March 2009 Photos

One of the people baptized at Juan's church.

Another of the people baptized at Juan's church.

The third person baptized at Juan's church!

Kids from Juan´s church

Daniel from Juan´s church. I fell in love wiht him and want to adopt him. His dad left him for the US and his mom died a year ago. Please pray for him.

We spent over an hour separating beans.

Many from the El Cano church

Sunday in El Cano

The view from our roof.

The three baptized our first day here.

One baptism on our first full day in Cuba!

Thank the Lord, we have arrived safely to Cuba without any complications. We are staying in the same house as last time, which is an enormous blessing. They added a pool, which came in handy yesterday... we baptized 3 people our first full day here in our own pool! Praise God, what a great way to start this trip! We are so excited about what God has planned for this trip. We started morning prayer at our house today. We will be inviting Bro. Juan and anyone else to join us every day around 9:30. It was so wonderful to feel the presence of God sweep through our home in such a powerful way this morning. Please pray that God continues to move in our morning prayer, and give us direction for our day.

We will keep you updated as we find out more plans for this trip. We feel so content to be where God wants us. God bless.

Mission: Havana

As most of you know, we are heading out in the morning for Cuba. While it is very difficult to say goodbye to our church, family and friends, we are excited about building the Kingdom of God!

This is a video I put together. It puts into words how we feel about Cuba. The song really spoke to me, and I hope you enjoy it.

We will be making updates to the blog periodically, so please continue to check up on us. We appreciate your prayers, and are anxious to give you great reports of all that God is doing in Cuba. Feel free to e-mail me at raquelpelota@yahoo.com during our trip, with questions or to simply update us on what's happening in your lives! That is the only e-mail we will be able to check while in Cuba. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

God Bless! We'll miss you!

Rachael, James and Ava

Getting Ready to Leave...

We are so thrilled to finally have all the papers in order. We have visas and our license to travel, thanks to all of the prayers that have been prayed regarding our situation. Our flight leaves for Miami Tuesday, the 17th, and our flight to Cuba will be sometime next week. This is all happening so quickly! We have a lot to do in the next 6 days, but we are so thrilled that God has opened this door for us again.

It is truly a blessing to serve in Cuba. I can't quite explain how it feels to be here, wanting so desperately to be there. We know all things are working out according to God's timing, and we are thankful for these last 9 months.... we have experienced a lot of trials that have brought about a lot of growth. Now it is time to get busy!! We will be teaching 3 day seminars at each church. The first two days will focus on doctrine, evangelism, and leadership. The final day will be an outreach-oriented service. We will also be working on various projects to strengthen and assist the local churches. At the end of March we will be helping organize the first Women's Conference in Cuba. We are excited to be a part of this, and are thrilled to have a group from the U.S. visiting us for the conference.

Please keep us in your prayers! We need it. Please especially remember Ava. It is always a difficult transition for her having to leave her family and friends behind. Our friend Leah Newby will be posting updates for us while we are in Cuba. We love receiving e-mail from you while we're there, letting us know what is going on in your lives. It helps us stay connected, so feel free to e-mail us at: raquelpelota@yahoo.com

Thank you for all of your prayers, encouragement and support. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. God Bless!

Rachael Rennard

In Remembrance....

We are so sad to report that Bro. and Sis. Roca, missionaries to Cuba, were in a serious accident today. Sadly, Sis. Roca passed away. Bro. Roca is in the hospital with injuries, but will recover.

(Sis. Dorothy Roca,far right with Pastor Juan, Matthew Ball, and Pastor Barbaro)

We have had the priveledge of knowing the Rocas and working with them for almost two years. They have helped us so much along our journey working in Cuba. Sis. Roca was an inspiration to me. She had such a sensitivity to the Spirit of God. From what I know, she was an extremely prayerful woman who was so thrilled about the revival taking place in Cuba. We know that she is in a better place now.... a place we can't even begin to imagine.


Please keep Bro. Roca in your prayers, along with their children, grandchildren, and friends and family. We can't imagine the grief they are feeling right now, but will hold them up to God in our prayers. We will not ever forget Sis. Roca's sweet and loving nature, and know she will be rewarded greatly for her life of service.

2008: Reflections

Merry Christmas!!

We hope that you are all enjoying this wonderful Holiday season and take time to remember what it is we are celebrating. As usual, thank you for your consistent prayers and support. We truly could not do what we do without people like you behind us all the way.

2008 has been a year of growth for us personally and progress in Cuba. We spent January-April in Cuba, teaching seminars, meeting with pastors and church leaders, preaching at many churches and planning a Conference for March. We saw much progress in the Kingdom of God. We are thankful for Cuban men and women who give so much of themselves to see the church advance, and we are thankful for what God is doing in our own lives.

We had somewhat of a difficult summer for various reasons, but God is truly faithful. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. We were supposed to spend three more months this fall in Cuba, but faced problems with our visas. Thankfully, we were able to take a short trip in November. We spent a lot of time in meetings with Cuban leaders and are thankful that God dealt with each and every one of our concerns during this very productive trip.

(All of our group except Matthew Ball on our November 2008 trip: Pastor Juan,Chelsea Ball, myself, Pastor Danis, Bro. Josh Wilson, and Bro. James Rennard)

We just received great news!! The Cuban leadership has applied for 60 day visas for our family starting the first of February, and they expect to have them any day. We are praying that we will be able to extend those visas an extra 30 days for a total of 90 days (please pray with us!) We are thrilled about an exciting program during this time. We will be visiting each church for extensive, 3-day training. We will be doing leadership training, doctrine training and evangelism training. It will be a very busy schedule, but we are so happy to have the opportunity to reach so many. We will also be helping the Cuban church in Cuba to organize their first National Women's Conference in March. Please pray about this conference. I am thrilled that a group of ladies from our church will be attending the Conference. What a blessing!!

We do have some special needs. If you would pray about these with us, we would be so grateful. First of all, please pray that our visas come through and that we will get the extension we need for the full 90 days. We are also currently re-applying for our license to travel to Cuba. We cannot travel without this license, so pray that this is approved. Our transportation issue in Cuba has not been resolved, so please help us pray that God will provide the funds for a vehicle for us to use on a day to day basis. We also need prayer for protection, a smooth transition for Ava, and a unified working relationship with the Cuban leadership.

Again, I pray that God bless you richly this Christmas season and in the year to come. Whether you have given financially, have spoken an encouraging word, or have said a prayer for us, please know that you will be rewarded by God for doing your part in God's work in Cuba. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

All our love and gratitude,

James, Rachael and Ava Rennard

Leaving Tomorrow!!

We are so happy to be leaving for Cuba tomorrow! Although we were not able to stay for an extended period this fall (due to visa issues), we are thrilled to be able to visit again.

While in Cuba, we will try to make the arrangements for another extended stay at the first of 2009. Please pray that God opens the door for this to happen.

We will be visiting several churches, meeting with local leaders and aiding financially in several pressing projects. Please pray for protection and guidance. There is currently a category 4 hurricane over eastern Cuba. Please pray for the safety of Cubans, and for our safety as we travel to Cuba on Monday.

Our group consists of myself, James, Matthew Ball, Chelsea Ball and Josh Wilson. We will return Saturday, November 15th. We appreciate your prayers and will update you with details of our trip as soon as we return. God Bless!! -Rachael