CAIMANERA, Cuba – In 2015, the Corban University baseball team made history by traveling to Caimanera, Cuba on a Mission Trip, becoming the first Americans to enter the city in more than half a century. In 2016, the Warriors returned to Caimanera to play baseball and share the gospel while making a difference in the world for Jesus Christ. This Mission Trip came in as the No. 6 story of the year as a part of Corban's 'Top 10 Stories of the Year' series.
Click 'Play Button' on photo above to watch video highlights from the trip.
"God is using baseball to draw a community to see the manifestation of Christ," said Cuban born Pastor and Corban trip leader Glenn Wilson. "This an opportunity for you to be light – shining the light all around this community. Opportunities are going to arise all around us. Just let Christ use you as light in this place."
While using both the sport of baseball and the ability to connect with both the young and old in the city of Caimanera, the Corban University baseball team built on the seeds that were sown and left another lasting mark that will continue to make a difference in Cuba for years to come.
LIGHT FOR THE CHILDREN
The day after arriving on Cuban soil, the Corban baseball players took part in two services with the 'Salt of the Earth' Church in Caimanera, working with the children's ministry in the morning while worshipping in the evening with the entire congregation. These opportunities provided the powerful gateway into a full week of serving and sharing the love of Christ.
Corban came ready with teaching material and a healthy supply of crafts to present the Gospel to children and youth in the form of the well-known Wordless Book bracelets. The Sunday morning children's session brought hundreds of eager children and adults filling the church sanctuary to an overflow. Children dominated the interior, yet a wide gathering of curious adults crowded doorways and leaned in to see and hear through windows.
Church leaders presented the Gospel message through the colors of the beads, and Corban members soon spread out among the packed facility to help people of all ages construct the wordless bracelets.
Swarms of hopeful, energetic kids, youth and even adults pressed in and around Corban players who eagerly bent down, crouched or kneeled around the sanctuary helping gather supplies, construct bracelets, and fasten them on the wrists of elated children. At times, crowded, noisy conditions and limited supplies fueled almost a competitive kind of zeal on the part of Warrior players to fulfill their mission to connect with the children.
Corban players and children were not the only ones appreciating the moments, as young Caimaneran adults also got involved in the activities.
It is so good to return to Cuba," said Corban head coach Jeff McKay in greetings to an enthusiastic Sunday evening church crowd. "Hardly a day went by back home when I wasn't looking forward to seeing if God would bring us back with you. I bring warm greetings from Corban University, and I just have to say, I'm so proud and so honored to be back in your church worshipping with you. The Holy Spirit is alive here!"
Over the course of two more events geared for children, the team participated in worship times, prayed and lent support in numerous ways. Those hundreds of youngsters who attended listened intently to gospel presentations, recited the scriptural meanings of the colored beads, received bracelets, danced, played and mingled with their Corban partners.
The final children's program, with its lively and heart-felt worship, spoken message, recognition to children who recited the colors' meaning, and overall contagious spirit of joyous fellowship, touched a group of Caimanera people in attendance to the point that nearly a dozen children and adults gathered on the platform to listen intently as Pastor Saul presented to them a heart-felt invitation to join the fellowship of believers at Salt of the Earth Church.
Coach McKay offered a perspective beyond the moment: "I was thinking of all those kids, and they're going to be the leaders of this community in 20 to 30 years, and to have had the opportunity to impact them was amazing. You never know, but the future mayor of Caimanera may have been here. To have had the possibility of influencing them in a spiritual way could be very significant."
LIGHT HITS THE STREETS
As powerful as the programs proved to be, Warrior team members perhaps made even bigger impressions and opened ministry doors even wider by engaging with Caimanera youth in numerous informal street games, post-service dancing times and photo-sharing sessions.
Spontaneous pick-up games of soccer and a Cuban curb-side version of basketball drew large groups of native youth joining with the Corban team on the streets following meal times and in-between scheduled activities. Little did the American visitors realize how much fun and enjoyment could be had with next to nothing.
Pleasing smiles, laughter, fist bumps, high-fives and innumerable photo-ops signaled the obvious fun and camaraderie. Others reflected upon the weightiness these seemingly light-hearted games bore.
One Caimanera adult saw more than mere child's play involved: "I thank God because even though we don't understand each other's language, it makes my heart glad when you come out in the street and mingle with the children. We thank God for all of you coming to visit."
Wilson put it in more direct missional terms. "This is the gospel, us being able to relate to them at their level. That means a lot when you guys get out there and play with the kids -- that's the gospel in action."
LIGHT OVERCOMES DARKNESS
There was a moment early in the trip when activity with the kids might have been the extent of the American group's ministry. Monday morning, shortly before the team was scheduled to meet publicly with Caimanera's civic leaders, a figure from the national level arrived at the hotel to deliver a sobering judgment on the team's presence that week.
After their conference, Pastor Wilson explained what had been decided. "There was concern at the national level that our Visas did not clear us for this kind of occasion," Wilson said, referring to the planned audience with local officials. "We were also not aware of the need for special Visas in order to allow sports competition, or to participate directly in religious activities."
According to the pastors, an agreement not to meet formally as a team with the Caimanera city leaders and to refrain from taking prominent speaking/leading roles in church services gave the national authorities reassurance enough to allow for the baseball games to be played.
Soon after the Monday ruling from the national level, while team members stayed in the bus and prayed, the two American pastors and Pastor Saul met downtown with the local government dignitaries to offer an official written word of greeting from Corban President Dr. Sheldon Nord, and then to present leather-bound Corban portfolios and Bibles as gifts to each public official.
The combination proved historic, as Caimanera's leaders planned to frame and display Dr. Nord's letter, and the gifts, particularly the Bibles, brought encouraging reactions, and moments for rejoicing from the team.
Pastor Jay Velez said of this moment: "We saw God's sovereignty and control. I picture it like God as the parent allowing the kid play in the mud and mess himself up doing what he wants and thinking he's in control. But the bottom line – God showed us the results."
THE DIAMOND LIGHTS UP
While ministry broke out on many fronts, baseball loomed as big as ever on the scene because, as people know, the sport is religion in Cuba. The 12-member Corban squad played games on four-consecutive days, three against a prominent Caimanera team that had taken third place in a highly competitive regional league, and a final game against a squad of locals sponsored by the church.
With limited pitching arms, 12 players, the rigors of high heat, high humidity and a hectic itinerary, the Warriors split the four-game series against the Cuban teams. Yet the game outcomes faded in comparison to the forging of deep bonds between the teams, and with fans, umpires and dignitaries.
Corban team members gave Caimanera players their Warrior jerseys as commemorative gifts, and for a second-straight year, the visitors left a wealth of baseball gear and a brand new chalk lining machine. As players and coaches gave hugs and exchanged jerseys on the field following Thursday's game, Corban team members also presented each Caimanera player and coach with a copy of the New Testament in Spanish.
From baseball's opening ceremonies Tuesday afternoon onward over four days through 34 dusty and sweat-drenched innings to go with the emotional closing gift exchanges, embraces and goodbyes at the field, Corban's players gave unwavering testimony to Christ. So much so that Cuban players and fans, government officials, and even native pastors took notice.
"What we were not able to do just through preaching, Corban has been able to do through baseball in bringing people together," acknowledged Wilson. "One thing Cubans like more than anything else is baseball. Corban University has allowed the light to shine simply by playing baseball. They have brought a city together just to play baseball. But what will stay in everyone's minds most of all is their witness for Christ. Not only how they play, but how they live out Christ on the field, and that is an amazing thing."
THE LIGHT SHINES BRIGHTER IN CAIMANERA
The trip lasted but seven days, and as a native born Cuban and veteran of outreach to his own people, Wilson understands the role of patience. But he has also seen enough to know the light is growing in his land of birth. The seeds that were sown in 2015 were seen growing and alive and well in 2016, and thanks to many prayers being answered and God providing a way, the Corban University baseball team once again left a lasting mark in Cuba that won't ever be forgotten.
Release Schedule
#10 – June 20 --- Corban's CCC Athletes of the Year
#9 – June 21 --- Academic Excellence
#8 – June 22 --- Historic Year for Corban Track & Field
#7 – June 23 --- Resurging Corban Volleyball Makes Big Leap
#6 – June 24 --- Corban Baseball Returns to Cuba on Mission Trip
#5 – June 27
#4 – June 28
#3 – June 29
#2 – June 30
#1 – July 1
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