of age, I ended up in street gangs and being promiscuous. But at the age of 17, in the year 2000, I was invited to attend a crusade at El Caney Baptist Church. Bro. Ed Lacy and Garry Morrison were preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, in these nights. God, the Holy Spirit, used Bro. Lacy and Bro. Morrison, to open my understanding of the love of God; and of my need to follow Christ and seek Him for the forgiveness of my sins, and be freed from eternal condemnation. For 2 days I heard them preaching the message of Salvation. I will never forget the miracle of salvation that God worked in my life, in those 2 days. I went home and talked to God; and told Him to “help me, change me, and forgive me”; and God was faithful to work His mighty salvation in my life. In the days that followed, my life changed; and many of my family members and acquaintances noticed the changes that the Lord was working in my life. As I witnessed to them, many of them came to the saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Throughout this time, I was being discipled by 2 church counselors; and one day, during a youth event, I sensed the call of God on my life to the pastoral ministry. During the following years, I actively participated in a 3 national evangelistic outreach ministry, preaching the gospel in different provinces in the country of Cuba. In 2007, I applied for seminary and was accepted; and I began my theological training at the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary of Cuba. Today I am married and with my wonderful wife, Katy, we have a beautiful 9-­‐ month old baby girl; and I am pastoring a church in the rural zone of Contramaestre. I founded this church 3 years ago, with 4 people. But now, it is comprised of 50 baptized members. Recently, we baptized 4 young people. Our church has now started a new mission with 15 people.”

Friends, after Nelson shared this testimony, I asked, “Where does the church meet for worship?” He told me that they were meeting under a palm tree; but the most recent hurricane had blown down the tree. He also told me that they have laid a concrete foundation for a building; and when the sun is shining, they meet on that foundation for worship. I had brought some extra funds to this conference, (as I usually do), so that I might be sensitive to specific opportunities that may arise; and so that I can be used, by our Lord, as a channel of blessing. So, when I heard about where the church was meeting, I knew that this was another Divine Appointment. I knew that the Lord wanted us to be involved in the construction of this concrete block building. So I asked Nelson, “How much would it cost to put the building up”? Nelson responded, “It would cost $1,500. But we don’t have that kind of money.” I responded, “But the Lord has allowed me to have the funds; and I want to give those funds right now. Let’s go get Pastor Javier, (the President of the Santiago district) and we will make a legal documentation for this contribution. You can begin the construction immediately!” Well friends, Nelson was already overwhelmed with joy; just to be able to share his testimony with us about God’s divine appointment with him in salvation; but now, he was about to go into orbit, as he heard me tell me that this was also a ‘Divine Appointment’ for our Father to provide for the construction of their building!

Friends, this is just one small example of the multitude of things that our precious Lord accomplished on this trip. We could almost write a book, about the events that take place at each conference in Cuba. Both Garry and I are so very grateful, that there are so many brothers and sisters like you, who were interceding for us, during these glorious days of ministry; and some that are so willing to give; so that we can be conduits of the Lord’s great provision.