December, 2015
Please pray for our brothers and sisters in the city of
Santiago de Cuba where government officials have reportedly issued demolition
orders to all churches in one neighbourhood.
Pastors and families living in the church properties targeted in the Abel
Santa María area of the city have been told they are to be evicted. At least
three churches are known to be under threat in Santiago, plus two more in Las
Tunas province.
Members of Emanuel Church in Santiago have been holding a ‘sleep-in’ at
their building since early November, in an effort to prevent it from being
destroyed. Its pastor, Alain Toledano, said he believed communist officials,
angered by the re-establishment of relations with the US, were launching a
crackdown on ‘apostolic and prophetic’ churches.
Scores of churches across Cuba have reportedly come under pressure since
new legislation was introduced in January giving officials discretionary powers
to confiscate property. In some cases, religious groups have been given the
option to stay – but only in return for paying high rent to the Government and
submitting to Communist Party monitoring: most have rejected this
option.
- Please pray for our church family in Santiago de Cuba. Pray that the demolition orders will not be carried out and church families will not be evicted.
- Pray that the church in Cuba as a whole will stand firm in the face of opposition from some elements of the Community Party.
- Pray that the church in Cuba will experience unprecedented growth and liberty as the nation opens up to the international community in the longer term.
(Source: Christian Solidarity
Worldwide)
