Largest Shipment of Children's Bibles Ever received in Cuba
200,000 Children’s Story Bibles passed through Cuban Customs as part of the largest shipment of Children’s Christian material in Cuba’s history. They have been distributed through all 56 denominations.
Although this shipment is the first time MIS Story Bibles have entered Cuba, over the past ten years, more than 1.7 million Most Important Story Ever Told booklets have been shipped into Cuba, averaging about 200,000 a year.
Christian children often give the MIS as birthday favors to other children at their parties. The parents of non-Christian children see their children playing and learning from the booklets at home and in turn request copies to give to their families and friends.
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Many children there actually prefer to use their actual birthday party to do this outreach!
Over the past couple of years, the Bible Commission of Cuba reported receiving hundreds of requests from non-Christians for the children’s scripture booklets.
Cuba, a communist country, has had a publicly tense and even hostile relationship with the United States since the Cuban Revolution of 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power. And ever since 1961, the U.S. has not had formal diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Yet despite tense U.S.-Cuban relations, both nations have given permission for the Bibles to be distributed in Cuba.
Cuban Christian leaders explained that several years back the country’s communist leaders approached them for help in educating the youth and combating the country’s drug problems after seeing their good works in other social areas such as hurricane relief. The church leaders agreed but said they needed permission to plant churches and import Bibles. Cuban officials had agreed to their request for both churches and Bibles.
Children of the Eastern Baptist Convention now participate in “Happy Hour” – a community program where Christian kids invite their non-Christian neighbors into their homes to sing, play games, hear a devotional and memorize scripture. The MIS is used by the children in memorizing Bible verses.
Moreover, the MIS is also used at hospital bedsides and for chaplains in prison ministries with both adults and children.
"We send our gratitude to you for all of these Biblical materials that you continue to send,” thanked one Cuban church leader. “It is the most effective material available to reach the Cuban Children.”
Taken from an article published by Michelle Vu, Christian Post Reporter"
