Shared by our Parish Associate, Reverend Dr. Susan Rose, who recently represented our church and presbytery on a mission trip to Cuba:

“Joey is well known at Memorial for sharing his love of Christ by giving out small, handheld wooden crosses to members and visitors.  Now a 9th grade student, this has been Joey’s practice for several years.  

If you’ve attended worship, enjoyed a coffee in Fellowship Hall, or lingered to chat in the courtyard, then chances are high that Joey has stopped you in order to give you this gift.

Before leaving for a recent mission trip to Cuba, I asked Joey if I could take some crosses to share with the churches we would be visiting.  Of course, he said “yes!”

Once in Cuba, in my limited Spanish, I shared these handheld crosses with people in the churches while telling Joey’s story.

Often, an individual would ask if he or she could have two crosses in order to be able to keep one and share the other with a loved one.  

Our host church, Central Presbyterian, is the largest church in its presbytery in Cuba..  I was happy to be able to leave a bag of crosses with them to share with their ministry programs.  The picture below (center) is of the Women’s Ministry, which meets on Saturday mornings.  

All of the women in the photo are holding their wooden crosses—sent with love from a 9th grade student in America.  

While we know this gift doesn’t fix the dire situation in Cuba, our prayer is for God to use Joey’s handheld crosses to remind our Cuban brothers and sisters that they’re seen and loved.  

Many thanks to Joey for helping us sharing Christ’s love and all-encompassing hospitality with our Presbyterian partners in Cuba!”