{"id":55382,"date":"2025-09-02T14:00:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T05:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=55382"},"modified":"2025-09-02T14:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T05:08:10","slug":"vomk-report-363","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2025\/09\/02\/vomk-report-363\/","title":{"rendered":"CUBA: HE REJECTED A CALL TO PLAY BASEBALL IN ORDER TO SUFFER FOR CHRIST"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”55387″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”A Cuban man who left a promising baseball career in order to serve as a pastor has been arrested 17 times and even seen his own children forced to leave the communist country. But even though the \u201cspirit of the Communist revolution\u201d is once again on the rise in Cuba, Pastor \u201cJoel\u201d (name changed for security reasons) told Voice of the Martyrs that he and other Cuban believers are more excited than ever about the \u201cnew thing\u201d they believe that God is about to do in Cuba. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left|color:%23111111″ google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley says that d<\/span>espite the <\/span>significant <\/span>change<\/span>s<\/span> in <\/span>Cuba\u2019s <\/span>leadership <\/span>in 2018, <\/span>the country\u2019s government <\/span>remains<\/span> committed to communism<\/span> and<\/span> atheis<\/span>m<\/span> and sees <\/span>Christianity as a <\/span>threat to the revolution<\/span>. \u201cC<\/span>hurches in Cuba <\/span>continue to <\/span>face <\/span>severe <\/span>pressure from the government, <\/span>but the government works hard to <\/span>hide that persecution in order to <\/span>protect its reputation globally,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> says Representative F<\/span>o<\/span>ley. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>The <\/span>persecution is more hidden than it used to be, but it<\/span> hasn<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t<\/span> decreased<\/span>. Christian leaders are often called into meetings with government officials or imprisoned for up to <\/span>48 hours<\/span> to pressure them. Churches are demolished by hired gangs so the government can deny responsibility. Church buildings <\/span>are<\/span> seized, and no new church buildings have been built in the country since the revolution<\/span>. M<\/span>any believers meet in unsanctioned <\/span>\u2018<\/span>house churches,<\/span>\u2019<\/span> often extensions of the pastor\u2019s home or shaded structures in the back yard.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]In the 1980s a<\/span>s a Cuban teenager<\/span>, Joel saw his pastor dragged off to jail in 1984. <\/span>\u201cHe was \u2026 in prison without having committed any crime, just for preaching the gospel<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> Joel told Voice of the Martyrs.<\/span> Even though Joel was <\/span>devoted to the Lord,<\/span> he<\/span> was certain there was one calling her would never follow: He did not want to be a pastor.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”55388″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor Joel poses holding a baseball bat.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Instead, <\/span>Joel<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s interest<\/span>\u2014<\/span>and talent<\/span>\u2014<\/span>was in baseball. But a<\/span>s Joel advanced to <\/span>higher levels of competition in the sport, he could see that it brought <\/span>challenges and temptations that he needed to <\/span>avoid <\/span>as a Christian.<\/span> So just a few years after he saw his pastor dragged off to jail, at the age of 17 Joel surprised his father, his baseball coach, and himself by deciding to become a pastor.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard God\u2019s voice,\u201d Joel <\/span>told Voice of the Martyrs.<\/span> \u201cHe told me that he wanted me to serve him.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]In 1996, newly married and freshly graduated from seminary, Joel arrived in a mountain town about 20 miles south of where he had studied to become a pastor. The town, he <\/span>told Voice of the Martyrs<\/span>, was a uniquely difficult mission field, \u201ca city of places where the gospel wasn\u2019t allowed.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]In their first four years of ministry, Joel and his wife, <\/span>Maruchi<\/span>, <\/span>experienced the same pattern <\/span>over and over again<\/span>: They would find a house, begin meeting there as a church, get evicted, and start over.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Seven times, authorities closed their churches and confiscated their property<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>During 12 years of ministry in the town, <\/span>Pastor <\/span>Joel was arrested 17 times for preaching, distributing Bibles or evangelizing.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”55393″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor Joel and Maruchi Samonim” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Pastor<\/span> Joel and his family moved away from the community in 2008. By then, they had planted 25 churches led by locally trained pastors serving more than 6,000 Christians.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Among those churches was one in an old ammunition factory, which is still active today<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Not long after, <\/span>Pastor <\/span>Joel found himself back in the community where his ministry had begun, <\/span>pastoring a small <\/span>church there. One afternoon, he walked to the local ballpark with a bat, two balls and a couple of gloves to begin training a few boys in the fundamentals of baseball.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>As word got around, he soon found himself training 80 young people \u2014 all non-Christians<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>.<\/span> \u201cHe began each practice session with a Christian devotional, and he often did \u2018team talks\u2019 where he shared from the Bible.<\/span> He gave all the players <\/span>Bible texts and Christian literature to take home to their famil<\/span>ies.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Pastor Joel told Voice of the Martyrs that reaching young people through baseball has allowed him to bring the gospel to people who would never have considered going to church<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”55390″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Signs of communism are still prominently displayed in Cuba” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that Pastor <\/span>Joel and <\/span>Maruchi<\/span> Samonim<\/span> have faced a greater challenge in recent years<\/span>: the need to send their children out of the country.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>As their children bec<\/span>a<\/span>me more engaged in ministry work, they <\/span>also <\/span>beg<\/span>a<\/span>n to experience persecution<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201cW<\/span>hen one of their sons was arrested and imprisoned by state security officials, they <\/span>felt it was necessary to <\/span>help their sons leave Cuba.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]But Pastor Joel told Voice of the Martyrs that he and <\/span>Maruchi<\/span> Samonim<\/span> are <\/span>remaining<\/span> in Cuba to do ministry. Pastor Joel said that God gave them a verse of scripture\u2014Isaiah 42:19, \u201c<\/span>Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert\u201d<\/span>\u2014to encourage them that God is about to do <\/span>a<\/span> \u201c<\/span>new thing<\/span>\u201d<\/span> in Cuba.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are waiting for a revival in our nation,\u201d <\/span>Pastor <\/span>Joel said. \u201cThat is why we stay here in our country, even though our kids left and it is hard, because God called us to be here. It is a privilege being part of what God is doing in our nation. It is a blessing to see the thirst and hunger that there is for the Lord.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs posts urgent prayer requests for <\/span>persecuted <\/span>Christians <\/span>like <\/span>Pastor Joel <\/span>on its website at <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/prayer\/urgent\/<\/span><\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/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=”55387″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”A Cuban man who left a promising baseball career in order to serve as a pastor has been arrested 17 times and even seen his own …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":55386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","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\/55382","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=55382"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55395,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55382\/revisions\/55395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}