It's only a

30-minute flight from take off in Miami to touch-down in Havana. But for

the Rev. Sam Calleiro that 30 minutes meant a world of difference as he

left the high-tech world of south Florida to visit his home town that

had an eerie feeling of being retrofitted to the fifties.

Walking the

streets on his return to Cuba after a 40 year absence Calleiro said, "It

was nothing to see vintage, well-kept autos from the 1940s and 1950s a

virtual gold mine of antique cars."

Calleiro, his

father, Abner, his brothers, Tony, Reuben and Joel, and Ron Book, church

elder, made the journey as part of an effort to reconnect with fellow

Christian workers in Cuba. Fidel Castro, Cuba's dictator, began opening

the door for religious workers to come to his island nation about five

years ago. Calleiro's team left Jan. 8 and returned Jan. 15.

"It made

an impact on my life and heart so much because it made it real to me that

I had traveled to visit family and the church still under oppression;

also, I saw my brothers and sisters in Christ who are faithful under that

oppression," Calleiro said with obvious emotion.

Calleiro visited

a Baptist seminary where about 60 students study to prepare themselves

to teach and preach the Gospel of Christ to the people of Cuba. He noted

that the seminary has been strategically located overlooking the city

of Havana. He said he was profoundly impressed with the dedication of

the students at the seminary.

Abner Calleiro,

Sam Calleiro's father, fled with his family out of Cuba in 1963, rather

than remain unsure about the future education of his children. Senior

Calleiro did not want his children indoctrinated in the Communist propaganda.

As he reflected

on his personally epochal journey, Calleiro said, "I just wish I

could impress upon the hearts of the Cubans the hope that they and we

have in Christ. I saw very few smiles on the streets of the city. The

Christians are filled with faith but with little hope. I want to impress

upon them the hope about a better future day."

"They

know they are deprived, but they don't know how much they are deprived,"

Calleiro added.

Asked if the

trip was what he anticipated, Calleiro said it was "worse than I

imagined." He mentioned there was a continuing, daily struggle for

food and jobs. He said that a good job would pay as much as $15 a month.

"They have to boil the water and the homes are gradually falling

apart," he added.

He said he

observed, however, that under the socialist economic system there was

a thriving capitalistic black market.

His team took

a tour of locations of special interest to the Calleiro family. Their

former family house is now a cafeteria for workers on an orange grove.

His grandmother's old house remains in the family and is occupied by his

cousin, by a special arrangement with the government.

According to

Calleiro, however, the trip was not about family, but the Kingdom of God:

"Pastors and ministers in Cuba want to make connection with us and

we with them, establishing fellowship and hearing each other's teaching."

Calleiro said

he looks forward to returning on a regular basis. "The people are

incredibly hungry for the Gospel. They are willing to listen and to change,"

he added.

Calleiro is

senior pastor of Perimeter South Community Church which now meets in the

Lafayette Center for Continuing Education (the old Fayette County High

School). For more information, call the church office, 770-716-2332.

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