Iglesia Bethania - Perico, Cuba

Iglesia Bethania meets in a small storefront church on the main street in Perico, Cuba, a town of 8,500 in Matanzas Province, approximately four hours southeast of Havana. Olga Rodriguez, the church's pastor, lives on the floor above the sanctuary, which fills on Sundays and several nights each week for worship and Bible study.

During the week, Olga is pastor, pastoral counselor, and spiritual director to many in Perico and in the outlying countryside. "I'm a member of a Pentecostal Church in another town," says one frequent visitor, a woman 35 years old. "But I consider this my home, because of Olga. She is more than a pastor and counselor, she's my spiritual mother."

Pastor Rodriguez is also the mother of two children: a son who will soon begin medical school in Havana and a daughter who is a student at the Interdenominational Evangelical Seminary in Matanzas. In addition, she has a lot of other children under her wings. As Coordinator for Children's Work for the Fraternity of Baptists of Cuba—the organization with which Iglesia Bethania is affiliated—Olga spends a good deal of her time traveling the island, coordinating children's activities and giving seminars on working with children in church settings.

In the 1990s, Olga visited Atlanta, Ga., seeking specialized medical treatment for an eye condition. There she met Donna Goddard, who was the Pastor of the Kairos Community, then a small house church with a congregation equal in size to Bethania's. "She spoke no English, and I spoke very little Spanish," says Goddard. "But we found a way to communicate what was important. I told her that maybe, some day, we could form a partnership and become sister churches. Olga responded, 'Someday? Why not now?' And I said, 'Well, why not?' That's what started this wonderful relationship that continues today."

Top Photo: These Oakhurst members worshiping at Bethania Baptist are also members of the Kairos Community at Oakhurst, a group with a special interest in the work of Christians in Cuba and in other Spanish-speaking countries.