Each week hundreds of Cubans—more than 800 for special events—flock to Maranatha’s hot Sunday services in a structure without air conditioning. The vibrant congregation has planted house churches and missions, but still does not have enough space. It has repeatedly requested permission to build a larger building.
In early May Pastor Amado Ramírez Oliveros reported the long-awaited answer: Cuban authorities not only denied the construction permit, they announced the government is seizing the property that has belonged to the Eastern Baptist Convention since 1947. Maranatha will be forced to pay an unannounced amount of “rent” if it wants to remain in its building...