Message from Marilin, La Boca, Cuba | Quaker Religious Education Collaborative

From Marilin Escalona Santiesteban, of la junta mensual de Bocas, Cuba:

Mi experiencia en tiempos del aislamiento social:

My experience in times of social isolation:

Hermana/o míos, soy ya una anciana pero Dios me ha mostrado que debería salirme de los esquemas y la monotonía.

I am already an old woman but God has shown me that I should get out of the schemes and monotony.

Volverme a enamorar del Dios de mi ministerio.

May I fall in love again with the God of my ministry.

Durante el aislamiento las clases dominicales y todo culto cesó.

During the isolation Sunday classes and all worship ceased.

¿Qué hacer con los niños y las personas de la tercera edad?

What to do with children and the elderly?

Escribimos poemas, mensajes, cartas de exhortación y animo a nuestros niños y a adultos,

We write poems, messages, letters of admonishment and encouragement to our children and adults,

espontáneamente comenzamos a recibir las respuestas en poemas, cartas, mensajes

spontaneously we began to receive the answers in poems, letters, messages

y se dio un intercambio de textos inspirados por el amor y la confianza en Dios, sin dudas obra del mover del Espiritu.

and there was an exchange of texts inspired by love and trust in God, undoubtedly the work of the move of the Spirit.

Pero gratificante fue que se sumaran personas (en los hogares donde llegaban los mensajes)
It was gratifying that people joined (in the homes where the messages arrived)

que nunca fueron a la iglesia padres, abuelos, hijos y nueras de los miembros de la iglesia y que ellos también fueran inspirados.

that parents, grandparents, sons, and daughters-in-law of church members never went to church and may they too be inspired.

Es la bendición del Espíritu.

It is the blessing of the Spirit.

Hay un himno que aparece en nuestros himnario ” Tu has venido a la orilla” el traduce lo que siento.

There is a hymn that appears in our hymnal “You have come to the shore ” he translates what I feel.

Thas venido a la orilla,

nos has buscado ni a sabios ni a ricos;

tan sólo quieres que yo te siga.

Estribillo

Lord, you have come to the seashore,

neither searching for

the rich nor the wise,

desiring only that I should follow.

Señor, me has mirado a los ojos,

sonriendo has dicho mi nombre,

en la arena he dejado mi barca,

junto a ti buscaré otro costas.

O, Lord, with your eyes set upon me,

gently smiling, you have spoken my name;

all I longed for I have

found by the water,

at your side, I will seek other shores.

An Introduction

The Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC) is an international, cross-branch, grassroots network of Friends sharing a stewardship for lifelong Quaker faith formation through religious education. We formed in April 2014 and now serve more than 300 Friends in our network. We actively engage and support each other across languages and continents. We gather for regional and annual conferences and offer monthly Conversation Circles via an online conferencing platform.

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