From Pitcher to Preacher

Meet Osmani Sosa. He’s the type of guy everyone wants to call a friend. His positive energy acts as a magnet, drawing others to him. People admire his relentless nature, passion, and love for the Lord. Then, there’s baseball. Many Cubans and baseball lovers know that in the mid to late 90s, he was one of the top pitchers in Cuba. But he left it all to answer God’s call on his life.

God gave him a vision to share the Gospel through baseball and sports. However, playing in the Cuban national league and internationally didn’t allow him to focus on his mission. So, he walked away from fame. Osmani went from being one the highest-paid in Cuba to having nothing while his wife was pregnant with their firstborn. And, if he had played baseball for his remaining five years, it would have financially secured his family for the long-term. It was a lot to give up, but worth it. This newfound freedom let him focus on the Gospel and the Gospel alone.

Keeping faith in clear view, Osmani and his family lived on food and other items people donated. He walked from city to city to find people to share the Gospel with through sports, sometimes sleeping in a box on the side of the road.

While it may have appeared to others he had nothing, he had the Gospel to share, and that is everything. God has always provided for the family exactly what’s needed, and about ten years into his ministry, he connected with Atulado. Over a Christmas holiday, Atulado’s founder searched for ministries in Cuba and found Osmani. Since then, Atulado has been by his side ever since.

Osmani serves as our trusted eyes in Cuba. He filters all the needs to find where an investment will most effectively help others. That may mean buying a small house or apartment where a pastor sleeps in a room with his family or providing a laptop for bible study. It may mean bringing medicine to someone in pain or providing basics like a flashlight. But, most importantly, it means serving as an answer to someone’s prayer.

– Wayne S.

As part of our trip to Cuba we visited many pastors to hear their stories, the struggles they encounter, and the joys they experience in their lives.  These stories stand as evidence of how God is working in Cuba through those who have chosen to serve Him.  God also uses these stories to speak directly to me in a way that continues to draw me back to Cuba and His people.  From time to time, God even puts me in the middle of a story.

About midway through our trip we were heading to a place somewhere between farms and the pristine beaches of Cuba.  We had supplies with us we felt would be helpful for this particular pastor and we were looking forward to meeting her.  After jumping off the “main” road the dirt side road eventually took us to a very small house.  Inside we had a chance to meet the pastor and hear her story.  Her perseverance and willingness to sacrifice for the Kingdom was moving!  As the time came for us to leave we gave her a bag of supplies.  We don’t go through the bag item by item, but there were a few things which needed a bit of an explanation.  For instance, we needed to explain how the thumb drive is part of the bible study book and how the water filter works.  We also put the LED flashlight with the charger so they know it is rechargeable.  The hooks on the light and the magnetic ends are cool too.  When we got to the flashlight, she stopped me and began to tell us what happened earlier that morning. 

Her husband works in the fields during the day and she gets up at four o’clock in the morning to make him coffee before he catches the tractor which takes the workers to the field.  Many mornings the power is out and she has to make the coffee using a flashlight.  Today was one of those days, but the flashlight would not work.  Frustrated and disappointed, she and her husband simply prayed for the ability to get a new flashlight.  They didn’t have the money to get one, and if they did, you just can’t drop into a store and buy a new one.  It just doesn’t work that way.  So they did what they do for most things, they prayed and asked God to provide.  Twelve hours later a group of fellow Christians show up in a white van and deliver a flashlight better than they could have imagined.  Tears of joy flowed and it was an amazing moment for all of us.

To some it was just a flashlight, but for me seeing a prayer answered with such abundance in just twelve hours is something I will never forget, be eternally grateful for, and will serve as a reminder that sometimes God’s timing is twelve hours later.

-Wayne S.

Midway through our trip we had travelled hundreds of miles on winding mountain roads which at times would have paid for the compliment of being called a road.  We had visited with and prayed with many families.  At the same time we were tired; I was tired.  This day had already felt long, it was raining all day, and we were tired and wet.  If there was a schedule on a trip like this, we were running two hours late.  We were all looking forward to getting back to the place where we were staying to get some rest and into a dry set of clothing.  We were piled into the van heading in that direction – at least that is what we thought we would be doing!  Our host, Pastor Sosa, wanted to make one final stop to visit a pastor.  He said it would only take five minutes.  That didn’t sound like much of a detour, but I’ve been on trips with this pastor and his idea of five minutes is the short hand moving from the three to the four.  Selfishly, we decided to test his five minutes by staying in the van and wait for him to return.  But once we pulled up and saw everyone standing on the front porch to greet us, we knew we must go in.

A young girl of the church had stopped by on her way home from school to get out of the rain.  She was very quiet and began directing the adults to the restroom.  She stood by the door because there really wasn’t much of a door as the bathroom was off the bedroom where a young boy was fast asleep.  Her self-appointed job was to give everyone privacy by letting us in one at a time.  After some time, Pastor Sosa noticed something was not right with this girl.  He has two teenage girls and he later told us he knows the difference between a teenager and something being off.  He rightly attributes this discernment to the Holy Spirit who opened his eyes to her hurt.  He began to speak to her – we will call her Maria.  While initially very nervous, she began to share with Pastor Sosa that she had recently witnessed her father being killed by her mother’s boyfriend with a machete.  Let that sink in for a moment, she saw her father killed with a machete.  As Pastor Sosa began translating her story my mind went numb and my heart immediately broke for this young girl.  I could not imagine what she saw, the amount of grief she was carrying, or even how she makes it through an hour much less a day.  How does anyone begin to recover from such a trauma?  Can someone as fragile as her ever recover?  What could I possibly say to encourage her?  How could I minister to her as she is telling her devastating story?  Realizing nobody in that room could fix this, we began to pray for her.  Before leaving this small house church, the team gathered around and prayed for her.  Not everyone knew exactly what was going on, but enough to know it was serious and the prayers flowed.  When we were done praying in English, she prayed in Spanish.  She demonstrated such strength to all of us and forged a memory for me I will never forget. 

This was an incredible life-changing moment in my life.  I know God wanted us to show up at exactly that time.  He wanted to use us to encourage her and use her to encourage us.  He wanted to use us to share in her pain.  Even though it was for a short time, God packed a life-altering experience into the five minute visit.   My whole perspective on these trips has changed and my purpose has become clearer than ever before.  It also showed me that I need to be open and aware of what God wants to reveal to me.  We can make our plans but it is God who directs our path.  I am so grateful that He opened my heart to hearing His voice and that I was reluctantly obedient to get out of the van, tired, wet, and eager for a five minute visit.  I will forever be changed by that moment in a house church sharing the love of Jesus to this young girl who has a faith that will continue to grow because she has a church family that has surrounded her with love and support.  She has grandparents that are caring for her and she has many people in the United States that continue to pray for her well-being.

-Renee S.