I'm so sorry I have not written an update in a long time. Too many cool things have happened to even talk about, much less compress into an easy-to-read update letter. 

To begin, I spent Christmas in Jamaica with my dear friends Barb and Paul Jonusaitis (try to pronounce THAT!) from Chicago. I drove them around the island in their rental car and had the time of my life. Barb brought me presents from herself and also from my family, and an extra suitcase to put them all in. I was severely spoiled. 

Outreach started in Spanish Town, which is a very rough part of Jamaica. We stayed out on a farm, which was really great because we cut down coconuts and drank the water (in Jamaica they say "drink a jelly") and ate mangoes from the orchard.... Anyway, we stayed on a farm and worked with a church in town. The church is located in an old empty manufacturing plant in a part of town where the road consists of potholes the size of lakes and rusted out hulks of cars turned upside down. The people in the neighborhood were extremely nice though. When we went calling on people in the neighborhood to talk to them about Jesus, they would often invite us in and offer refreshment. 

Perhaps the most encouraging thing about this week was a particular man and his family. A week before, his son was run over by a car in front of his home. He got so angry that he stabbed the driver several times so both the driver and the son had to be rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, everybody lived, and the violent man and his family have started loving the lord. 

After spending 10 days in Spanish town, we split into two groups, one to Aruba and one to Cuba. I went to Cuba with 6 others, and it was truly amazing. We flew into Havana and spent several days there staying with a Christian family who have a home church. We truly knew nothing about Cuba, because most of what we were told is no longer relevant. I hardly know where to start. Havana is extremely nice, even with its crumbling buildings. I loved to go and sit on the sea wall and watch the waves or the 50's model cars drive past. There are also some eastern European cars and trucks and many motorcycles with or without sidecars. When we arrived, it was explained that every building has a spy that works for the government and writes reports on the going's on of that building, and that ours lived in apartment 9 and she already knew about us being there and it was okay, but don't do any highly visible evangelism. We didn't. We spent most of our time in the first several days just learning about Cuba. After several days, we were picked up by a contact we had from the country, Daniel Perez. He arrived in a '55 Pontiac with a driver, and we drove for 14 hours until we arrived at Pastor Perez's home and church out in the country where there was much sugarcane farming. I absolutely loved our time in the country. We went to a different home church every night where we presented skits and songs and testimonies and encouraging messages to the church. 

The communists in Cuba make things hard for the church and Christians in many ways. If a card carrying communist becomes a Christian, the party will take away his card and all the privileges that go along with it. It is hard for Cubans to obtain permission to leave Cuba, but nearly impossible for someone in that situation (and many Cubans want to leave). Daniel Perez has bought buildings to be used as churches, only to have the government seize it. His church, and the 15 or so home churches that he works with are "illegal" churches, and the government uses that to justify all sorts of nonsense. All the home churches are very alive with enthusiastic people who love the lord, and are growing. (The church in Havana was a "legal" church, and also very alive.) 

I loved the country. The country people in Cuba are poorer than the city people, and all Cubans are poorer than the typical Jamaican. Some things just can't be gotten at all. Out in the country, many of the taxis are horse and buggy for lack of '50s model trucks and busses. Most of the time we rode on a trailer that was towed by an old Russian tractor. If we wanted to sit we hauled up church pews (welded together from rebar) onto the trailer. Homes are wired very creatively out there. Communism has done some good things though. For example, there is 1 doctor per 120 Cubans, and everything medical is free. American money goes very far in Cuba. When we realized that 1 dollar bought 25 Pesos, we started to buy a lot of ice cream (50 centivos) peanut cakes (1 peso) and pizza (5 pesos). Unfortunately for the Cubans, they don't have any American money in most cases so they have to spend their pesos more carefully. 

Pastor Perez urged me to come back to Cuba and work with his church. I am hoping I will have chances to go back for 1 month or 3 month stays. Unfortunately, I don't know Spanish and Cuba doesn't give missionary visas, so that makes long-term missionary work hard in Cuba. The last days of Cuban outreach were spent in beautiful Havana, but I 
really wanted to stay in the country. The next month will be spent as follows: one week here at the YWAM base, then 2 weeks by Ocho Rios working with a church, then graduation and debriefing. I fly back to Seattle on Feb 26. On March 6 I fly to Los Angeles for a week, and then I will be back in Washington state a little while longer. Right now I plan to apply for a staff position with YWAM in Haiti, so that is what I am working towards. I look forward to seeing most of you when I get back. Please keep praying for me during my last month here in Jamaica. 

Peace and love, Chris