Spring Break 2019
March 9-16, 2019
Cost: $1600 $260 deposit by noon, 11/28/2018
If you are interested in reserving a spot contact Chris Towles. We will do fund raising and help anyone who wants to find scholarships. One such scholarship can be found here: https://chaplain.wfu.edu/religious-spiritual-life/scholarships-christian-outreach/rosser-family-fund-christian-service/
For
this year’s Spring Break trip we are planning to go to Cuba. The cost of the trip looks to be around $1600
which covers visas, flights (looks like $650 right now), ground transportation,
meals and lodging, activities, translator/guide. It does not include the cost
of passport or souvenirs.
Last day to apply: November 28, 2018.
$260 deposit by noon, 11/28/2018
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The Cubans have a long mission’s history of north American
churches sending groups there to "serve" them, which seems to them as
a control issue. So, they are advocating
for a new model, based on mutuality, friendship building, accompaniment, etc. In order to honor their request, our
pilgrimage will be to get to know the Cubans, gain some understanding of their
context and history and commitment to social justice, and sew the seeds for
future trips, where there could possibly be some common work on community
projects. In the words of our guide, “From what I have seen, heard, and
experienced, friendship-building is the most appreciated "service"
the Cuban people want.” Also, our
investment in some of the activities, such as in the Kairos Center, will
support their workshops as a sort of micro-enterprise. We are trying to get
away from what has become “service-tourism” among churches and universities,
and make longer-term commitments.
The
itinerary will include time in Havana and Matanzas. We'll spend time at the
Martin Luther King Center and Ebenezer Baptist in Havana, do some cultural
sight-seeing, and have a visit to CENESEX (Cuba's national sex education
center, which is led by Mariela Castro, the president's daughter, and which
does great advocacy on gender equality and LGBTQ rights). In Matanzas we'll be hosted by the Kairos
Center (out of First Baptist Church), which does a lot of work around
preserving Cuban cultural arts and liturgical renewal. There will be lots to do
around music, dance, theater, religion (first protestant church in Cuba is
there, along with centers of Afro-Cuban religion), and we'll have a day at
Varadero, the world's most beautiful beach.
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