Cuba. World Factbook map

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Introduction

The Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. The capital city of Havana. The estimated population in 2009 was 11,451,652. In 2002 approximately 65% of the population was White, 10% was Black, and 25% was Mulatto. The Roman Catholic Church estimates that 60% of the population in Roman Catholic.

1990 Article

Working on the island in 1986 were two Anabaptist-rooted denominations and the Mennonite Central Committee.

The Brethren in Christ began their work in 1953, establishing a mission program that developed into the Iglesia de los Hermanos en Cristo. The two congregations formed have weathered difficulties and were active in 1987 as a registered church.

The Franconia Mennonite Conference (MC), founded the Cuba Mennonite Mission in 1954. The missionaries worked out of two centers, Rancho Veloz and Sagua la Grande, both located in Santa Clara Province in north central Cuba. Numerous witness points were established. Methods included teaching English, home visitation, home Bible studies, and radio broadcasting. By 1960, six missionaries were on the field. All of them eventually left as a result of the revolution (1959). Because government registration was not obtained, any Mennonite Church gathering became illegal. Therefore, in 1987, Mennonite converts were worshiping with other Protestant groups. After Cuba began to permit some visitation, a few Brethren in Christ and Mennonite leaders visited their respective people.

After 1981 the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) worked through church agencies in Cuba to help Cuban churches carry out their ministries, and to foster understandings between Cubans and North Americans. Examples of MCC work include helping repair a chapel, assisting in refurbishing a Bible study center, and contributing Anabaptist and peace literature to church libraries.

2010 Update

By 2003 a new, indigenous group of congregations emerged that identified with the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, known as Congregación Evangélica Anabautista Menonita en Cuba.

In 2009 the following Anabaptist groups were active in Cuba:

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 213-214. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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