Baptists worship in arena after blast damages Havana church

Little more than a week after a deadly explosion at an adjacent hotel seriously damaged the historic Calvario Baptist Church building in Old Havana, church members met for worship in a basketball arena.

A May 6 explosion at Hotel Saratoga—caused by a gas leak—claimed at least 46 lives and injured more than 90 people. However, none of the 15 adults or three children inside Calvario Baptist Church were hurt.

Kurt Urbanek, strategy leader with the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, and six individuals from First Baptist Church in Weston, Fla., delivered 14 suitcases filled with supplies to Calvario within a few days after the blast.

Supplies included protective gear such as hard hats and steel-toed shoes, along with tool belts, crowbars, duct tape and plastic sheets.

Two Baptist pastors—Jose Betancourt and Abel Perez Hernandez—assisted in rescue and recovery at the Hotel Saratoga site, Urbanek said. They recovered seven bodies from the rubble and helped many who were injured.

Barbaro Abel Marrero, president of the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba, described the scene at Calvario—Cuba’s oldest Baptist church—after the explosion as “Dantesque.” The convention offices housed at Calvario were affected but not destroyed, he noted.

However, Marrero wrote on Facebook, the church’s sanctuary “did receive significant structural damage, with several walls and columns collapsed or cracked, the roof partially collapsed, and numerous losses of furniture.”

Historical site a hub of ministry

Calvario’s building in Old Havana is a registered historical site under the auspices of the Havana Historical Office. Church leaders met with government officials May 10 to discuss plans to repair or rebuild their building, and they received permission to meet for worship at a Havana basketball arena on May15.

“Even when we don’t know exactly the extent of the damage the building suffered, we trust that the Lord will help us restore it with excellence,” Marrero wrote on Facebook.

The blast not only caused major damage to Calvario’s sanctuary, but also destroyed two apartments in the church facility—one that houses the church administrator and the other that was supposed to be the home of the church’s newly arrived pastor, Dariel Llanes Quintana.

In addition to its own congregational ministries and the convention offices, Calvario also was home to a Christian bookstore, printing house and media ministries.

Its “spacious sanctuary” has hosted seminary graduation ceremonies, annual convention assemblies and other gatherings for Baptists in Western Cuba, Marrero noted. The building “was the first church building acquired by evangelicals in Cuba,” he wrote, adding it is “of great sentimental value” to Cuban Baptists.

National Woman’s Missionary Union helped what was then known as the SBC Home Mission Board raise funds for the purchase the building in 1889, Urbanek noted. Annie Armstrong—namesake of Southern Baptists’ North American missions offering—was a key fundraiser for the project.

‘Cornerstone’ of Western Cuba Baptist work

Calvario has been the “cornerstone” of the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba, Urbanek said. The convention is composed of 565 churches, 570 missions and 1,907 house churches. Last year, those congregations reported 31,865 professions of faith in Christ, Urbanek reported.

“Since 1997, there have been 1 million professions of faith in Cuba,” he said.

Calvario also served as the hub for Baptist disaster relief ministries in Cuba. Texas Baptist Men provided training and equipment for Cuban Baptists’ disaster relief efforts.

Marrero pointed out Calvario has been “historically generous” in helping churches recover after their buildings were damaged.

“Today we are granted the opportunity to repay them,” he wrote, noting churches throughout Cuba already had offered assistance.

He also pointed to support from the Baptist World Alliance, Southern Baptists and “brothers and friends, both from Cuba and different parts of the world” after they learned about the damage Calvario sustained to its building.

Baptist leaders in Western Cuba asked Christians to pray God will grant them wisdom and spiritual discernment as they make plans for the future.

Texas Baptist Men already has provided financial support to Calvario and will send more, TBM Executive Director/CEO Mickey Lenamon said.

TBM also will receive and forward any financial contributions to the church. To give, mail a check payable to “Texas Baptist Men” and designated for “Calvario Baptist Church” to Texas Baptist Men, 5351 Catron, Dallas, TX 75227.