By Francesca Adelphi
How one Cuban Christian teenager quizzed CSW's staff on a recent solidarity visit.
Meeting Eric Batista was one of the best things I've ever done. So often we hold a simplified picture of a persecuted Christian in our minds. But when I recently met him on a CSW visit, Eric inadvertently challenged those preconceptions.
As a 19-year-old Cuban Christian refugee, Eric arrived in the USA with his family just two weeks before we met. Many people assume that as a traditionally Catholic nation, Christians in Cuba can safely be ignored. But that's just not the case, and Eric's family is living proof.
Because of Eric's mother's role in the Ladies in White silent protest group, his family has seen and experienced some of the most brutal treatment of Christians on the American continent. The family told us how, whilst in detention, Eric's father had been yanked down from a bunk bed onto a concrete floor – something that could have easily killed him. His mother was followed by government spies nearly every time she went to Mass. She was routinely arrested and beaten by the authorities to stop her protesting for religious freedom with the Ladies in White after church on Sunday. Eric had also been detained several times.
Sitting in their new flat I wondered how they were adjusting from an entirely different life on their home island just 90 miles away – roughly the distance between Birmingham and London.
"Tell me what it's like in Britain!"
Eric asked me through my colleague Hannah, who translated his excitable Spanish. "What about the Olympics? And London? Does it always snow in Scotland? What's life like in Poland?" Of course I told him that thousands of CSW supporters are praying for Cuba.
His enthusiastic questioning brought a huge smile to my face. I hadn't prepared myself for such a gracious attitude – that he wanted to hear from me, when I was only there to listen to him.
Such a thirst for knowledge of the outside world also illustrated to me how regimes like Cuba's deliberately keep their people in the dark, pumping out propaganda that promotes the 'revolutionary' spirit. One of the countries Eric knew about was North Korea. I didn't know how much he really knew. I wasn't sure I was ready to tell him.
Eric's family represents thousands of other Christians struggling under an impossible regime which is digging its heels in as the people suffer. CSW has been highlighting these realities to policy makers and governments for over a decade. They have gradually taken notice and we've seen important advocacy breakthroughs that have made tangible improvements to the lives of families just like Eric's.
Did you know
120 separate religious freedom violations were recorded by CSW in 2012, more
than four times greater than the previous year.
100s of Cubans were put under house arrest during the Pope's visit to Cuba in
April 2012.
6 1/2 years the sentence given to Omar Gude Perez – leader of a fast-growing
Pentecostal church movement – based on false charges.
Another milestone will be Cuba's human rights review taking place at the UN this spring. My colleague, Hannah, and her contacts have collated numerous personal testimonies and research that will be considered there. It'll be a prime opportunity to highlight Cuba's anti-religious injustices on a world stage – so please pray for that opportunity.
As for Eric, he's shown me there's always room for hope, for exploration, not for self-pity but for seizing the opportunity to do good and learn from other Christians wherever you find yourself. His family were persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. We've got a lot to learn from families like Eric's, in ways that we don't expect. Let's get to know them better!
I want to...
Pray for Cuban families
Eric Batista
You can pray for Eric's family and for Cuba using the Prayer Diary at www.csw.org.uk/prayerdiary
Omar and Kenia Gude Perez
Omar is a Pentecostal church leader. His family have endured his imprisonment for almost four years. As we went to print we heard that Omar and his family had reached the USA after a successful asylum application.
Mario-Felix Lleonart Barroso and family
As a Baptist church leader, Mario-Felix has prayed with human rights defenders and blogged the realities of life in Cuba. He's suffered the consequences, and his family faces constant intimidation and threats from the authorities.
Dr Oscar Biscet
Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, Dr Biscet is a Catholic human rights defender who served eight years of a 25-year sentence in connection with his human rights work. He and his wife dare not leave their home except for church on Sundays. CSW has supported the couple for over ten years.
Encourage and pray for more families using Connect
and Encourage. Visit www.csw.org.uk/connectandencourage or call us for a printed version on 0845 456 5464.