Calabazar de Sagua is a small rural farming community. There are about 8,000 people in the community, There are some cars and trucks in the town, including many farm vehicles. Many horse-drawn taxis can be seen on the streets, too. The pastor of the church has changes frequently in response to the needs of the surrounding area. Currently, the congregation is served by a recent seminary student, working locally under the supervision of an ordained Pastor who has a congregation in another town. The ordained Pastor is also the Moderator the Session. As is the case of many small towns, Calabazar is extremely friendly and most people know each other. There are not many merchants in the town, but there are many home-front stores and food markets.
Pastor:
Marielys Cabrera
Congregation:
Founded December 1918
60 participants in worship
Mission Activities:
- Laundry project
- Senior social activities
- Sunday School
- Senior Visitation Program
- Young Adult Fellowship
Connections:
Members of the First Presbyterian Church of Howard County visit this partner church at least once a year and try to take new visitors from First of Howard each time we visit. During our visits, we participate with them in worship services; we visit senior members of the church and conduct Bible study and prayer sessions with them; we participate in activities for the young Sunday school age children; we are very involved with the young adult people in the church and stay in touch with them via email. Each time we visit, we carry notes from members of our church and try to keep them informed of people for whom we pray each week. From time to time, we send electronically, copies of our church bulletin. When they need equipment to use at the church, we make every effort to take it to them. During our recent visits, for example, we took a projector, a computer and a printer which were purchased with funds from a garage sale which was held by The Senior Women’s circle at First. Each time, we take them Spanish copies of our booklet we use during our circle meetings and exchange thoughts from the study of these materials. The difficulty of communication is the primary hurdle we face in our partnership, but this has not prevented warm friendships from forming. Our first visit to Calabazar was in January 2011. Our formal partnership has been in place since October 2012 and is next set for renewal in December 2019.
Church Partnership:
First Presbyterian Church of Howard County (2011)
