READY, SET, JUST ABOUT TO GO . . . TO CUBA!

An American girl flew to Havana,

Taking filters and hope in her planner.

Clean water her goal,

Sharing love to make whole,

With no time to lounge in cabanas!

 AUDIO LETTER

Ready, Set, Just About to Go

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CAN YOU SEE WHY there is no future for me as a writer of limericks?

This American girl (OK, older woman) actually is flying to Cuba this Saturday, though, and I’d be most grateful for your prayers.

 I’m traveling with a small group of Christian communicators under the auspices of the non-profit organization Filter of Hope. If you’re not familiar with this Alabama-based ministry (https://filterofhope.org/), it was founded in 2013 to bring clean water and the gospel to people in desperate need of both. Although this 501(c)(3) is just over a decade old, over 60 staff members serve those in need around the world.

Like many of you, I generally take access to clean water for granted. As a farm kid growing up in rural Illinois, we had our own well that never ran dry. Here at Peace Ridge, Mike and I are thankful for the same—a 400-foot-deep well that provides some of the purest mountain water in the country.

We also know how quickly things can change.

Last September’s Hurricane Helene is ranked as the worst natural disaster ever to befall western North Carolina. The flooding caused catastrophic damage to Asheville's water treatment and distribution system —so much so that most of our sister city was without clean water for several months following the storm. Our county sent hundreds of thousands of gallons in tanker-truck convoys to meet our neighbors’ needs.

But in a third-world island nation such as Cuba, who are their neighbors?

We are.

While FOH filters are in use in over 80 countries, the organization primarily leads ministry trips to a dozen Latin American countries including Cuba. As Christ-followers, they believe that no one should have to live without clean drinking water, and that everyone deserves the opportunity to know Christ personally.

 

When teams like mine enter a country, we provide water filters at no cost to those in need while also sharing the hope we’ve found in Christ. 

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

We’ve received detailed training prior to our departure, with reminders that we will not have computer access or cell service back to the US. Power outages are unpredictable and widespread. I’m sure I’ll have stories to share with you, but not until I return home. (So. . .  no Tuesday letter from me next week!) 

Friends, please pray for us, will you? I’m not concerned about safety. We’ll be staying in secure lodging with FOH staff, and when distributing water filters in homes we’ll be in small groups at all times with a translator. Local water is contaminated, and we know not to drink it—that’s why we’re there!

As you read these words, would you stop right now and ask God to multiply our efforts? Any lasting fruit will be due to the Holy Spirit’s power, not ours. We are merely coming alongside what God is already doing.

If you’d be so kind as to leave a comment or a brief prayer in the comments below, I’ll print them out and gratefully carry each one with me to Cuba. Your words will be an encouragement to all of us.

Serving those who thirst,

Maggie