Reverend Mario Flix Lleonart Barroso is a Cuban church leader and human rights activist whose faith compels him to speak up for religious freedom. Hes been repeatedly arrested and harrased by the Cuban government. This is his message to you.

“Apart from the darkness that prevails in Cuba with regard to religious freedom, thanks to the mercy of God and the solidarity of our brothers and sisters in organisations like CSW, we can say that we are doing well. This is because we are sure that it is for our uncompromising testimony that we are so detested by the current regime.

The Bible is our principal source of encouragement. In the Old Testament, Esther and Jeremiah – the subject of a number of my church sermons – alert us to how we can influence politics and how it is our duty to do so, especially where we find it difficult. In the New Testament Jesus serves as our unsurpassed example. The letters of Paul, written whilst fleeing persecution, motivate us to go on with our work; verses such as 2 Timothy 1:7 are a call to accept suffering in the service of Christ. But 1 John 2:8c is where you find our mantra: “…the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining” (NIV).

Our most important prayer request is for our daughters: Rocio, 13, and Rachel, five. They are our weak point, our Achilles’ heel. The worst thing is that the regime knows this and in all their cruelty and spite they attack us where it hurts most. There is no other explanation for the violent nature of my arrest and detention on 25 January in the presence of my daughters, beyond doubt their main target. Pray also that my wife Yoaxis continues to support me as she has been doing.

Churches in Cuba need those in the United Kingdom to pray for them in order to give them the strength not to play the regime at its own dirty game. Pray that we don’t become complicit like the German Church in the time of Bonhoeffer. Pray that we preach the same gospel he preached, so that we might be freed “from all tyranny and oppression.”

This week, please:

• Thank God for reverend Mario Félix Lleonart Barroso and his wife Yoaxis, for all they do to speak up for human rights and religious freedom in Cuba;
• Pray for protection for Mario Félix, Yoaxis and their two daughters, Rocío and Rachel;
• Ask God to give wisdom to Mario Félix on the issues he should speak up about publicly;
• Give thanks for others in Cuba, like the Ladies in White, whose faith compels them to speak up for human rights;
• Pray for wisdom for CSW’s Latin America Advocacy Officer as they raise religious freedom issues at the EU, UN and with the UK and US Government;
• Thank God that CSW was able to host a delegation of Cuban church leaders, including Mario Félix and Yoaxis, in Washington last year, who were able to tell the truth of religious freedom there;
• Pray that the EU would insist on measurable progress in the area of human rights and protection for civil society before entering into any new bilateral agreement with Cuba.