world day of prayer - cuba

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER CUBAAgainst Violence within Families

“Receive Children, Receive Me”Guest speaker: Rev. Katharine Winter

4th March 2016Rev. Katharine Winter, WDP-C, 4March2016

Good afternoon, and I thank you most graciously for giving me this opportunity to speak.

We are here today to gather in Divine love and in Divine words this World Day of Prayer…

“Receive children, Receive me.”

Today we unite in prayer Against Violence Within Families… with our focus on the children and women of Cuba.

For… ”Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” Mark (Chapter 9,

Verse 37)

Rev. Katharine Winter, WDP-C, 4March2016

These days, I find we are a discerning world… questioning, inquisitive and cynical. And so I understand why some of you may secretly be wondering how gathering like this can help Cuba…?

“And [so] this is the confidence that we have toward HIM that if we ask anything according to HIS will HE hears us. And if we know that HE hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we [will] have the requests that we have asked of HIM.” 1 John (Chapter 5, Verses 14 to 15).

Let us remember Matthew (Chapter 18, Verse 20) where the Lord said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

So we have come here in confidence today to gather and pray in HIS name.


Now, you may be wondering why CUBA? Well… let’s look at Cuba…

…It is and was famous for its Cuban Cigars, which I believe, were the ultimate cigar, and as thick as a 50 cent piece. …A bit societally

Cuba is a small country that’s part of the continent of the Caribbean.

incorrect now; but I believe they were very coveted cigars once.

Cuba is also an island nation, in a tropical haven, and is situated in the exotic Gulf of Mexico.

…And although this sounds a desirable environment to inhabit, this is where the fabulous bit ends.

Which on the surface, doesn’t sound too shabby really; does it?


Cuba is also famous for other things that aren’t so inspiring… things like its late President, Fidel Castro, its Communism which has been more Dictatorship at times; the Cuban Missile Crisis… and its explosive relationship with its only border neighbour… the United States of America.Cuba is only 109,820 square kilometres of land, it holds a population of 11.07 million people (as of 2012). Which means Cuba has approximately 48% of Australia’s population and yet it’s land mass fits into New South Wales more than 7 times.

In addition to overpopulation, 30% of the country’s land is used for agriculture… but with the use of outdated agricultural techniques, land stripping, chemical damage from industries and pesticides, the soil and native wilderness regions are being systematically denigrated. Indeed, in some areas the land’s only yield is illegal crops and/or subsistence farming.


In addition to these difficulties, there has been a significant down turn in industry investment over past decades, except those related to the cultivation and propagation of illegal drugs, and human trafficking.And… although its capital city is Havana, most of us would know Cuba more for its American Military Base, Guantanamo Bay.

Now, in spite of this American Military Base… for which Cuba receives no financial benefit, Cuba has had a 50 year embargo placed on it by the United States since an incident that occurred in the early 1960s, known as the “Bay of Pigs Invasion”.

This embargo has restricted every import and export, and has subsequently crippled Cuba’s economy. This embargo has also increased the country’s debt, and destroyed many of its businesses.


…As if these circumstances were not bad enough… the grinding economy has been perpetuated by a Government, until recently, that sees its people secondary to its political principles. …Resulting in combined circumstances that have devastated living conditions for most people.

This suppressed economy has taken a once vibrant country, with its indigenous and Spanish cultures, to a corrupt, drug infested and poverty stricken nation where living in fear inside and outside the home is a daily reality.

Indeed, the numbers of violent acts against women and children are so vast that the United Nations has called them the ‘missing statistics’ and we can only speculate.


In the 21st Century you may question, how is this possible?And so you should…!

Our prayers today are to give OUR VOICES for those in Cuba who DO NOT HAVE A VOICE. To support and to offer strength to those who are fighting to survive. Those who are not heard… but those WE HEAR.

Well… it is possible because these victims: women and children, are an ‘under-class’ they have NO VOICE… no voice in their own country.Think… just for a few moments… what that would be like…

No voice… no-one to help you… no-one to hear you scream… no-one to care…


We hear them as the Divine hears us, and we are gathered in this place at their call, as the Divine is here in this place for us, when we call. …For we are all disciples of God.When I think of Cuba… I am saddened by what IS… and yet I am hopeful for what CAN BE. I feel, in Divine love, we have an opportunity for world growth.Like the flower seeds that are accidentally scattered on the harder ground. Let us not sweep them away… as though they have no value, just because they were born in harsher territory.…Let us embrace this as an opportunity… gather them up in our arms; nourish, nurture and support them as our own… Being for them fertile soil…


“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah (Chapter 29, Verse 11).So… when I think of Cuba, I see a neighbour, a neighbour who needs our help, but for whom we have not had eyes to see before.

Do we still not see, even now?Do we say… oh, how sad… tut, tut… wish them well, and walk away?

Because they’re not ‘like us’… They’re not our family or friends…In fact, they’re a bit of a disgrace in the world neighbourhood, really… aren’t they?


But… Ooooww… now I feel guilty… Okay then… hmmm… so we do a little in our hearts. …We can pity them their situation …and let them struggle along on their own… After all we have struggled… and some of us still do!And hey, you know, maybe that’s enough…? Maybe it’s enough that we offer consideration to them… these strangers… maybe it’s enough we offer a few dollars and a word of support or kindness…?But I ask you… is that enough to offer a neighbour in need?

You know, we see people like our neighbour Cuba every day in our own communities…You know the ones… the children without shoes… those with tell-tale bruises… those without food, or a place to sleep… beaten and bleeding.


We hear the screams in the night, the arguments, the horrible thud sounds… and the cries…those aching cries that we know are not cries of joy…

And yet we say to ourselves… it’s not our business… it’s not our problem…

…But I say to you… it is our problem… it is OUR responsibility… for this is OUR neighbour… OUR brother

and OUR sister… Cuba is a neighbour in pain, a neighbour who’s been oppressed and feels so much anger and frustration, so much fear that its strikes out at its most vulnerable: its women and children.

And… every strike, every abuse we allow in OUR presence is a rebuke against the Lord our God… Rev. Katharine Winter, WDP-C, 4March2016

For we are all the Children of God… in all our guises. Each of us is a unique creation of Divine beauty, Divine majesty.…Honour HIM who gives us life… “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, [says the Lord] for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew (Chapter 19, Verse 14).

Walk in Divine light in all you do… embrace the harshest of realities, and do not accept in our community, in our neighbour’s house what you would not accept in the Divine’s house…

So I say to you… Do not turn your eyes, But open your eyes and your heart in HIS name. Walk united in Divine love…For the example we set the world, in our own backyard, is the ethos, the culture we will allow to be acceptable in our world community.


“Love your neighbour as yourself. For there is no commandment greater than this.” Mark (Chapter 12, Verse 31)

…I call to YOU today, as the DIVINE calls to ME…

…hear HIM.

So I ask you … Love with an open heart, Pray with the strength of your soul, and Raise your voice for those who have no voice…

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” Proverbs (Chapter 31, Verse 8)…


Thank you

world day of prayer - cuba

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