Pastor Chris Miller returned from his mission to Cuba a changed person. The Cuban Christians had ministered unto him.
"The most spiritually refreshing experience of my life," said the Atlanta Church of God pastor.
His recent trip to the newly open Caribbean island was no lark. It had been 10 years in the making.
His guide and mentor in Cuba was a friend and occasional household guest, David Wilson, a Jamaican-born resident of Cuba who for 60 years has been building congregations on the island.
The friendship between Miller and Wilson had been ongoing for years.
Miller and his son, C.J. Miller, went as soon as the island opened to the United States. Their purpose was to continue building on the inclusiveness of Christianity, something they discovered with abundance in Wilson.
"David has established some 150 congregations in Cuba. A remarkable story," Chris Miller said.
"Most of us are ordinary in the church, but now and then there are significant persons. I believe David compares with leaders such as Martin Luther and John Wesley. He's that kind of man. His graciousness, I wish I could become more like him."
To refresh that friendship, Chris and his son C.J. spent 21 hours getting to Cuba, running through the Miami airport with five minutes to spare to make their last chartered flight from Miami to the island.
"That was our first miracle," Miller said.
"Then, we got through airport customs without a problem, which was fortunate because we had to list the purpose of our visit as religious. And Cuba, even though it is depending now upon tourism, is cautious about religion."
"They treated us royally. I mean providing feasts for our meals when I knew they didn't have much themselves," Miller said.
"And their warmth. Their gracious affection. Little girls would kiss you on the cheek. It was just a life-changing experience for me."
Most impressive was the spirit of the people.
"Their hope. They don't have everything yet, but they are vibrant. I had studied and prepared myself for this trip, but I had not known of the spirit I would discover there."
Any hardships? One.
"To get to those interior churches, we three men had to ride 1,000 miles in the backseat of that old Dodge Neon. And even then, we had reached only the middle of that 783-mile-long island."
In sum, Miller's adventure was part of the larger goal he has here.
He has engaged with other pastors and other churches in 10 years of mid-week morning prayer meetings, coming to realize the church is like a family. Everyone is included, even if everyone is not the same.
"Sameness is not religious. In a family, members are born and that birth is the central point. In the church, there is a rebirth into the church family. Everyone belongs. Everyone's not the same, but everyone is part of the family. And the best representation of the church is the family."
Moreover, Miller said he'd found through praying with one another that everyone is included.
"One first comes to know the other through prayer, and then, despite differences, you come to trust that person. That's what we believe will be the awakening of America. It will come from small groups such as ours and those that Pastor Wilson has in Cuba."
Such change will not an easy step. People will be cautious to protect their beliefs, he said.
"But our interest is in God's leading. What we've learned is that we need one another. And we do that coming together at the community level.
"And from what I found in Cuba, I'm convinced they are becoming missionaries to America. We are past that point of just being missionaries to them."
And then, Miller had one last story about his mentor, David Wilson.
"David was able to do what he did for 60 years because he didn't leave Cuba when Castro expelled the missionaries. He hid, sometimes living on the streets, continuing to build congregations. When we asked him, he said simply, 'I couldn't leave.'"