Santa María de Perea, Sancti Spíritus, Cuba

A story of faith sustained

2008

2011

2008Perea is a small town about 6 miles west of our companion church in Florencia. Traditionally one rector serves both congregations. This is how the church in Perea looked in March of 2008. For decades, as they witnessed their church crumbling into ruins from closure, neglect, hurricanes and crisis, the members of this church continued to meet in each others’ homes to worship,

holding on to the hope that they could someday rebuild.

Why did the church end up in ruins?

For many years after the Revolution in 1959 thechurches were not allowed to function. Cuba declareditself an atheist state and those who were known topractice their faith were considered subversive andcounter-revolutionary. They were marginalized andpersecuted. Santa María de Perea was one of manychurches that were abandoned, converted to otheruses, or fell into ruins.

Here you can see some of the architectural details of the original building, built in the 1920’s. In 2008 Rev. Armando started cleaning up the debris

and bringing in materials to start the reconstruction.

Construction and Transportation in Cuba

There are no Home Depots in Cuba. Like most everything else there, construction materials are controlled by the state, which doesn’t generally sell to religious organizations, so materials have to be purchased at higher prices through other means and then transported to Perea, a small rural village in the middle of the island. Neither the church nor the sellers own a vehicle so the rector has to arrange for private delivery. This often means that he has to go pick up the materials personally and hire a car, or take them by train (if it’s running), or horse cart or whatever he can get his hands on.

Transportation is a huge problem in Cuba. Even though Perea is only 6 miles from Florencia, it is totally unfeasible for the congregation to go to Florencia to worship, especially for the elders. There are no buses and no one at the church there has a car. A train runs once a day (unless one of the bridges is broken), but it’s an all-day journey there and back, with luck. This would involve expense and hours of waiting for a bone rattling ride.

In these photos you can see the original floor tiles and a view into the back yard, where a beautiful lemon tree shades the well.

lemon tree

well

Trina, who is 86 years old, lives next door. She has kept the congregation together for decades. Her house shares a wall and a back yard with the church, and she’s kept a watchful eye

out, always believing the church would be rebuilt. She stored the church bell in herchicken house and distributed the church’s pews among the congregation to so that

they wouldn’t be stolen, burned for fuel, or carried off to another church.

In 2008 Rev. Armando, Trina and I were hopeful the church would be finished in one year.

But in 2009 Rev. Armando wassent to another church and

Rev. Andrés was ordained andbecame the rector of San Juan

Bautista in Florencia and ofSanta María de Perea. He took

over the reconstruction.

In less than one year the church had interior and

exterior walls, a roof,electricity, doors and windows.

Trina was full of hope.

In May of 2010 we visited again to see the progress and were astonished by how much had changed. Even the bell was ringing!

Rev. Andrés ringing the bell!

Peter Bushnell

Trina and the congregation were all excited, but later that year thefunds for rebuilding dried up when Bishop Tamayo retired.

The last project completed before everything came to a halt was

putting a new cross above the bell.

Here’s how it looked in June 2011.

These are the tiles Rev. Andrés bought for the entranceway out front.

Here you see kneelers and interior doors waiting to be varnished

and installed, as well as the lectern.

The kitchen, vestry, office, and two bathrooms are laid

out but unfinished.

Everything is covered in concrete dust. Some of the new walls are stained because they haven’t been sealed and painted.

humidity stain

But Rev. Andrés wipes away the dust and the bat droppings each Sunday in order to

celebrate the Eucharist. When the bell rings, the faithful come to worship.

What’s left to do:•Seal, prime, and paint the interior and exterior walls•Finish plumbing the kitchen and two bathrooms, install fixtures•Finish the electrical installation in the office, bathrooms and kitchen•Finish the cupboards, chairs, kneelers, and interior doors•Install transom windows (which will keep the bats out)•Lay the flooring in the altar area and out front•Hang a cross and images of Santa María and Jesus•Get the well working (install a pump)

We need $4000 to finish the work. If you can help with any part of this project , please write a check to “Holy Trinity” and on the subject line write “Perea, Cuba”. You can send it to

Holy Trinity100 NE 1st St.Gainesville Fl, 32601

If you have questions or want more information, contact Kathy Navajas at (352) 378-6585 or at navajas@ufl.edu