THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL IN CUBA continued
allow nationals in positions of leadership – something characteristic of missiological concepts of the time – there were
already pastors and lay persons assuming key responsibilities.
Because of the financial depression of the 1930s, many Haitians began emigrating to the Eastern region seeking work in
the cane fields. Among those that came were Baptists from Haiti. Small congregations were formed in the farming villages
(“bateyes”) of Tunas and Camaguey. The first congregation was born in Sabanazo and by 1930 there were 125 baptized
members and a large group of candidates.
These congregations grew until the Baptist Haitian Convention was founded in 1939 in La Cupertina, province of
Camaguey. This branch of missionary endeavor is very interesting because of its transcultural profile. It finally reached
52 churches and 2,000 members, plus 40 Sunday Schools. All communication was in the French Creole of Haiti. A Bible
School was established by Anastasio Díaz with the collaboration of Hugo and Inna Rubens, an outstanding Haitian
couple.
Many of these Haitians were repatriated by the Cuban government to reduce the critical economic crisis. Upon returning
they took their Christian experiences acquired in Cuba and so “enlarged the place of their tent” in other shores.
Another branch that evidences the vigorous extension of the Gospel in Cuba was the birth of the Free Will Baptists in
1941. The background of the Free Will Baptists can be found in the labors of Arthur Pain and his two sons – Arthur and
Hugo. Arthur, the father, was a Quaker, but his two sons did extensive evangelistic work. When the central highway was
inaugurated in the 1930s, they organized an “evangelistic invasion” from West to East following the new road.
Hugh Pain directed the Association for the Evangelization of Cuba from Jaruco, province of Matanzas. He invited Thomas
Willey and his wife, Mabel, to visit Cuba. Willey had worked in Peru, and after marrying Mabel, in Panama, worked with
the Free Will Baptist Churches. Since the couple decided to establish themselves in Cuba they were recommended by the
Foreign Mission Board of the Free Will Baptists, and opened a new work in Pinar del Río in 1941. In 1943 they had five
churches and six Cuban pastors, 34 preaching places, 76 members and 200 candidates for baptism. The work extended
from Jaruco and Arcos de Acnasí in Matanzas, to congregations in Havana and Pinar del Río provinces. In 1944 a Bible
School was established to prepare their pastors.
There was a division within the Western Baptist Convention during its assembly in 1989. Several congregations and their
pastors joined together and in September of that year the Fraternity of Baptists in Cuba was organized. It has grown until
today it numbers 39 churches and more than 3,500 members throughout the island.
The manner in which the Gospel has been planted has produced branches and sturdy trunks. The kingdom continues to
grow through the simple witness of Jesus’ followers. The project launched in Acts 1:8 does not lose validity at this stage of
the 21st century.
Elmer Lavastida Alfonso is pastor of Second Baptist Church in Santiago de Cuba and teaches at the Baptist seminary in
Santiago. This article is an excerpt of a presentation made at the BWA Living Water conference in Havana on March 23,
2010.

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