A May 6 explosion in Havana, Cuba, damaged one of the oldest Baptist churches in the country.
El Calvario Baptist Church lost its domed roof when an apparent gas explosion rocked the city and destroyed the nearby Saratoga Hotel. ABC News reported that 45 people in and around the hotel were killed.
Church administrator Alejandro Clemente González told The Associated Press that 18 people were inside the church at the time of the explosion. All survived.
González said he “called on the Lord” as debris began raining down after the explosion.
“I didn’t know what was happening,” he said.
Help will be needed
El Calvario is the headquarters of the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba. The convention’s president, the Rev. Bárbaro Abel Marrero Castellanos, said the church and convention would be seeking help for the repair work that will need to be done.
“We still don’t know exactly the magnitude of the damage,” he told ABC News, adding there is a possibility some parts of the structure will have to be demolished.
Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Elijah Brown wrote in a May 6 Facebook post: “We praise the Lord that all the people are safe as we also stand in prayer seeking the Lord’s provision for restoration.”
The Baptist Convention of Western Cuba traces its roots to Southern Baptist missions efforts following the conclusion of the Spanish-American War in 1898, according to Historical Dictionary of the Baptists by William H. Brackney.
Baptists bought the property where the church sits in 1889 and gradually established the church, a printing house, a school, and a seminary. The Baptist Convention of Western Cuba serves some 565 churches and almost 70,000 people, according to its website.
Share with others: