If I wrote down everything that happened in Cuba you’d be reading for approximately 3.27 hours. You don’t have the time to read that and I don’t have the time to write all of it. And honestly, there are some things that are hard to put into words…you just have to experience them.

So, instead, I am going to write about some of my favorite things that happened.

On Tuesday, after we had finished working with the children and teenagers we (the ten of us that made up our team), the pastor of the church we were working at that day, his wife, Santiago (one of our translators), and a few other Cubans were hanging out waiting for our ride to come pick us up.

Meredith and Ashton, the two teenagers who had come to lead worship, began playing their guitars. Then Meredith passed her guitar to Santiago. He began playing and singing a Spanish song. The little bit I was able to pick up on would translate something to the effect of “I live to be in love with You”. But it is so much more than that. So much emotion and feeling and power gets lost in translation. I wish that I could accurately convey the meaning and power behind the words as he sang them.

As he continued, the other Cubans in the room joined in. As we Americans picked up on what was being sung we joined in. It was a powerfully awesome moment. Words don’t do it justice. But even more powerful was what happened afterwards.

Santiago began telling us about why he worships. At one point, he said, “When we worship God tells the angels in heaven to be quiet because his people are worshiping Him.”

How theologically sound that thought is, I do not know. But it is a beautiful thought.

I think everyone in the room knew how special what we were experiencing was at the time. It was a God-filled moment in time. Something that we forever bond those of us in that room.

I hope I never forget it.