As expressed in the previous post, God was definitely at work during this mission. He united us as a Church, He allowed us to experience the Body of Christ in a new way, and He introduced new family members without whom we would be incomplete. We lived as a community: we prayed, slept, worked, ate, sang, danced, and cried together, but we each had our own, individual experience.
When Luis first called to invite me on this mission, I was ecstatic: I actually had the opportunity to travel to Cuba, rather than merely fantasizing about it. Immediately, I said 'YES!' then realized I should probably discern it further. You see, this would be a monumental experience for me- I had always dreamed of going to Cuba. Having heard stories from my abuela and other relatives, I knew I wanted to experience Cuba for myself. I didn't think this would be possible at twenty years old. My father was born in Cuba, but left as a young boy, and all of my family left Cuba twenty years ago. Even though our ancestry is Spanish, Cuba had always intrigued me: the culture, the music, the history. To me, it was rich with life and potential (despite hardship), but I yearned to see it for myself.
As I began praying for safe travels to Cuba, God kept reminding me that this was to be a mission trip, a service retreat with the Salesians of Don Boscoe. (Duh!) So, my heart changed as I further researched the Salesian community, the current situation in Cuba, and the goals of our mission. I knew that we would be serving in a couple of parish communities, doing some physical repairs to buildings, and helping out with their youth group from time to time, but I didn't know the true meaning of the mission until the day we left.
In Cuba, everything seems to be laid back, spontaneous, and casual- this was evident within moments of arriving at the Havana Airport. I was under the assumption we would be in Havana for the entire two weeks, but on the fly, we decided to travel 15 hours to Santiago on the opposite side of the island. This was an incredibly opportunity to see the splendor of the countryside, and a good opportunity to get well acquainted with each other! In Santiago, we witnessed the beauty of priests renewing their vows and commitment to the Catholic Church, or making their vows for the first time. This was a momentous occasion and I'm very fortunate to have been there through it.
