The disaffected thoughts of me....

On Monday I went saw some local art around the hotel at a National gallery and some folk art by Santiago, who is a Santeria priest. Then after lunch, Flora and Rodolpho drove me to the home of the Saharawi Ambassador in Cuba. We met for more than three hours in very Saharawi fashion – sipping tea and visiting. There was way too much to summarize here, but there are many ways that we can help the many Saharawi students studying in Cuba. These students are the future leaders in government, teachers, and doctors. Here are a few of the ways we can help:

1) there are over 150 students with major eyesight problems that do not have glasses – there is a place in Cuba that will make them for 20 – 30 dollars a piece. I am praying we can gather 3,500 dollars so that we could take care of this need for our friends.

2) During the summer the students have absolutely nothing to do during their summer break. They would really benefit from some sports equipment and some kind of intern program where the students could learn English, experience another culture, and work in their chosen field during the summer.

It was so exciting to consider the ways we can connect with the saharawi that are living right in our backyard, minus the embargo.  We ended our trip with a nice dinner and visit to Ernet Hemmingway’s favorite haunts.

Ijust got back to Nassau and am exhausted. Love to you all!


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Sunday started with breakfast at the hotel, espresso at a peso bar, and walking to see shops and street performers.  I visited the Capitolio which a a smaller replica of the US capitol building, which was originally built to celebrate the intimate relationship between the US and Cuba. Ironic.  I walked around and enjoyed seeing the sites and contemplating the living conditions of the people. Then we had some meetings set up with people at ICC and a student from Ghana named Emmanuel – who may come work with the youth in the Bahamas in the future. Emmanuel came to Cuba as a student at the age of 13 and is now finishing his work at the University. He has not seen most of his family during that time.

Preaching in Havana was a humbling experience. You can see that God’s heart is with the poor and it is hard to imagine what we have to offer. It was a blessing to me and to the church, and we shared the Eucharist together after the service. For dinner we hit another great restaurant in a Cuban home and had the best meal of the trip, it was lobster in a tomato sauce with rice and beans – Muy Bien!



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Cuba… What can I say? Let me try a brief summary.

Saturday night we got were dropped off at the hotel Nacional by Flora and Rodolpho from the ICC (International Community Church), after we checked in we went to have dinner in a wonderful Cuban home/ hostel called Don’ Caramello. They served us an amazing seafood platter (fish lobster and octopus) and we had some great conversations. Mark Jordan (an elder at NPCC who came with us) may move to Havana to be he Teaching Pastor at ICC.  He is 40 years old and single and would be a great asset to the church and in developing partnerships. The ICC is very focused on reaching international students studying in Cuba, so my passion to develop connections with the 800 plus Saharawi studying in Cuba is a natural fit for them. If Mark moves here he will help coordinate that work. After dinner we offered burnt offering to the Lord on the porch of our hotel, which overlook the Malecon (oceanfront seawall kind of area where Cubans gather in large numbers to simply hang out together).  It was a great evening, and I slept well.



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I can’t even begin to explain what it is like to be here in Cuba. It is conflicting – there is so much beauty and so much pain. It is a beautiful place, with beautiful people. But they are suffering greatly and it seems to be needless. We were picked up at the airport by Flora and Rudolpho , who lead the International Community Church here in Havana, and have enjoyed meeting so many people and seeing the stunning architecture. I had the privilege of preaching at their church yesterday. I’m working on posting the sermon on the blog or the ecclesia website, but let it suffice to say speaking to this group of people was humbling and transforming. I will be meeting with the Saharawi Ambassador here in Cuba this afternoon. I brought a boatload of tea to give the Saharawi as a gift, and am very excited to explore the ways we can bless future Saharawi leaders who are studying here in Cuba. There are very few places to connect to the internet here, so I won’t likely post again until we get back to Nassau tomorrow night. Love and prayers to all of you.

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Leaving now for a flight to Havanna with four elders from New Providence Community Church here in the Bahamas. If i can get online I will keep you posted.  I just found out that i will be preaching at the International Community Church in Havanna tommorow.Thanks for your prayers!

Here is a picture of my friends at the airport - we are waiting to board now. Lemme tell you about my friends

Clint - NPCC Pastor, and my good friend.

Murdo Murchison - We have really enjoyed spending time with Murdo and his wife Pam. They are from Scotland, and Murdo manages the Templeton Global fund (there was a great story about him in Forbes this year).

Tim - The executive Pastor at NPCC.

Mark - an elder at NPCC and is considering moving to Havanna to Pastor a church there.


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I just dropped Lisa and the kids off at the airport. I can’t lie…it was hard as hell. I cried like a baby as I pulled away. Trinity had tears running down her cheeks as I walked away. It was more than I can take. I feel deeply connected to my kids after our weeks here and I will figure out how to carry that into our non-summer routine. I love my church, my friends, my projects – but my first devotion is to the wife and kids God gave me. I pray that I serve them well.

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My son seems to think he has inherited the wealth of his namesake, King Solomon. For our last outing in Nassau we ventured over to Paradise Island and had dinner at a nice restaurant near the Atlantis (casual – great food – service was so bad they comped our entire bill). After dinner and winning $20 bet placed on the Astros in the Atlantis Casino, Solomon drew a large crowd in the boat docks with his oratory skills. We walked around to see some of the most magnificent yachts in the Caribbean.  Since we came to the island Solomon’s obsession with trains instantly switched over to an obsession with boats (he is constantly talking about boats in his sleep). In his excitement seeing these magnificent vessels docked in front of us he began to scream repeatedly “I’m gonna buy dat boat!”. As people began to surround us in total amusement that a two year old planned to buy most of the 60 plus foot yachts in the harbor, I explained “you don’t have enough money for that boat”. To which he replied “ It’s in my pocket”. At this point he had everybody laughing and we started to roll with it. “Solomon” I said, there’s not enough money in your pocket. “Go get mama’s money!” he said. I love this kid!



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The family goes home to Houston on Friday and I leave for Cuba the next day. I am already sad about being separated from them. I didn't get much sympathy for my many insect bites, and since some of you gloated over my pain instead of praying for me - many of them have become infected and I need to make a trip to the Doctor. One of our friends here who is a nurse was very bothered by the site of my festering wounds, said that I will have plenty of scars from them. What? Scars from insect bites?  There is nothing tough about that - I'm gonna say it was shark bites and they just happen to get me on every appendage as I was fighting my way out of a stranglehold. Some people think the festering wounds on my feet are a stigmata – that might be marginally more believable than a shark attack.

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I pulled this off of my friend Christians blog so you could see Sacred Space

Have you been to a sacred space lately? This image is from the newly established sacred space on Clifton Pier in Nassau. New Providence Community Church adopted the land and turned it into a contemplative wonderland. Its the best place on earth to watch the sun sink into the sea.

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I am sorry to be a bit slow posting information. We are trying to soak up the last few days with the kids before the family flys home to Houston and I leave for Cuba. Things are good here. We had a great worship service sunday, the church sent everyone out to do community service instead of having a central gathering. We went to Clifton - a former dumpsite the church has cleaned and turned into a place for rest and meditation known now as 'sacred space'. It features some beautiful sculptures, bells hung in alll the trees, painted rocks, and some great benches that sit on a cliff at the water. I helped lead a lectio divina on psalm 104 (from the voice - written by Don Chaffer) and we listened to recording of the said psalm done in june. It was a truly sacred time. After the meditation we picked up trash and went back to the church for a bahamian barbecue (good stuff!). i love you all and will try to share more of what is going on soon.

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