In November the Houston Presbyterian Living Waters for the World safe water mission team continued its water system missions with the installation of two water treatment systems in Cuba.
On this trip Brad Urquhart and John Freeman from St. John’s were joined by Karen Perseley and Don Beckner from Christchurch, Bellaire, and eleven others from Clear Lake Presbyterian. Our team installed the water systems at Iglesia de La Playa and the Kairos Center in Matanzas, Cuba. Each of these systems provides at least 300 gallons of clean water each day. The team members also provided health and sanitation education for the local communities. Generous contributions from St. John’s members at last year’s Holiday Gift Market paid for the system at Iglesia de La Playa.
We found the Cuban people to be warm, appreciative of our gift of clean water, and very excited about the work of the church. The Kairos Center particularly was a constant beehive of activity lead by dedicated persons and populated by enthusiastic volunteers and parishioners. Nowhere did we see any signs of a repressive regime – no display of force beyond the usual municipal police. Our hosts spoke very openly.
We felt that our mission was led by God and was for the people and not political. It was a moving experience to witness the work of the Seminary and play a small part in building the relationship with the people of Cuba.
We have our next site picked out in Matanzas Province and hope to return next year. If you are interested in participating in future water missions, please contact John Freeman at 713-776-3548 or e-mail freeman@rice.edu.
— John Freeman
