Gathered in a circle in a small building in Santa Clara, Cuba, were teenagers from Glendale Baptist Church, from Alberto J. Diáz Baptist Church, and from the mission in Yabu that AJD sponsors, “The Emmaus Walkers”. The young people met each other timidly, even shyly. Some from each group had expressed anxiety: “Will they like us?” “Will they want to know us?” Those anxieties were soon dispelled. Excited chatter and laugher began to fill the room as shouts of “Vladimir, we need you for a minute!” rose above the noise. (Vladimir was our translator.) Soon names were exchanged, and the young people began to find common ground.
 
Gathered in a circle at Alberto J. Diáz Baptist Church those who had never visited there were called into the center of the circle and welcomed into that community of faith with a musical ritual of blessing and an outpouring of love. Then they were invited to join the larger circle and hence forth to be a part of that group, welcoming others to the ever enlarging circle of friends.

Gathered in a circle in a hotel room, Glendalers shared their observations, feelings, and thoughts about meeting their Cuban sisters and brothers. “They are happy.” “They look you in the eye.” “They asked me to come join the group.” “I was nervous, but after we got there and met them, it was so much fun. I wasn’t anxious at all.” Some of us shared our joy at seeing friends we’ve made on previous trips. As the group in that circle shared, it was obvious that for this trip building individual relationships and getting to know our friends there would be priority. In that same circle, we then read some of the notes you sent with us—your prayers for safe travel and a good journey, your reminders to be open to new and challenging experiences, your assurance that you were with us in spirit, and Walden’s picture with the caption: “This is a circle.”

Gathered in a circle in the sea, we witnessed the baptism of 6 people from the “Emmaus Walkers” mission: Barbara and Ovier, the leaders of the mission; their children, Oviel and Oslaidy; and two other faithful members of the mission, Eduardo and Yordany. Some have been Christians for a long time, but only now had the opportunity to go through the discipleship training and preparation classes for baptism. The Glendalers were honored to be a part of the circle of friends there. As each person was immersed and came up out of the water, we sang “Santo, Santo, Santo” together in Spanish. (One of the few songs the US Americans could all sing in Spanish!) The ones who were baptized were embraced by Niubes Montes de Oca, the pastor of our partner church, as they came up from the water—a visible and moving symbol of being welcomed into the body of Christ.
Gathered in a circle at Glendale on the Sunday after we returned, we shared communion. We were reminded of the abundance of God’s goodness and love and of the threads that connect all who come to Christ’s table even when they are not present one with the other.  Surely our cups are overflowing!