Revival Stories
The 1988 Cuban Revival
In the 1950’s Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba. He had promised the churches and their pastors that communism would be a good thing for the people. Yet, the communist revolution of 1959 brought severe restrictions upon the church. Although churches were still legal, the practice of Christianity was heavily discriminated against. In addition, pastors were imprisoned, tortured, and even killed during this time. Many Christian leaders fled the country if they had the opportunity. The ones who stayed behind faced great oppression from the atheistic government. But they and their churches continued to persevere and to pray relentlessly. When they had nothing else to lean upon, they cried out all the more to God. Over the next few decades, they paid the price to follow hard after Jesus. They would suffer for the sake of the Gospel. But God would purify and prepare His bride for a coming awakening.
In 1988, a traveling evangelist arrived in Madruga, Cuba, a town in the northwestern part of the island. Over the next 4 days, many miracles took place as the presence of the Lord was heavy in that place. Many people began weeping profusely simply upon entering the church. After the evangelist left, the local pastor continued to exhort the people to pursue God. At one service, the pastor spoke to a man who had been paralyzed his whole life to get up and walk, and this man experienced a powerful healing and started running throughout the building. This sparked the revival fire in Madruga! Hundreds of people started coming to church to seek healing and to find God. Church services soon were held 24 hours a day, 40 minutes at a time, with up to 400 people in attendance. Young leaders were recruited and trained to preach and teach and pray for the sick. This went on for several months as people sensed God’s presence and miraculous power.
And this revival did not stayed confined to that one church in Madruga. As revival fire started to burn all the more brightly, people’s longing for God also intensified throughout the region. More than 60 other churches experienced the Spirit’s outpouring and kept the spiritual fires burning for many more years. The initital evangelist who had visited Madruga made his way down to the southeast part of Cuba, to a city called Santiago. Before long, God’s Spirit was poured out there too, and great miracles and healings took place. Thousands started coming to worship Jesus Christ and to experience His healing touch. This flood of the Spirit even came to central Cuba, where small church buildings were soon overwhelmed by thousands of visitors seeking the Lord’s presence with many Cubans putting their faith in Christ their Savior.
The communist government was not at all pleased by the surge in those going to church. It would try to shut down the revival service: destroying pews and property, assaulting worshippers, and even putting pastors into prison. It tried all it could to suppress what God was doing. Yet the spiritual fires spread. And some government officials would approach pastors through the backdoor and admit that God was at work here and ask how they could find this God. The believers across the nation unified behind the common cry “Cuba para Cristo!”, which means “Cuba for Christ!”By 1992, the government relented on its hard position of oppression and began to allow the churches a measure of protection and freedom to worship. Revival would burn brightly for years to come, with waves of resurgeance arising time and again throughout the country. It would be God’s answer to the long-suffering cries of the faithful Cuban church.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:
- Why do you think Christianity was viewed as a threat to the communist party in Cuba? How is the message of Christ a danger to a power-hungry authoritarian government?
- How does God use the evils of persecution and harsh suffering to purify His church? What do you think Christian prayer in Cuba was like during the first 30 years of oppression? What might provoke the church in our nation to pray like this?
- What do you observe and stands out to you about the revival in Cuba? What did God do during this awakening that drew people to the churches despite fear of government persecution? How did God begin to change hearts in the government? What should we be praying for in our nation in regards to spiritual awakening?