Communists confronted me in Cuba - Day 26

Day 26 The Lord saved my from the Communists in 2000.
Readings 26, 56, 86, 116, 146 Proverbs 26
The faith explained in today’s reading was tested in my time in Cuba.
All four Psalms 26, 56, 86 and 116 are so similar, Lord save me from my enemies. The Psalmist feels the pressure of those attacking him, he takes refuge in God and sets his hope on God’s salvation. He contrasts the attacks of men with the love of God. Are you being attacked today?
10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. [a]
Sometimes we see God saving us and we just move on. I love that the psalmist remembers God after the great trials are over. We should do the same: Psalm 116
1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave [a] came upon me;
I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD :
"O LORD, save me!"
5 The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
6 The LORD protects the simplehearted;
when I was in great need, he saved me.
7 Be at rest once more, O my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.
8 For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling,

I have been delivered from some very dangerous and difficult circumstances. Thank you Lord for saving me. I remember my glorious time in Cuba, for three years I went to Cuba leading groups from Park Cities and Bent Tree Bible Church. I have so many memories that delight my soul, both ministry successes as well as gut-splitting laughs. It was my second trip where I was leading a group of Bent Tree where I was not laughing much. We were in Eastern Cuba in a town called, Holguin.



At 1 AM, we got a call. The other leader of the team, Darrin was my roommate. He answered the phone and said, “Oscar, they are asking for you”. I was half asleep but said, “Bueno” (hello in Spanish). The voice on the other side was gruff, serious and straight forward, “Are you Oscar Benavides?” . . “Yes I am”. . . “Are you the leader of the American group?” . . .”Yes I am”. . . “Are you from Mexico?” . . .”Yes I am”. . . “You are to present yourself at the Department of Interior at 9 AM”. . . “ . . . .”What for?” I asked. . . “I can’t tell you”. . . .”Who should I see?” . . .He said, “Ask for El Jefe”. Oh my. “el jefe” means, “the boss”. My heart was already racing, now it stopped. I was fully awake and just so confused. He wouldn’t give me any more information. Why were they wanting to talk to me? How did they know who I was, that I was Mexican? They must be spying on us. Why was he so cryptic? Was were they calling me at 1 AM? They were trying to intimidate me . . . and it worked. All night I tossed and turned and could not sleep. I was thinking of all kinds of possibilities, would they send me back to the US. Would they arrest me? Harm me?


This is a communist country and I was doing illegal evangelism. The worst part was that I couldn’t call home, they monitor phone calls. All I wanted was to call Jen and hear her voice but I had to just sit in my fears, worries and faith. At 7 am I finally got up, met the team, had no appetite for breakfast. My team wanted to go with me but I told them to stay in the hotel until I returned, the less questioned the better. Not only did I have the responsibility of our team but also of future teams coming to Cuba. I arrived at the ministry of interior and sat in the waiting room for a while.
Proverbs 26 “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
Proverbs 27, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what the day my bring forth.”
I had no clue the day before that I would be here, in the lion’s den, at the heart of the communist regime in Eastern Cuba. I was ushered into the “Jefe’s Office”. It wasn’t much. It had a desk with chairs in front and back of the desk. Nothing on the walls except one HUGE PORTRAIT of Fidel Castro.
My heart was getting a work out. My soul was in anguish. I was breathing in and out deeply trying to keep me from shaking. I have to be honest and say that this was one of the scariest moments in my life. I longed for America, I long for Dallas, I loved for my home and my wife’s arms. (PIC WITH SOME OF THE CUBA TEAM MEMBERS)

I have always told the Lord that my life was His, that I was willing to be martyred for the gospel but this was real. . . not just words. The Jefe walks into his office, looks at me and says . . . I will share the rest tomorrow! See you then when we read through the Psalms and Proverbs.