Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Locals to embark on Cuba Mission

“FUNRAZING” event November 6

Next February, Whitehall residents Ed and Betty Handl will be making a trip to central Cuba to take part in a mission trip organized by the Methodist Church.

The Handls will arrive in Havana February 9 and travel to Camp Canaan, 200 miles to the east in Central Cuba. There, they plan to refurbish a retreat center that serves various missions to the island nation.

Both Ed and Betty are excited about not only the mission, but doing so during the current period when relations between the U.S and Cuba are beginning to normalize.

Ed said he first learned of the trip at the Methodist Yellowstone Annual Conference that took place last June in Helena. Following the conference, Ed contacted the mission leader and signed he and Betty up.

“I had always been fascinated by Cuba, and this is a chance to explore that fascination and also to reconcile the deep fear and terror which I felt as a student during the Cuban missile crisis back in the 1960’s. At that time, I felt helpless and terrorized by the thought of us entering into a nuclear war with the USSR over the presence of nuclear missiles in Cuba,” Ed said.

This will not be the first overseas mission for either Ed or Betty.

The first to serve on an overseas mission was Betty, who traveled to Haiti to construct much needed church facilities after the major earthquake in 2010.

Ed and Betty then attended United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) training in Seattle to learn more about post-disaster situations. After that training, Ed learned of a mission opportunity to Galena, Alaska.

“We (UMVIM) were working with FEMA to build and renovate homes owned by Native Americans in Galena, which had been damaged and destroyed by an ice jam and flooding on the Yukon River,” he said. “Then, Betty and I both went to Fiji on another UMVIM mission to serve at an agricultural training school which teaches young Fijians skills in growing local crops and livestock, and by which they earn a stipend to establish their own farms. Many of the graduates would otherwise be eking out livings on the streets.”

The upcoming mission is very important to Ed, who said they are not going with the purpose of converting anyone to any religion, but instead to serve the Cuban people in their own quest to grow a vibrant spiritual and religious base in Cuba, which for many years has been systematically suppressed by the communist government their.

“My hope is that we can meet many of our Cuban brothers and sisters of the Christian faith (and otherwise), and leave knowing that we have helped build both brick and mortar, along with lasting peaceful relationships. The interesting thing about missions like this, is that it is our experience that no matter how hard you work, you ALWAYS receive more than you can give.”

The Mission Team to Cuba also has members from Bigfork, Helena, Livingston, and Polson. Through joint efforts of congregations in those locations, the Team has established a goal of raising a cash gift of $6,000 for the host church in Cuba. Over $2,000 has been raised so far in Montana toward that goal.

Ed said there will be an opportunity for Whitehall area residents to participate via fun, food and sharing by attending a “FUNRAZING” event on Sunday, November 6 starting at 5:30 p.m at the local Trinity United Methodist Church fellowship hall.

A meal of brisket, beans, cornbread, coleslaw and desserts will be served. There will be no charge for the meal, but donations will be accepted. There will also be a silent auction and a fun “jukebox” music request event challenging local Methodist musicians to oldies and popular selections.

Looking towards the trip to Cuba, Ed said he always thought it was a shame to have an island nation only 90 miles from the shore of the U.S., which was not trusted and was diplomatically shunned.

“Putting all political differences aside, I am so happy to see the trend toward normalizing relations between our two nations. We have much more to gain by being friends than we will ever gain by being adversaries. I believe in those possibilities, and also believe that’s what the Good Lord intends for us. Maybe it’s a thought we should keep in mind as we select new leadership for our own country.”

 

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