June 19, 2025
MADISONVILLE, Ky. (KT) — A team of eight people from Grapevine Baptist Church in Madisonville has returned from a fruitful mission trip to Cuba.
“Cuba was great,” said Pastor Mark Partin. “This is our third year working with the same two churches there. It’s a communist, socialist, and atheistic country, but God has opened a door.”
The Grapevine team saw 315 gospel decisions following outreach where they went door-to-door in the mountains, put on two Vacation Bible School events, ladies' and men’s conferences, plus Partin preaching in Sunday morning and evening services in two churches. The team also hosted two eyeglass clinics.
“We have been encouraged to go to homes of church members or be invited to a home,” said Partin about the outreach efforts. “You don’t talk to people on the road.”
Outreach to homes in Cuba can take on a different model than in this country. “We had a team of five visit in a home. That would be overwhelming in the U.S. But the lady prayed to receive Christ, then her daughter-in-law prayed to receive Christ. We asked if she had a Bible, and she told us she had been waiting for someone to tell her how to have a relationship with God.”
The eyeglass clinics “were unbelievable,” Partin said. “We were reaching primarily 90 percent of people who are lost and unchurched. All of them have to hear a gospel presentation before they can get eyeglasses (readers). More than 100 people in each clinic asked to receive Christ as Savior.
Partin has experienced God working mightily in his trips to Cuba.
He recalls a “God moment” there in 2022 when he went with a team, working with one church in Santiago doing Vacation Bible School, ladies' ministry and preaching. He and three other pastors were sent to other churches, and his assignment was to Pastor Freddie in a rural, mountain region church. It had no building but met in the Eastern Baptist Seminary of Cuba building.
“My ‘God moment’ came as we walked, hiked up and down the mountain visiting church members and listening to how they came to faith in Christ. God allowed us to share the gospel and see an adult saved on each day. One lady was about 35, the other was a 16-year-old young man.
"I had taken a set of my books to share with an English-speaking pastor. Pastor Freddie does not speak English. I gave a copy of the 365-devotional Everyday Strength to my interpreter Gabriel."
Gabriel is 45ish and has a ministry to kids and youth, sponsored by an organization in the States. They provide him a small salary and a scooter to enable him to do this ministry. Gabriel was not supposed to be my interpreter, but the lady who had agreed had double booked, so at the last minute Gabriel was asked to interpret.
“Knowing I would not meet any other pastors, I reluctantly offered the other two books to Gabriel — A Cry for Revival devotional and Praying with Fire. He was appreciative to receive them.” Both are books Partin wrote.
“The next morning, we met at pastor Freddie’s house and Gabriel arrived. He pulled out two copies of Praying with Fire. I asked him — did I give you two copies by mistake? He said ‘no.’ This is my God moment — Gabriel said, ‘As I unpacked the material showing my wife what you had given me, she said, ‘I have that book, Praying with Fire. I am reading that book and I use it as a teaching aid as I prepare lessons for my class.’
“I was speechless. How did this book get here? There are no Christian bookstores in Cuba, it is a communist country.
“Gabriel said someone must have given it to him and he placed it on his shelf and his wife found it. Wow! This book has sold maybe 1,500 (as of 2022) copies, all in the U.S. The odds of a copy finding its way to Cuba is rare. The odds that I would be in Cuba and find a person who has this book is even more rare.
“Are you seeing this? Gabriel was not supposed to be my interpreter. I wanted to give the books to an English-speaking pastor, not my interpreter. God is up to something. They asked if this book is in Spanish, and I said no, but if we can find a printer, we can produce it in Spanish.”
Three hours later, Partin was meeting with a printer from #3 Baptist Church in Santiago. Gabriel translated the book into Spanish and 1,500 copies of the book were produced and given away in 2023 with the desire that it would “encourage pastors and churches to seek the Lord and call upon His name for a mighty move in their local church.”
Martin and his wife, Charlene, will be out of the country again March 25-April 2, traveling to Albania. “I was there 10 years ago,” said Partin, noting Praying with Fire has been translated into the Albanian language. “We have five churches lined up, and a ladies' and men’s leadership conference with a total of 11 churches involved. It is an atheistic and Muslim country.”
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This story first appeared in Kentucky Today.
