GC Secretariat Combines Mission and Service across Churches in Havana

It was mid morning and the sun was already bright when a volunteer crew arrived at the Mantilla Seventh-day Adventist Church in Havana, Cuba, July 31. The group quickly exited three vans and entered the sanctuary, where local church leaders and others were waiting for them.

The multi-age group of volunteers belonged to the General Conference (GC) Secretariat of the Seventh-day Adventist Church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. Led by GC secretary Erton Köhler, they were in Cuba for an outreach and evangelistic initiative across several churches in Havana, in partnership with Maranatha Volunteers International, an independent supporting ministry of the Adventist Church.

“Let’s gather together to organize today’s work,” said John D. Thomas, a retired leader who dedicated his career to serving the church as a missionary abroad and as General Conference associate secretary at the church’s headquarters. Thomas, who was born in the mission field to missionary parents, is probably one of the most experienced mission volunteers. Even in retirement, he continues supporting outreach and evangelistic initiatives wherever there’s a need. “I had decided to keep participating in two mission initiatives a year,” Thomas said. “Well, this year, I think it will be more like five projects for me,” he said.

At the other end of the spectrum is Reiko Davis, who serves at the Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research at the GC. But for a brief trip across the border in San Diego when she was a child, she had never been outside the United States. In fact, she had to rush a request to get her passport on time to be part of the trip.

“This mission trip has been my first but certainly won’t be my last,” Davis said. “It has impacted me so much, that I know these days in Cuba are changing me in ways I had not anticipated. I will leave with life-transforming experiences and a stronger desire to serve others.”

The Mantilla church is one of the largest Adventist congregations in Havana. Built by Maranatha in 1996-97, the church was in desperate need of some paint and minor repairs. Most of the fans inside the church were not working properly, so Maranatha also provided new fans to help members weather the stifling summer conditions.

Led by a local Maranatha crew and local church leaders, the GC Secretariat team scraped walls and repainted not only the sanctuary and the baptistry area but also several adjacent halls where children and youth usually meet. Another group battled the extreme heat on a cloudless day to paint the church’s main entrance. “We are doing our best to leave this building as beautiful as possible,” one volunteer said. “We want members and visitors to remember that God deserves our best. And a well-taken-care-of church building is always a silent witness in its neighborhood.”

The project in Cuba highlighted the importance of partnerships to create synergy in the mission field. Maranatha has been present in Cuba since 1996 and is an expert in managing the logistics needed in such a challenging territory. GC Secretariat, on the other hand, provided its workforce and invested some funds in supporting Adventist mission in Cuba.

“Serving others is always a joy,” one volunteer said. “Serving in Cuba, a life-transforming experience.”