Tag Archive - Cuba

Hurricane Ike hits Cuba

September 8, 2008 in Latin America, Prayer with 0 Comments

It seems like Cuba can’t get a break lately. Yesterday I got an email from one of my friends down there asking us to pray for them as they face this deadly hurricane.

My students are spread all over the island, which means that last week as Gustav rolled through Pinar del Rio and Havana, I was praying for some specific people there.

Now, as the eastern part of the island is getting slammed by Ike, I have a whole new set of people who are in danger.

Having been there before, it makes me understand the danger a little more than just by seeing it on television. With many of the houses already standing for more than 50 years, the terms hurricane force winds and storm surge seem unreal. I don’t know how they will handle a natural disaster of this magnitude.

Please pray for Cuba and the people who are being affected by these terrible storms.

Hurricane Gustav hits Cuba

August 31, 2008 in Latin America, Prayer, Uncategorized with 0 Comments


Hurricane Gustav hit Cuba pretty hard yesterday, forcing evacuations of more than 300,000 people. Having gone to Cuba a few times, some of my favorite people in the world live in Havana and Pinar del Rio, the two major areas that got hit by the storm.

Please pray for the country as they recover from the storm. I haven’t heard much from them, but I’ve been in the old buildings and have no idea how they could stand up to 150 mile per hour winds.

Here are some pictures from the BBC that show the preparations and damage in Cuba.

The Last Three Years – Video 1

June 27, 2008 in Global Youth Ministry, Latin America, YMI, Youth Ministry with 1 Comment


Giancarlos Interview from Dennis on Vimeo.

Giancarlos is one of the graduates from the Master’s program we just finished. He is the middle school pastor of his church, and his students are planting a church. He’s a good friend, and here are his thoughts about the Master’s program (Video).

Video of La Bodeguita del Medio

June 25, 2008 in Culture, Latin America with 0 Comments

“La Bodeguita del Medio,” or the warehouse in the middle, is a restaurant, cafe, and bar in Old Havana that is extremely popular with tourists, celebrities, and politicians. Ernest Hemingway frequented this place when he spent time in Havana.

It’s a historical and touristy place. So, when we were in Havana, I decided to take some video of La Bodeguita del Medio. It was crowded, so the video isn’t as good as I’d like it to be.

Sources: La Bodeguita del Medio (Mexico) – Spanish; Wikipedia (Spanish)

Video of “El Mejunje”

June 23, 2008 in Culture, Global Youth Ministry, Latin America, Youth Ministry with 0 Comments

I posted on our vlog (Mexico Movies) about El Mejunje, a place called Mejunje (translated = concoction) that I visited in Santa Clara, while I was there teaching two weeks ago.

I don’t want to duplicate the post, but you should check it out over there and watch the video of the band we saw playing there.

It was truly a cultural experience. If you’re at all interested in global youth ministry or global youth culture, you should click here to watch the video and read about El Mejunje.

The Last Three Years – Part 1

June 17, 2008 in Center for YM, features, Global Youth Ministry, Latin America with 3 Comments

The last three years of my life have been invested in a project that has grown very dear to my heart. Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to see thirteen of my favorite people in the world graduate with a Master’s Degree in youth ministry.

It has been a long journey. Personally, it has been an exhausting three years, traveling each January and June, arranging for visas, charter tickets, domestic tickets, raising awareness, translating, planning, preparing, and teaching classes. I personally taught 6 and a half of the 12 courses for the Master’s program in youth ministry.

For the students, it was 3 years of reading, pre-class assignments, post-class assignments, weeks away from family, amidst personal and professional struggles. Every student involved in the program is also involved in full time ministry, leaving little time for anything else.

But the culminating moment came on Wednesday, June 11, 2008, when they called the name of 13 of my friends, associates, and students to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas from the Santa Clara Seminary, or the Baptist Seminary of Havana, or the Baptist Seminary in Santiago, or from New Pines Seminary. To see the look of accomplishment and joy on their faces gave me an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and joy.

The investment of three years has more than paid off. We are seeing a mighty work of God in Latin America, and I’m humbled to be part of it.

In part 2 of this series, I’ll write about what these students are doing with their degrees. It’s amazing.
Click a thumbnail to see a larger version.

Back from Cuba

June 16, 2008 in Global Youth Ministry, Latin America with 2 Comments

I got back from Cuba on Saturday morning, after 12 long days of work there. We culminated 3 years of classes with the 4 seminaries with whom we were working there. I’ll write more. Right now I’m uploading pictures from the trip. I will be taking some time in the next few days to write about my thoughts, so stay tuned.

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