Pinar del Rio

Pinar del Rio, a provincial capital 180 kilometers west of Havana, was our destination. The fairly well maintained two-lane road wended its way between the hills and between tobacco fields, rice paddies and banana groves. The primary means of transportation for people in the area, in addition to walking and bicycles, was large farm and dump trucks loaded to capacity.
Since street signs or highway markers were non-existent, finding our churches required stopping many times, asking people for directions, and continuing. Everyone whom we asked for help was happy to give us directions. So, when we located the main church in Pinar del Rio (►) we were pleasantly surprised to find it to be a nice, large church located on a paved street in a nice community.
We were welcomed to the church was by the church pastor "Frank" Perez Diaz and Bertalina Paganis (below, right), a gracious receptionist. It was not only her personality that made the writer feel particularly welcome but the fact that she spoke excellent English, and then graciously guided us around the church.
Pastor Perez (▼ left) told us they averaged about 160 visitors every evening (►)..

The guest evangelist in Pinar del Rio is Pastor Juan Lozano Diaz (►), the recently retired and former evangelist, and subsequently union president, for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Spain.
	As in each location we visited, children and youth here also played a very big part in the activities of this church. Some of the older ones serve as greeters, teachers, run the sound system and provide the musical program. The younger ones attended meetings (◄) prepared for them in several rooms off the courtyard

The main stage was dominated by a beautiful religious display. It was a large wooden cross (▲ left) with a backdrop of green cloth and a flowing white fabric draped over the base. It was a very gripping scene. This display, and several others located through out the church, were made by Juan Antonio Valdes (▲ right).
Felicia Venero (pictured with her husband Edwardo Miranda), was deeply involved in all sorts of worldly things. Her husband was a dedicated atheist while she always had a desire to know about God. She visited the Catholic Church when she was growing up but had never returned. One day, driven by her hunger to know about God, she knocked on the door of a Seventh-day Adventist neighbor lady and asked her about God, the Bible, and asked to visit church with her. The SDA lady was so surprised she could hardly believe what was happening. Here, "out of the blue," Felicia, a woman who had seemed to be only interested in things of this world, was asking about God. Soon they began studying the Bible with the help of Voice of Prophecy study guides. Needless to say, her Husband was opposed to anything to do with a church. But she was very patient and explained the great truths of the Gospel to him. As a result, he too became so interested that he also participated in the Bible studies and he and was actually baptized before his wife was. Felicia delayed her baptism because she had difficulty dealing with jewelry, but she was baptized on February 2, at the close of the campaign. She has also shared the Gospel with her Mother and niece and they are planning to be baptized in March, 2002.