WESLEY MUMC IS CELEBRATING A NEW SISTER RELATIONSHIP WITH A CUBA CHURCH, DURAÑONA METHODIST CHURCH
This is a Covenant partnership through the ministry of the Methodists United in Prayer that joins both of our churches with the bonds of the love of God, in mutual fellowship and prayer. As many of the house-churches that the Methodist Church in Cuba has started, many years ago the Pilon Methodist Church sent out missionaries from that church to nearby villages to evangelize and carry God s Word throughout that area. Nearby Durañona was one of the places where missionaries had been visiting regularly and, in June 2003, Cuba Bishop Pereira went to the mission home in Durañona and formally appointed it as an official church of the Methodist Church in Cuba.
PASTORA DARIELIS CORREA (28 years old) is now the pastora of that church.
She is in the photo with her husband, Erisneldo Rivera (31) and their daughter, Sara
(7 years old) Darielis attended Pilon Methodist Church for many years. While working with the youth and children of that church, God gave her a vision of the call to be a pastor
one day. Her vision came true when, after much prayer and with the support of the
District Superintendent, she was appointed as the pastora of the Durañona Church in
June, 2019. The church now has 45 official members and many more attend the Sunday services. They are also working with alcoholics in the community. Her husband has a special calling for those addicted to alcohol and will seek out those he finds drunk on the streets and ministers to them. They have already some who have rejoined their families and
have recovered their wholeness in body and spirit. As you know, the worship of Santeria (syncretism between the Yoruba African religion and the Roman Catholic church) is very prevalent in Cuba. There have been some who have come out of this cult and given powerful testimonies
LOCATION OF THE DURAÑONA METHODIST CHURCH
As you can see Media Luna and Durañona Methodist Churches are located in the Granma province, in thesouthwest corner of the Island of Cuba. All the other districts of the Methodist Church in Cuba have the same name as the province. The Methodist Church in Cuba chose to namethis district: Sierra Maestra. This is the name of the mountain range in the areawhere the highest mountain in Cuba is located. The province is divided in
municipalities. The map shows Media Luna(lime green) where Wesley’s other sister church is locatedand Pilon (purple) where the Durañona church is located.
A MESSAGE FROM PASTORA DARIELIS
Pastora Darielis says that Durañona Church s congregation and its pastors
already loves us at the Wesley Church with all their hearts. They are praying
and fasting as the Scriptures tell them that the <the effectual prayer of a
righteous person avails much> James 5: 16
She says in her email message: (sent to Renee Kincaid)
” When we started our ministry here there was no sanctuary. It was just a divided pastoral home. Since then, with donations from friends, we have been able to make repairs and we are still praying so we can continue building on to the current structure.
For a long time we have been praying for a sister church in the Cuba Covenant
ministry. So, even without even knowing you, we have been praying for you. I
can assure you that my church, my family and I consider this sister relationship
with Wesley church <a dream come true>.
Now that we know for whom the Lord had been asking us to pray, we are more
committed, in the love of Christ, to pray and fast much more and with intention for Wesley s church family, the pastor and his family.
In our church we have the following activities:^Sunday School (Bible study)
^Services on Wednesday and Sunday
^Fasting Wednesday and Saturday morning
^Thursday – Women s ministry & Men s ministry
^Friday – Youth ministry- Church Vigil every 2 weeks
Every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we gather at the temple for a time of prayer @ 6:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. There is where we have prayed for a sister church for a long time and, now, we will continue to do so, thanking God for this great blessing..
We also have a ministry called <Door-to-Door Help> (sort of a Pack-A-Sack). We have lovingly named it Miss Dorcas ministry. This is not only for church members but for the community. Help is offered in housecleaning, taking care of sick, whatever the need may be. This has been a blessing for them and us. It is based on Matthew 5: 16 < Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
who is in heaven>
We also have a ministry for those of the <Third Age> (Silver Saints) and provide them food, hygiene products and some financial help (although lately this has not been possible, as we have had very low funds ourselves). Whenever possible, we try to provide lunch to the congregants after church services on Sunday.
The town of Durañona has about 253 inhabitants. God has allowed us to travel to a village nearby (5 kms from town) to start a mission. So far about 10 persons gather in a home every time we go and minister to them. I delayed a while in answering your email because I have just arrived in Havana, after a 30 hours train trip. I will remain here for the next 21 days as I am a student at the Methodist Evangelical Seminary, missing my family and
my church, but answering the call of God. It is a high honor and great pleasure getting the first email from you,,telling us about our sister church, Wesley Memorial.”
Many blessings- we are united by the love of Christ, Pastora Darielis