{"id":47892,"date":"2023-09-12T14:00:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T05:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=47892"},"modified":"2023-09-12T14:13:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T05:13:35","slug":"vomk-report-270","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/09\/12\/vomk-report-270\/","title":{"rendered":"CUBA: SLEDGEHAMMERS, BULLDOZERS, AND IMPRISONMENTS CAN\u2019T STOP THE GOSPEL"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47888″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”In Cuba, authorities often arrive without warning. According to persecution support ministry Voice of the Martyrs Korea, on 10 March 2020, a group of men with sledgehammers appeared at Pastor David Walter Fis\u2019 church at 9am. \u201cThey wanted to demolish the church and everything inside,\u201d Pastor David told Voice of the Martyrs, \u201cand `{`they`}` started smashing it with their 10-kilo sledgehammers. They came at that hour when the church was closed, hoping that no one would try to stop them from destroying everything.\u201d ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]\u201c<\/span>When the pastor and other church leaders learned what was happening, they rushed to the site and managed to stop the wrecking crew before the roof could collapse<\/span>,\u201d says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley<\/span>. <\/span>She says <\/span>Pastor David was filled with emotion as he gazed in disbelief at the destroyed church building.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can imagine the sadness that we all had,\u201d <\/span>Pastor David told Voice of the Martyrs<\/span>, \u201cafter many years of sacrifice to be able to build a humble church and how they had unfairly demolished it.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Decades ago, Cuba\u2019s revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, <\/span>established<\/span> an atheistic communist government and vowed to drive religion from the island. But <\/span>according to Representative Foley, <\/span>Cuban church leaders <\/span>tell Voice of the Martyrs that <\/span>the opposite has happened. \u201cIt has been more than 60 years since [Castro] said <\/span>that,<\/span>\u201d a church leader said, \u201cbut Christians are in Cuba, in many schools, in secret prison circles and in every municipality in Cuba. From east to west, north to south, Cuba is filled with the gospel.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]As knowledge of the gospel increases in Cuba, however, so does government scrutiny<\/span>, according to Representative Foley<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>After 17 years of worshipping together, Pastor Faustino\u2019s church of 100 members faced the same opposition in 2021 that Pastor David\u2019s church had experienced the previous year; the government sent a bulldozer to completely level the church building<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Though the building was destroyed, church members continued to meet every day under a temporary roof at the church site, hoping to persuade the government to change its decision. Security officers confronted the Christians daily, pressuring them to leave, but the church members remained faithful despite running low on food and subsisting <\/span>mainly on<\/span> rice husks.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47890″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”After Cuban authorities sent a demolition crew, all that remains of Pastor Walter Fis\u2019 church building is the roof, yet his congregation continues to gather for worship and fellowship.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Other Cuban pastors have faced even greater pressures<\/span>, according to Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Two <\/span>pastors <\/span>have been imprisoned for more than a year,<\/span>\u201d says Representative Foley, \u201c<\/span>and one has <\/span>reportedly been<\/span> tortured and treated <\/span>as a \u2018<\/span>counterrevolutionary criminal<\/span>\u2019<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span> Still, <\/span>she says, <\/span>the Communist Party\u2019s efforts to crush churches in Cuba with sledgehammers, bulldozers and imprisonments continue to fail.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>All that remains of Pastor David\u2019s church building is the roof, yet his congregation continues to gather for worship and fellowship<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>They meet on porches and in kitchens, in fields and under trees. They baptize new believers in cleaned-out pigsties.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite everything,\u201d Pastor David <\/span>told Voice of the Martyrs<\/span>, \u201cthe congregation continues to grow more and more.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]A<\/span>nother pastor, a widow who struggles to <\/span>provide for<\/span> her two teenage children, boldly defies authorities who regularly pressure her to stop her church activities. \u201cI demand they show what law I have broken,\u201d she <\/span>told Voice of the Martyrs<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Since the authorities have never cited a specific law, she continues her ministry work<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]She says the main request Voice of the Martyrs receives from <\/span>Cuban Christians <\/span>is a request <\/span>for prayer that they will continue to stand firm in their faith.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>One Cuban pastor was told by a senior UN official that the official was willing to speak to the Pope, the president of the United States and Cuba\u2019s leader on behalf of Cuban Christians<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. \u201c<\/span>But t<\/span>he pastor replied that they do not want anything from the Pope, the president, or Cuba\u2019s leader.<\/span> \u2018<\/span>We are not asking for persecution to be removed,<\/span>\u2019<\/span> he told the <\/span>UN <\/span>official. <\/span>\u2018<\/span>We just want people to pray that we remain faithful.<\/span>\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s work in partnership with underground Christians in communist countries can give to the \u201cCommunism is not Dead Fund\u201d (CIND) via electronic transfer to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

KB Bank: 463501-01-243303<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Account Holder: (<\/span>\uc0ac<\/span>)<\/span>\uc21c\uad50\uc790\uc758\uc18c\ub9ac<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note \u201cCIND\u201d on the transfer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47888″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”In Cuba, authorities often arrive without warning. According to persecution support ministry Voice of the Martyrs Korea, on 10 March 2020, a group of men with sledgehammers …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":47889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47892"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47896,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47892\/revisions\/47896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}