DR. R. C. SPROUL:
"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, is the startling conclusion to John's prologue, 'In the beginning was the Word'. The Cosmic Christ enters our humanity. The birth of Jesus is the very center or core of human history. It is the supreme moment of visitation of the eternal with the temporal, the infinite with the finite, the unconditional with the conditioned. It is the center point of the very meaning of human history. It is Christmas, the moment of nativity when the eternal God became flesh for our redemption."
Monday, December 14, 2009
Curtis and Leroy
You may have seen this, but I thought it was too funny to pass up!
Curtis & Leroy saw an ad in the The Oxford Eagle Newspaper in OXFORD, MS. and bought a mule for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day. The next morning the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, fellows, I have some bad news, the mule died last night." Curtis & Leroy replied, "Well, then just give us our money back." The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already." They said, "OK then, just bring us the dead mule." The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with a dead mule?" Curtis said, "We gonna raffle him off."
The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead mule!" Leroy said, "We shore can! Heck, we don't hafta tell nobody he's dead!" A couple of weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis &Leroy at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and asked. "What'd you fellers ever do with that dead mule?"
They said,"We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do.."
Leroy said,"Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898.."
The farmer said,"My Lord, didn't anyone complain?"
Curtis said, "Well, the feller who won got upset. So we gave him his two dollars back."
Curtis and Leroy now work for the government. They're overseeing the Bailout Program.
Curtis & Leroy saw an ad in the The Oxford Eagle Newspaper in OXFORD, MS. and bought a mule for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day. The next morning the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, fellows, I have some bad news, the mule died last night." Curtis & Leroy replied, "Well, then just give us our money back." The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already." They said, "OK then, just bring us the dead mule." The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with a dead mule?" Curtis said, "We gonna raffle him off."
The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead mule!" Leroy said, "We shore can! Heck, we don't hafta tell nobody he's dead!" A couple of weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis &Leroy at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and asked. "What'd you fellers ever do with that dead mule?"
They said,"We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do.."
Leroy said,"Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898.."
The farmer said,"My Lord, didn't anyone complain?"
Curtis said, "Well, the feller who won got upset. So we gave him his two dollars back."
Curtis and Leroy now work for the government. They're overseeing the Bailout Program.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
You Could Have Bought Cuba
You could have bought Cuba, and the package would come without Fidel or Raul Castro.
A real estate group in the Miami area was representing a organization that had the rights to the island and at first glance it looked like a fun project.
"There should be a lot of rich Cubans interested," one of the promoters said.
"There should be a lot of rich Cubans interested," one of the promoters said.
A video tape prospectus was going to be shipped any day. There was a website. But suddenly the steam behind the project dissipated. The Cuba sale had gone silent. What would have been a fun idea evaporated like spit on a griddle.
The "Island of Cuba" was part of "The World," a man-made series of islands just off the coast of Dubai. Shaped roughly like the land mass of the Earth, the various "countries" were being sold to high rollers and corporations world wide. The islands were to be laced with mansions, hotel developments, resorts, all themed to the corresponding country.
The "Island of Cuba" was part of "The World," a man-made series of islands just off the coast of Dubai. Shaped roughly like the land mass of the Earth, the various "countries" were being sold to high rollers and corporations world wide. The islands were to be laced with mansions, hotel developments, resorts, all themed to the corresponding country.
Yes, there is a small island representing Cuba within the $14 billion project, which by the way was basically the dredging costs.
How much to buy Cuba? The ultra small patch of sand would set you back about $10- to $15 million. The owner would have to create the ambiance that would replicate "Cuba."
How much to buy Cuba? The ultra small patch of sand would set you back about $10- to $15 million. The owner would have to create the ambiance that would replicate "Cuba."
But alas, there seems to be no chance to purchase "The Pearl of the Antilles." The World project is slowed, if not stopped altogether according to news reports. Not maintained, the sandy islands could slip back into the water. Cuba could go under quicker than most due to size and no apparent buyer on the horizon.
Now the world's financial squeeze has finally surfaced in Dubai. The go-go days have screeched to a halt. Will the financial crisis squash any chance of someone buying "Cuba?" Likely, and so a Cuba without the Castro Brothers continues to just be a dream, at least in the short term.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Abegg ELL -Pruning and Plans for the Future
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
We are thanking God for so much this year, including each of our friends and supporters.
The Abegg's Electronic Love Letter
To those who have been called,
who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ;
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
-Jude 1:1
Abegg Family Updates: Pruning and Plans for the Future
I like grapes. I also like what we get from grapes: juice, jam, raisins and good Californian or Chilean wine. (I don't hide my bias). Anyway, what does this have to do with a family update? No, we're not starting a vineyard (though Claudia dreams of doing just that), but the Lord used a recent sermon on John 15 to give me a better understanding of what He has been doing in "our" life over the past few years.
If you've been following the Abegg chronicles you know that up to a month ago we anticipated stepping away from LAM and parachurch missions (missions through a non-church organization). In short we were lead to seriously and is some ways painfully analyze our belief and theology of missions. (To better understand the reasoning behind this please see our "missionunderstandings" blog.) Anyway, I thought that based on our convictions, the best option was to step out of parachurch missions and continue in missions from our local church while supporting the family through a secular job. As the year wore on though, and I didn't sense direction from the Lord as to what occupation I should step into, I began to grow weary and feel more and more barren even as I continued with the ministry projects at hand. I was torn in not being able to see how my theology and my daily work in ministry matched up, and wondered why the Lord (and I do believe it was His hand) would apear to strip something away from me yet not provide something new to serve Him in.
Here's where the grapes come in. Living near wine country in CA didn't make my dad a vinedresser, yet his impressive pruning techniques, akin to current "slasher" horror movies, proved to be exactly what our one and only grapevine needed. Every fall, the yard plants would tremble in fear as my dad got out his preferred pruning instrument, an 18" gas powered chain saw, in order to "clean things up a bit". Nothing green was spared be that oak trees or berry bushes. Guava plants and even the hedge dared not resist his onslaught. Some plants actually survived, their limbs removed, hauled off and burned in our fireplace. But it was the grapevine that always amazed me. Every summer that vine would foolishly send 40 feet of twisting greenery along our fence. And every fall it would stand defiantly before my father only to be hacked back to a pitiful, miserable looking brown stick. Each year I thought, "well, that's the end of that", but each spring it would rise again, stretch its limbs far and amazingly produce clusters of grapes.
In the recent sermon, I learned that true vinedressers do actually prune back each years growth to what looks like a dead stick, although I doubt they use a chain saw. In his own special way, what my dad was doing actually provided the cared that the vine needed and prepared it for the next year's growth and fruit.
What the Lord was doing in Claudia and my hearts over the past "season" is very similar:
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful... 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing... 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples… 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last." John 15:1-17
Less than a month ago, LAM president Steve Johnson asked me to assist in developing what may grow into a "Department of North American Church Missions". The idea is to help mission minded churches to strengthen relationships with their missionaries as well as the ministries they partner with throughout Latin America or the world. On of my concerns this past year was in seeing churches essentially "outsource" missions and let the parachurch (i.e. LAM) handle the care and feeding of their missionaries instead of assuming the role of pastoral care and being a full partner in fulfilling the Great Commission thus receiving the rich returns and benefits that accompany that involvement. Over the past year the Lord, in His mercy, has lead me through a course in missiology and church-missionary relationships even though I wasn't aware of the purpose.
I'll share more on what this new work will look like in the weeks and months to come, but needless to say we are VERY excited about the possibilities and ask for your prayers as we step into this new area of growth and by faith…fruit. Cuba will remain in our scope of ministry and we are excited about some new possibilities to help meet the incredible lack of literature and resources that Cuban pastors have to draw from.
Thank you so much for your partnership over the years. We look forward to what the Lord will be doing as our new branches grow and He produces fruit that will last in our lives, the churches we are involved with and in you, our partners in the Great Commission.
Specific praise, prayer and partnership opportunities:
Praise for the Lord's leading: We are so thankful for the Lord's leading and the work He is currently laying before us. Please pray for His continued guidance, wisdom and provision as we step forward in faith.
Praise for safety and van repair: If you've visited our blog lately you know that our van was involved in an accident right in front of our church that totaled three other cars. We praise the Lord that nobody was gravely injured, and also praise the Lord that we just received it back from the body shop in great condition.
Prayer for Monthly Support: We thank God that between Kevin's dedicating one day a week to home repair work and Claudia's jewelry sales, all the bills continue to be paid. Our hope and prayer is to be able to dedicate this time completely to the ministerial projects at hand. Please join us in prayer for this and for a good response to the end of year donation letters that will be going out shortly.
Prayer for Roof Repair: Over the past year we have been attempting to save enough to re-roof the living area of our home. This has included refinancing (an answered prayer) and setting aside as much as possible on a monthly basis. Still, we are currently about $3,500. and need to have the work done before the rainy season begins in April. Please pray for the Lord's provision.
Prayer for Chilean Wedding: Claudia's youngest sister Christy will be getting married in Chile on May 28th. We hope to combine this wonderful event with visiting family, friends and churches as well as some ministry opportunities. Please join us in praying for the airline and other expenses of this trip, currently tickets are about $800. each.
Prayer for LAM Fundraising Dinner: This Sunday President Steve Johnson and other LAM staff will be in Pheonix for a fund raising dinner in support of various projects as well as the overall budget. Please pray that this goes well and for the Lord's provision through those who attend.
Missionary Support and Special Gifts
Through the generosity and prayers of partners like you, we are able to continue ministering to the Churches in Cuba and elsewhere.
If you would like to make a tax deductible donation please take advantage of the links below or simply send checks to Latin America Mission with a note indicating "For the Abeggs" to:
Latin America Mission P.O. Box 52-7900 Miami FL, 33152-7900.
· Link to a Printable Donation Form. (click link for mail in donation form)
· Link to Online Donation page (click link for online credit/debit card donation)
How to Contact Us
E-mail: kabegg "at" lam "dot" org
Office Mail: P.O. Box 52-7900 Miami, FL 33152-7900
Office Phone: 305-884-8400 x25
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Open house in Mt. Hermon, Santa Cruz this Friday PM!
Hi All!
We've been enjoying fellowship and catching up with friends at WCPC, but are headed down to Santa Cruz next. We'd love to see anyone in the area if possible. We will be having an open house this Friday from 5:00 – 8:00 PM at Huckleberry Cabin at Mt. Hermon. (See below for map link). Huckleberry is located up the hill from the post office. Take Forrest and make your first left on Lake Ln, and first right on Mound. It's the 6th house on the left at the corner of Mound and prospect. Look for the "huckleberry" sign. We'd love to see you there!
In His Hands / En Sus manos;
Kevin S. Abegg
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Abegg ELL - To CA this weekend!
The Abegg’s Electronic Love Letter
To those who have been called,
who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ;
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
-Jude 1:1
***For those in SF Bay Area & Santa Cruz CA, please note that we will be there starting this Saturday. See below.
In this Issue
Project: Recursos Pastorales Update
Waiting on the Lord: What we anticipate for the coming year
Abegg Family Update: In CA starting this weekend!
Missionary Support and Gifting for the Abeggs
Project: Recursos Pastorals
As you know we have been working on a project to provide materials (Bible dictionaries, concordances, Greek textbooks, commentaries, counseling aids etc). to pastors in Cuba. This has been slow going due to the difficulty in getting permission from Cuban authorities to enter religious materials into Cuba. We have been literally mailing in individual books but due to the expense involved are looking at other possibilities for the coming year as well as contacting publishers asking them to partner with us by providing their literature free or charge to a market that they don’t have access to anyway. Please pray for this program and that the anticipated changes would bring greater fruit to the pastors and their congregations throughout Cuba.
Waiting on the Lord
Over the past year I have been doing lots of praying and thinking through my beliefs on missiology, the church and the parachurch’s role in missions. I believe that the primary intuition that the Lord has given us to accomplish the Great Commission is the local church. Though I highly value LAM I have actually been wrestling with my involvement in a parachurch ministry when my heart is with the local church. Thankfully Claudia, the boys and I are intimately involved in a church that takes seriously our call “to make disciples of all nations” and has a heart for Cuba, the Caribbean and Latin America as a whole. After much scripture searching and prayer we believe that the Lord has us at LAM for many purposes, especially to encourage and assist the local churches in Cuba as they seek to fulfill the Great commission in a very difficult place. Please pray for us as we end this year and look forward to what the Lord has in the coming year for our family, Latin America Mission, our home church in Miami and the many churches and pastors we seek to encourage and assist in thiere own ministry to and through their own local church.
Abegg Family Updates:
we’ll be in CAlifornia this weekend!!!
For those in and around the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Cruz. We are headed your way starting this weekend and we’d love to see you!
This Saturday (10/24) Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church: Missions Celebration Weekend
Saturday: We will be presenting a ½ hr. seminar and taking part in a Q&A session on missions and our current ministry to Cuba. From 3:00 pm. – 5 PM
This Sunday (10/25) Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church: Missions Celebration Weekend
9:00 1st Worship service & missionary interview.
10:00 - 10:45 Global Village Missionary Experience
10:45 2nd Worship service & missionary interview.
This Monday (10/26) Walnut Creek
Open House with the Abegg Family. 5:00 – 7:00 PM. We want to see everyone, but simply cant visit each of your homes. So we have reserved the parlor at WCPC (between the library and the sanctuary). We’ll have a few snacks and drinks so stop by on your way home from work or even feel free to pick up your dinner and eat it there.
Friday (10/30) Santa Cruz / Scott’s Valley
Open House with the Abegg Family. 5:00 – 8:00 PM. We are thankful for Walnut Creek Pres that is flying us out for the missions conference which also allows us the opportunity to sneak down to Santa Cruz and see people there. Although we don’t know the exact location yet (watch the website next week for details), we plan on having a similar open house at Mt. Hermon. As before, we’ll have a few snacks and drinks so stop by on your way home from work or even feel free to pick up your dinner and eat it there.
Back to top
Missionary Support and Special Gifts
Through the generosity and prayers of partners like you, we are able to continue ministering to the Churches in Cuba.
If you would like to make a tax deductible donation please take advantage of the links below or simply send checks to Latin America Mission with a note indicating “For the Abeggs” to:
Latin America Mission P.O. Box 52-7900 Miami FL, 33152-7900.
· Link to a Printable Donation Form. (click link for mail in donation form)
· Link to Online Donation page (click link for online credit card donation)
How to Contact Us
E-mail: kabegg “at” lam “dot” org
Website/Blog: http://www.abeggloveletters.blogspot.com/
Office Mail: P.O. Box 52-7900 Miami, FL 33152-7900
Office Phone: 305-884-8400 x25
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sunday's Crash
We are thankful that nobody from church was injured as this happened right when everyone was arriving for the service. We’re all so thankful for God's hand of protection. Claudia was home with the boys since Nico wasn't feeling well. We think the woman in the black car had a seizure and lost control. Please pray she recovers fully and that the Lord gives us opertunities to minister to her. Our van got the smallest amount of damage of the 4 cars. We need to go to the auto body shop, while the others will be shopping for an auto. Please pray for grace for everyone involved.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Baah We're Lambs
Palm Vista had our tallent show last night. Jeremy, Nicholas and Kai Ospina did "Baah we're Lambs":
Friday, August 14, 2009
LESSONS WE'VE LEARNED FROM OUR KIDS #13
Benefit to having a 4 year old: you don't need to purchase a paper shredder. Drawback: he's self serving. - It's a blessing to see that the boys want to serve by washing my car. It's also a blessing when it rains that evening to re-wash what they washed.
Jeremy: "If God is everywhere at once, wouldn't we bump into Him any time we move?" - Jeremy: "Can I pour my own juice when I'm older, like 50 years old?"
Exaggeration happens -Nico to a friend: "Daddy says that if you shake a soda can and then open it, it will blow up the whole house!" - Note to self: the next time you have Jeremy and Nico help with gardening, be VERY specific as to which plants are weeds to be pulled out, and which plants should stay in the ground. P.S. buy Claudia some new flowers.
- 23 story apartment buildings are for throwing paper airplanes or water balloons off of. (OK, Daddy already knew that one).
Jeremy: “Worms live in dirt so that's what they eat. We live in air so that's what we eat… Wait, that's not right!" - Faith of a child -Jeremy: "I can't wait to die." Daddy: "Why would you say that? Don't you know how much we would miss you?" Jeremy: "Yeah, I’d miss you too but then I get to be with God!" (See Phil 1:12-26)
While at Disney for Nico & Grandpa’s Birthday, Jeremy got to take part in "Jedi Training" and is now convinced he can
use the force on Mommy and Daddy: “You don’t want to discipline me”. So here’s some for you Star Wars fans:- Nico: "If knights had to fight dragons today, they'd use light sabers!"
- Nico: Ham Solo is captain of the Mañana Falcon.
- Jeremy: "If I feed a worm a lot, would he get as big as Jabba the Hut?"
- Nico: "If a bad guy came to our house I'd spin around and around with my light saber and he'd just run away!"
- Jeremy: "Chewbacca needs to shave like daddy."
Waiting On the Lord
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. Prov 19:21
I first got my missions feet wet 22 years ago. Over the past two decades, my passion and labor for foreign ministry has not changed but literally multiplied as the Lord provided me a wonderful missions minded wife in Claudia and the chance to teach Jeremy and Nico about being “strangers in a strange land” no matter where we are (Heb. 11:13-16). We anticipate always being focused on fulfilling the great commission and foreign missions in particular, yet for over a year now we’ve sensed the Lord stirring our hearts toward a new path. We believe strongly that the Church, and specifically “local churches”, are the means by which the Lord has given us to “Make disciples of all nations” (Mat. 28). For that reason we have made a point of being intimately involved in a local church wherever God has planted us (California, Chile, Florida and Cuba by extension), and sought to use our gifts and abilities in these churches while receiving the benefit of being under the direct spiritual authority and guidance of pastoral leadership.
Lately we have found ourselves hungering to be more intimately involved in missions work from the ground floor, or “grass roots” level of the local church as they partner with other local churches in various parts of our own countries (U.S. & Chile) and around the world. This may sound strange from someone who has been involved with the parachurch ministry of Latin America Mission for many years now, so I want to carefully emphasize that we have the utmost admiration and love for LAM as a whole. We actually joined LAM because we saw in them a respect for Latin leadership, and a desire to work alongside of churches in Latin America, so please understand that as we consider what steps the Lord would have us take next, it is not due to any difficulties with LAM. Instead, any future changes will be as a result of a God given burden for the local church on both the sending and receiving ends of mission and a continued desire to see the fulfillment of the great commission.
We recognize that this is big news, and as one dear friend told me when we first started considering a change: “It seems like the death of your dream of foreign ministry”. I explained to him that at this point we don't know what the change will be, but it is in reality the exact opposite from a "dream death". The very heart of what we are doing now, and wherever we will be working & serving in the future, doesn’t vary in any way from what we’ve been doing throughout our years of missionary work: following our Lord wherever He leads us. If our hope and desire is to Glorify God and make Him known, instead of seeking our own temporal “dreams”, we have nothing to lose, since the very one we want to Glorify is the one guiding our steps! “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” (Prov. 16:9).
So where do we go from here? Frankly…I’m not sure at this point. So until the Lord opens the next door, we will continue where He has us now, including the various Cuba and other projects at LAM, Kevin working one day a week in home repair, Claudia as a Lia Sophia jewelry advisor and serving in our local church. We are hoping that by the end of summer we will be able to see God’s leading and provision clearly, but as always, we wait on His timing. My purpose in writing this is to ask you to pray for wisdom and guidance for our immediate ministerial work as well as these future decisions. Thank you for your continuing the wonderful encouragement and financial support we have been so blessed to receive over the years. When the time to step into a new job/ministry comes, we will let you, our faithful prayer supporters, our financial partners and our dear friends know with anticipation.
Thank you for your amazing faithfulness which has allowed us to do the things the Lord has called us to over these years.
If you are interested in following my thoughts in a more extensive format, please log on to: http://missionunderstandings.blogspot.com or simply send us an e-mail or give us a call.
In His Hands;
Kevin, for the family.
I first got my missions feet wet 22 years ago. Over the past two decades, my passion and labor for foreign ministry has not changed but literally multiplied as the Lord provided me a wonderful missions minded wife in Claudia and the chance to teach Jeremy and Nico about being “strangers in a strange land” no matter where we are (Heb. 11:13-16). We anticipate always being focused on fulfilling the great commission and foreign missions in particular, yet for over a year now we’ve sensed the Lord stirring our hearts toward a new path. We believe strongly that the Church, and specifically “local churches”, are the means by which the Lord has given us to “Make disciples of all nations” (Mat. 28). For that reason we have made a point of being intimately involved in a local church wherever God has planted us (California, Chile, Florida and Cuba by extension), and sought to use our gifts and abilities in these churches while receiving the benefit of being under the direct spiritual authority and guidance of pastoral leadership.
Lately we have found ourselves hungering to be more intimately involved in missions work from the ground floor, or “grass roots” level of the local church as they partner with other local churches in various parts of our own countries (U.S. & Chile) and around the world. This may sound strange from someone who has been involved with the parachurch ministry of Latin America Mission for many years now, so I want to carefully emphasize that we have the utmost admiration and love for LAM as a whole. We actually joined LAM because we saw in them a respect for Latin leadership, and a desire to work alongside of churches in Latin America, so please understand that as we consider what steps the Lord would have us take next, it is not due to any difficulties with LAM. Instead, any future changes will be as a result of a God given burden for the local church on both the sending and receiving ends of mission and a continued desire to see the fulfillment of the great commission.
We recognize that this is big news, and as one dear friend told me when we first started considering a change: “It seems like the death of your dream of foreign ministry”. I explained to him that at this point we don't know what the change will be, but it is in reality the exact opposite from a "dream death". The very heart of what we are doing now, and wherever we will be working & serving in the future, doesn’t vary in any way from what we’ve been doing throughout our years of missionary work: following our Lord wherever He leads us. If our hope and desire is to Glorify God and make Him known, instead of seeking our own temporal “dreams”, we have nothing to lose, since the very one we want to Glorify is the one guiding our steps! “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” (Prov. 16:9).
So where do we go from here? Frankly…I’m not sure at this point. So until the Lord opens the next door, we will continue where He has us now, including the various Cuba and other projects at LAM, Kevin working one day a week in home repair, Claudia as a Lia Sophia jewelry advisor and serving in our local church. We are hoping that by the end of summer we will be able to see God’s leading and provision clearly, but as always, we wait on His timing. My purpose in writing this is to ask you to pray for wisdom and guidance for our immediate ministerial work as well as these future decisions. Thank you for your continuing the wonderful encouragement and financial support we have been so blessed to receive over the years. When the time to step into a new job/ministry comes, we will let you, our faithful prayer supporters, our financial partners and our dear friends know with anticipation.
Thank you for your amazing faithfulness which has allowed us to do the things the Lord has called us to over these years.
If you are interested in following my thoughts in a more extensive format, please log on to: http://missionunderstandings.blogspot.com or simply send us an e-mail or give us a call.
In His Hands;
Kevin, for the family.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Cuban economy feels heat of world downturn
By JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@MiamiHerald.com
2009 Miami Herald Media Company.
Fernando used to have a cushy job in Havana as a teller in a government bank office with air-conditioning, a nice computer and a bank-provided lunch.
Not anymore.
Amid Cuba's deepest economic crisis in nearly two decades, his office has shut off the AC and his computer constantly crashes because of the heat, exasperating him and his customers. His lunch, Fernando said, has ``shrunk to a snack.''
Driving the bulk of the crisis has been the world recession, which slashed demand and prices for Cuba's few exports, like nickel, and choked off new credits to a government already deeply in debt. Add the island's internal woes, and Raúl Castro's recent description of the problems as ``a matter of national security'' seems like no exaggeration.
After Castro replaced brother Fidel, ``most Cubans hoped for some improvements in the medium term. But now everyone is preparing for worse and worse,'' said one Miamian who recently returned from a visit and asked for anonymity to protect her relatives there.
Castro has adopted Draconian measures to survive the storm in the short term.
To cut electricity consumption by 12 percent -- Cuba imports half its oil needs -- the government has shut down many factories and ordered state office buildings, theaters and other facilities to shut off their ACs. Inspectors also are cracking down on Cubans who steal electricity through illegal hookups with $23 fines -- about five weeks' worth of the average salary.
``Banks are built to keep out robbers, not to let in a breeze,'' said Fernando, who asked that his surname not be published because of fear of government reprisals. ``Without [air conditioning] . . . my office is two bus stops past hell.''
Some hospitals also are shutting down their emergency rooms for two hours a day, and elective surgeries are being postponed until electricity services become more dependable, said Elaine Scheye, a Chicago consultant who has studied Cuba's health system.
LESS FOOD
Portions for many rationed foodstuffs have been cut -- red beans and chickpeas from 30 to 20 ounces a month, salt by half to about four ounces per month -- while food deliveries to factory, office and school cafeterias have been trimmed, according to official announcements.
Harsh police crackdowns on the food black market -- apparently an attempt to ensure that more items reach the legal outlets -- have driven up prices yet left many of the legitimate sales points with shelves oddly bare, Havana residents say.
Even foreign businesses are suffering, with the government tightly controlling withdrawals from their accounts. Castro also replaced his entire economic Cabinet in March, and just last week the legislature created a comptroller's office to attack official corruption.
Yet many analysts in and out of Cuba argue that those belt-tightening moves are far from what's needed to address the crisis.
``Mercurochrome and Band-Aids for deep wounds with heavy bleeding,'' Miami activist Juan Antonio Blanco wrote in his blog, Cambio de Epoca (Epochal Change). Even the official Granma newspaper called the situation ``grave.''
EARLIER TROUBLE
Cuba was already in deep trouble by the fall of 2008, after four hurricanes caused $10 billion in damage -- equivalent to a whopping 10 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) for 2007. Imports for 2008 spiked 41 percent to $14.2 billion from the previous year while exports remained flat at $3.7 billion, meaning the island's already huge trade deficit mushroomed by 65 percent.
Food imports alone rose from $1.5 billion in 2007 to $2.2 billion last year as the government tried to replace hurricane-damaged harvests, according to official Cuban figures.
And then the world economy plunged into recession, drying up lending markets. Foreign commercial lending to Cuba fell by $1 billion in 2008, according to the Bank for International Settlements, a crippling blow to a government that for the past decade had been taking on ever larger debts to pay for imports and older debts -- ``financing by arrears,'' as one economist put it.
Russian auditors reported last month that Cuba had failed on three dates to make payments due on a $355 million loan signed in 2006. And some 80 Cuban government enterprises postponed payments to foreign creditors this year, according to Carmelo Mesa Lago, a University of Pittsburgh expert on the Cuban economy.
GRIM OUTLOOK
With remittances and tourism expected to be flat this year and the price of nickel -- 41 percent of Cuban exports -- at about 25 percent of its 2008 levels, the outlook for 2009 remains grim. Over the past month Havana cut its predictions of 2009 GDP growth from 6 percent to 2.5 percent and then 1.7 percent -- though some Cuba economists are privately predicting a .5 percent drop.
``The country is again facing a situation as adverse'' as the early 1990s, the U.N.'s Economic Commission for Latin America wrote earlier this year. Cuba's economy shrank by 35 percent after the Soviet Union collapsed and cut off its $4 billion-$6 billion annual subsidies to Havana.
LONGER-TERM REFORMS
Since Raúl Castro officially assumed power in early 2008, he has also been putting in place several longer-term reforms that he hopes will give Cuba a more productive, streamlined and less centralized economy.
In his government's most ambitious effort, it has loaned 1.7 million acres of fallow state lands to 82,000 Cubans, hoping to increase food production and slash costly imports. It also shifted Acopio, the notoriously inefficient agency that gathers and distributes farmers' products, from the Agriculture to the Domestic Commerce Ministry.
The government also has increased some salaries as incentives to productivity, allowed Cubans to hold more than one job at a time and let retirees to return to work. Castro last week predicted cuts in government spending on health and education, and said imports would be cut back this year.
Havana also has hinted that it is studying opening the doors wider to foreign investors and abandoning the costly food rationing system. One leading Havana economic analyst, Ariel Terrero, even suggested recently that the government put more of the economy ``in the hands of producers'' -- for example, allowing state grocery or clothing shop workers to run their own enterprises.
`RATIONAL SOCIALISM'
Despite early speculation that the reputedly pragmatic Castro would move Cuba toward a Chinese-like ``market socialism system,'' his reforms have remained relatively moderate.
Brother Fidel remains a powerful opponent of more profound changes even three years after he was last seen in public, analysts say, and Raúl Castro must know that opening Cuba to more market forces could fuel a potentially destabilizing increase in the island's social and economic inequalities.
In a keynote speech to the legislature last month, he prescribed a move toward a kind of ``rational socialism'' that will preserve Cuba's political system while cutting back the bureaucracy, state subsidies and waste, and increasing productivity and efficiency.
``It's a matter of defining, with the broadest popular participation, the socialist society to which we aspire and can build, given Cuba's current and future conditions -- the economic model that will rule the life of the nation in benefit of our people,'' Castro said.
Lest anyone get the wrong impression, Castro added a caution.
``I was not elected president to restore capitalism in Cuba or surrender the revolution,'' he said. ``I was elected to defend, maintain and continue perfecting socialism, not to destroy it.''
Monday, August 10, 2009
In all my trips there, I've always had to bring my own.
|
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Hands Off Honduras by Philip Giraldi
Giraldi does a good job of sifting out the events and giving an understanding of both what happend (and is happening) as well as the consequences. I don't agree with him on every aspect, but I believe he attempted to be balanced in his coverage.
Hands Off Honduras by Philip Giraldi
Hands Off Honduras by Philip Giraldi
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Stop me if you've heard this one: An Imam, a Priest, a Monk and a Rabbi walk into a Turkish game show…
In general I'm pleased when God and Salvation are a topic of conversation, it provides Christians an opportunity to share the eternal, as well as present hope we have in Christ. Paul’s discourse with the Greek Philosophers (Acts 17) took advantage of their idol “to an unknown God” as a springboard to teaching about salvation through Christ’s sacrifice. As a result, a few became believers, but apparently Paul didn’t accept the philosopher’s invitation to return and continue in empty dialogue, he chose to move on. The recent article about a Turkish TV game show offering salvation is great, but there’s one big problem, God is not in the equation at all and I imagine Paul would pause shortly to see if the Lord provides any fruit, and then move on. Obviously the Turkish network is focusing on gathering viewers, and it makes business sense if you can do so from four major religious groups. I imagine (although it’s a stretch) that the four contestants are approaching this to see if there will be any fruit for their particular faith, but I look at the entire show similar to the Greek’s Idol to an Unknown God . In a sense it’s “American…” I mean “Turkish Idol” where contestants try to rationally convince the judges who are atheists, that their religion is best. The understanding is that it is possible to bring people to salvation without God first working in their hearts. The show may not necessarily be dedicated to Biblical Principals: "We don't approve of anyone being an atheist. God is great and it doesn't matter which religion you believe in. The important thing is to believe," but quite possibly can be used by those who not only seek to share their hope in Christ’s salvation, but trust in God to bring the fruit as they are faithful to respond to the opportunities He provides as Paul did on Mars Hill.
Today I’m praying for the wisdom to recognize the opportunities that the Lord places before me however strange they may be, and then to respond to them in faith, trusting the Lord to bring the fruit.
Link to Reuters Article on Turkish Gameshow
Today I’m praying for the wisdom to recognize the opportunities that the Lord places before me however strange they may be, and then to respond to them in faith, trusting the Lord to bring the fruit.
Link to Reuters Article on Turkish Gameshow
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
'We the people are glad he is not in power'
As my friend pointed out in my previous post, 10,000 monkeys equates to the level of international media coverage on Honduras. Below are excerpts from Hondurans that posted with the BBC, and as you will see, we're not getting the whole story. Just as the US has a Constitution, so does Honduras and apparently Mr. Zelaya has violated it, resulting in his removal from the presidency. Now, to be fair, at this point both sides have violated the constitution through their actions, but let’s not forget that a constitution does exist, is the law of the land and the president must fulfill his duties under its rule. I think we need to remember this same point right here in the US as well.
Page last updated at 01:11 GMT, Monday, 29 June 2009 02:11 UK
Mr Zelaya wanted a referendum so he could seek a second term
A new president has been sworn into office in Honduras, hours after the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya.
Congress speaker Roberto Micheletti will serve as interim president until polls are held, Congress said.
The removal of Mr Zelaya by the army came amid a power struggle over his plans for constitutional change.
BBC News website readers in Honduras have been telling us their views:
Daniella Pineda, Tegucigalpa, Honduras -The event this morning should be taken as an arrest against a Honduran citizen, Manuel Zelaya, who broke the constitutional Honduran law in multiple occasions over the last few days. This SHOULD NOT be taken as a coup d'état. The vast majority of Hondurans firmly oppose Manuel Zelaya and are in favour of his arrest. The events happening today were caused by an attempt by Manuel Zelaya to manipulate our country and its constitution to fulfil his ultimate goal of remaining in power indefinitely.
Kennya, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -I live in San Pedro Sula in Honduras, the second biggest city of Honduras. There is no military action around here, things are running smoothly. If it was a resignation or a coup, good thing Mr Zelaya is no longer in power since he was doing everything illegally and trying to stay in power. Thank God that he is no longer here. Now we may be in peace.
Katherine, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -I am writing from Honduras to inform all foreign Honduran residents abroad that everything is calm and normal. The overall emotion is of joy, and we are proud that we have stood up to a leftist. This was not a coup d'etat as some media reports, it was done following the laws of our constitution. I do hope that the international community stops calling this act a coup, because it was not, and the militaries are taking order from the judicial branch, no on their own.
Jorge Suazo, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -I am a Honduran and although I don't approve a "coup", Zelaya violated Honduran laws and acted as a dictator (with Hugo Chavez being his "mentor"), so we the people are glad he is not in power anymore. The Congress already restored Constitutional normality and the military have all the approval from the people. Is not just four or five persons that are against Zelaya (as he said), it is the majority of Hondurans.
Kenneth, Tegucigalpa, Honduras -My name is Kenneth Bustillo, a Honduran, living in Tegucigalpa, capital of the country, there no military movement of serious concern, ex-president Zelaya violated the constitution of the country, his primary goal was to continue in power breaking all the laws stated by the judiciary branch, the majority of the people are happy and relieved of this burden called Manuel Zelaya.
Laura Eyl, Tegucigalpa, Honduras -I am Honduran, and it is quite confusing to understand why today's events have received an "international condemnation". 80% of Hondurans support the so called "coup". Zelaya's supporters belong to a communist party that admires Hugo Chavez. Zelaya's own party "Partido Liberal" turned its back on him after he sold out to Hugo Chavez. This was not a coup. It was the only way Honduras could try to stop an unwanted dictator to turn the country communist. Please help us communicate this to the international community. Chavez continues to threaten us with his military. We need some sort of intervention not condemnation!
Estrella, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -No military movement has been observed here in the city, just a few planes where observed flying in the morning. Here the great majority of people are happy to see that Mel Zelaya is no longer our president, because he created a terror environment in which we all feared loosing our rights with his plans of handing out our country to Chavez, who has been the greatest sponsor of the poll that Mel pretended to have today, without the approval of congress and the national election authorities. With the only objective of him staying as a dictator. Do not condemn us to a socialist government reinstating Mel Zelaya.
Carlos Rivera, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -I am sad for what has happened in my country, but I am afraid that this all has been a necessary action. I am an 19-year-old student that has no tie whatsoever to political ties. I have been witness to many things happening in my country and many evidences of ex-president Manuel Zelaya of clear disrespect to the laws of my country with the sole purpose of extending his mandate and changing the constitution and the democratic system. I feel the need for the international press to know this and listen the voice of the population. What has happened today is not a "plot by a voracious elite" like ex-president argued, it is the inevitable consequences to the constitutional infringement that this person has done in our country.
Warren Post, Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras -President Zelaya did not respect the Honduran Constitution, Congress, Hondurans or the Supreme Court. He was imposing his views, he was warned of the illegality and unconstitutionality of his acts. His dismissal is a fair one. Alma Garcia, Olancho, Honduras
Here in Santa Rosa de Copan there is an atmosphere of festivity following the military removal of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this morning. Citizens here strongly oppose Zelaya and are asking one another "What took the Armed Forces so long?" The only anger I saw was in a coffee shop where Hondurans expressed indignation at what they perceived as pro-Zelaya bias in international news reporting.
Original BBC Page:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/talking_point/8123529.stm
Page last updated at 01:11 GMT, Monday, 29 June 2009 02:11 UK
Mr Zelaya wanted a referendum so he could seek a second term
A new president has been sworn into office in Honduras, hours after the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya.
Congress speaker Roberto Micheletti will serve as interim president until polls are held, Congress said.
The removal of Mr Zelaya by the army came amid a power struggle over his plans for constitutional change.
BBC News website readers in Honduras have been telling us their views:
Daniella Pineda, Tegucigalpa, Honduras -The event this morning should be taken as an arrest against a Honduran citizen, Manuel Zelaya, who broke the constitutional Honduran law in multiple occasions over the last few days. This SHOULD NOT be taken as a coup d'état. The vast majority of Hondurans firmly oppose Manuel Zelaya and are in favour of his arrest. The events happening today were caused by an attempt by Manuel Zelaya to manipulate our country and its constitution to fulfil his ultimate goal of remaining in power indefinitely.
Kennya, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -I live in San Pedro Sula in Honduras, the second biggest city of Honduras. There is no military action around here, things are running smoothly. If it was a resignation or a coup, good thing Mr Zelaya is no longer in power since he was doing everything illegally and trying to stay in power. Thank God that he is no longer here. Now we may be in peace.
Katherine, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -I am writing from Honduras to inform all foreign Honduran residents abroad that everything is calm and normal. The overall emotion is of joy, and we are proud that we have stood up to a leftist. This was not a coup d'etat as some media reports, it was done following the laws of our constitution. I do hope that the international community stops calling this act a coup, because it was not, and the militaries are taking order from the judicial branch, no on their own.
Jorge Suazo, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -I am a Honduran and although I don't approve a "coup", Zelaya violated Honduran laws and acted as a dictator (with Hugo Chavez being his "mentor"), so we the people are glad he is not in power anymore. The Congress already restored Constitutional normality and the military have all the approval from the people. Is not just four or five persons that are against Zelaya (as he said), it is the majority of Hondurans.
Kenneth, Tegucigalpa, Honduras -My name is Kenneth Bustillo, a Honduran, living in Tegucigalpa, capital of the country, there no military movement of serious concern, ex-president Zelaya violated the constitution of the country, his primary goal was to continue in power breaking all the laws stated by the judiciary branch, the majority of the people are happy and relieved of this burden called Manuel Zelaya.
Laura Eyl, Tegucigalpa, Honduras -I am Honduran, and it is quite confusing to understand why today's events have received an "international condemnation". 80% of Hondurans support the so called "coup". Zelaya's supporters belong to a communist party that admires Hugo Chavez. Zelaya's own party "Partido Liberal" turned its back on him after he sold out to Hugo Chavez. This was not a coup. It was the only way Honduras could try to stop an unwanted dictator to turn the country communist. Please help us communicate this to the international community. Chavez continues to threaten us with his military. We need some sort of intervention not condemnation!
Estrella, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -No military movement has been observed here in the city, just a few planes where observed flying in the morning. Here the great majority of people are happy to see that Mel Zelaya is no longer our president, because he created a terror environment in which we all feared loosing our rights with his plans of handing out our country to Chavez, who has been the greatest sponsor of the poll that Mel pretended to have today, without the approval of congress and the national election authorities. With the only objective of him staying as a dictator. Do not condemn us to a socialist government reinstating Mel Zelaya.
Carlos Rivera, San Pedro Sula, Honduras -I am sad for what has happened in my country, but I am afraid that this all has been a necessary action. I am an 19-year-old student that has no tie whatsoever to political ties. I have been witness to many things happening in my country and many evidences of ex-president Manuel Zelaya of clear disrespect to the laws of my country with the sole purpose of extending his mandate and changing the constitution and the democratic system. I feel the need for the international press to know this and listen the voice of the population. What has happened today is not a "plot by a voracious elite" like ex-president argued, it is the inevitable consequences to the constitutional infringement that this person has done in our country.
Warren Post, Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras -President Zelaya did not respect the Honduran Constitution, Congress, Hondurans or the Supreme Court. He was imposing his views, he was warned of the illegality and unconstitutionality of his acts. His dismissal is a fair one. Alma Garcia, Olancho, Honduras
Here in Santa Rosa de Copan there is an atmosphere of festivity following the military removal of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this morning. Citizens here strongly oppose Zelaya and are asking one another "What took the Armed Forces so long?" The only anger I saw was in a coffee shop where Hondurans expressed indignation at what they perceived as pro-Zelaya bias in international news reporting.
Original BBC Page:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/talking_point/8123529.stm
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Coup, coo, coo-coo
Thoughts on Honduras from friends there.
In His Hands / En Sus manos;
Kevin S. Abegg
From: Friends
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 12:26 PM
Subject: coup, coo, coo-coo
Howdy all,
Mmmm, where to begin?
Well, we are safe here in .......... and our streets are fairly quite, for Latin America because no one told the chickens and the dogs!
We now have a nationwide curfew from 9pm-6am. It was effective yesterday and starting again tonight. It really was a good thing that Mel (our ex-president) left, as he broke the law. He and his buddy Hugo Chavez from Venezuela just did not want him to stop being president at the end of the year when his term limit was over. We think this is a good thing.
We have decided to not move tomorrow and not load up the trucks today.
It is not that we enjoy living in an empty house with not fridge, no stove, no washer, no dryer and only 3 office chairs to sit on, it is just that we are unsure of driving across the country and since there is no rush to get there other than some comforts, we thought better safe than sorry.
It is not many times you are given an extra day to pack up a house, so that is good.
We had a HUGE thunder and lightening storm last night which knocked out the electricity around 5pm. It has not fully recovered, as we are in a brown out, but we get electricity a little here and there. Lucky us, it is only our neighborhood.
So, really the fridge, stove, washer and dryer probably would not work anyway!
We had eaten most of our food so we could eat out our last days here, as we love to eat out, but that did not work out so well as everything was closed yesterday. Our great neighbors fed us lunch and dinner!
Our US phone has worked on and off, so we have called the grandmas and the grandpa.
....... said:
Putting 100 monkeys in a room with typewriters for 10,000 hours may not produce Shakespeare, but it will almost certainly produce the international news coverage of the situation in Honduras.
Well put my dear.
So, keeping on praying for us down here. For wisdom when to move, for safety for so many missionaries down here, for Mr Chavez to stay in his own country and not come and visit ours with his army, and for Mrs Clinton to get her facts straight.
Hope your day is dull and boring. It is much more fun.
T.......
Friday, June 26, 2009
Honduras moving toward Chavez and the Castros?
As our media focuses on Jackson's and Fawcett's passing (which are newsworthy items to varying degrees) we are missing what's happening in the rest of the world. Please pray that the Church & believers in Honduras would exemplify Christ as their nation teeters on the brink of bloodshed.
See AP article: Honduras heads toward crisis over referendum
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Cuban Oil and the Embargo
90 miles off the coast of Florida sits a largely untapped field of oil and natural gas. Most of those reserves are in Cuban territory, and not available to the United States. Under existing law U. S. based companies cannot explore, develop, provide drilling equipment, personnel or even investment. Given the present state of the global and U. S. economies, demand for oil has diminished. The present administration and Congress, are committed to building renewable energy sources and developing the infrastructure necessary to distribute that energy. The Congress is opposed to the development of offshore drilling, citing environmental reasons. Yet, until alternative energy is readily available, a long way down the road, the economy will continue to run on oil.When Cuba began selling concessions in 2001 other countries took notice and began to participate. These foreign oil companies include state and publicly traded firms such as PETROBRAS, STATOIL and China. Technically it is illegal for U. S. companies to sell equipment and supplies to these firms for use in the exploration of these fields...
For full article see: http://www.glgroup.com/News/Cuban-Oil-and-the-Embargo-40236.html
Which is an analysis of the original article: "Cuba could become U.S. oil supplier at embargo's end" located at: http://www.glgroup.com/News/Cuban-Oil-and-the-Embargo-40236.html
For full article see: http://www.glgroup.com/News/Cuban-Oil-and-the-Embargo-40236.html
Which is an analysis of the original article: "Cuba could become U.S. oil supplier at embargo's end" located at: http://www.glgroup.com/News/Cuban-Oil-and-the-Embargo-40236.html
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Clive Thompson on Cuba's Potential Tech Boom
Very interesting article by Clive Thompson
Back in the '80s, Ireland was one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, with unemployment as high as 17 percent. But the scrappy nation had one advantage: It always invested in education, so while the Irish were poor, they were smart.
American tech companies like Dell and Intel eventually realized the island was full of underemployed brainiacs and opened up offices there. The Irish were soon performing tasks such as developing software and working in pharmaceutical manufacturing and research. By the late '90s, the influx of jobs turned the country around: Ireland was filled with people who were smart and also wealthy, among the richest in Europe. The Celtic Tiger was born.
Is there another country today with the same potential, one that could erupt in an intelligence-driven boom? Yep, though it's probably not one you'd expect: Cuba...
Article continues at: Clive Thompson on Cuba's Potential Tech Boom
Back in the '80s, Ireland was one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, with unemployment as high as 17 percent. But the scrappy nation had one advantage: It always invested in education, so while the Irish were poor, they were smart.
American tech companies like Dell and Intel eventually realized the island was full of underemployed brainiacs and opened up offices there. The Irish were soon performing tasks such as developing software and working in pharmaceutical manufacturing and research. By the late '90s, the influx of jobs turned the country around: Ireland was filled with people who were smart and also wealthy, among the richest in Europe. The Celtic Tiger was born.
Is there another country today with the same potential, one that could erupt in an intelligence-driven boom? Yep, though it's probably not one you'd expect: Cuba...
Article continues at: Clive Thompson on Cuba's Potential Tech Boom
Couple's Capital Ties Said To Veil Spying For Cuba
(Thompson, NYT) Source Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/world/19spies.html?ref=world
Friday, June 19, 2009; A1
New York Times
By Ginger Thompson
WASHINGTON - She was twice divorced and fresh out of South Dakota when she fell for his worldly sophistication. He came from one of this city's most privileged families, and admired her work helping ordinary people.
Together, Gwendolyn and Kendall Myers set out to give the second half of their lives new meaning. At first, disillusioned with the pace of change in Washington, the great-grandson of Alexander Graham Bell, who at the time was a State Department contract employee, and the housewife turned political activist moved to South Dakota, where they embraced a counterculture lifestyle, even growing marijuana in the basement. They marched for legalized abortion, promoted solar energy, and repaired relations with six children from previous marriages.
When the wide-open spaces of the West quickly grew too small, the couple returned to Washington a year later, renewing their ties to the establishment that they had rejected.
But the government says the real reason for the Myerses' 1980 return was to spy for Cuba. In a complaint that reads in parts like a novel, federal prosecutors allege that Mr. Myers, now 72, used his top-secret clearance as a State Department analyst to steal classified information from government files for nearly three decades, and that Ms. Myers, 71, who worked as a bank clerk, helped pass the information to Cuban handlers. They were arrested earlier this month and are being held without bail.
The strongest argument in support of the government's case may have been made by the Myerses themselves. In the 40-page complaint they are quoted telling an undercover F.B.I. agent how much they admired Fidel Castro, how they sent secret dispatches to Havana over short-wave radio, dropped packages to handlers in shopping carts at local grocery stores, traveled across Latin America to meet with Cuban agents and used false documents to travel to Havana for an evening with Mr. Castro.
American officials say they are still trying to determine what secrets were stolen and the consequences for the nation's security. It appears that the Myerses were not motivated by money. The authorities said that other than being reimbursed for equipment, the couple were not paid for spying. On the contrary, according to the statements cited in the complaint, which one federal magistrate said made the case against the couple "insuperable," the couple felt disdain for America's foreign policy - Mr. Myers's diary described watching the television news as a "radicalizing experience" - and a romanticized view of Cuba's Communist government.
And, just months after Mr. Myers's retirement supposedly ended the scheme, they hinted that spying provided adventure to what seemed to have otherwise been a relatively mundane life. "We really have missed you," Mr. Myers said in April to the undercover F.B.I. agent who was posing as a Cuban intelligence official. "You, speaking collectively, have been a really important part of our lives, and we have felt incomplete."
The arrests of Mr. and Ms. Myers, who have been held without bail since their arrests earlier this month, made headlines around the world and ignited a flurry of messages between Miami and Havana. Prosecutors have refused to speak about the continuing investigation.
Meanwhile, the couple's friends and relatives from Washington to South Dakota are still in shock over the allegations.
"When the F.B.I. came to the door and told me my mother had been arrested, I kept thinking they must have the wrong house," said Ms. Myers's daughter, Jill Liebler, 52.
"The media has painted a picture of him as a loner, a zealot, a man with an agenda," said Michael Myers, referring to his father. "That's not who he is."
But others acknowledged that there were glimpses of the couple they knew in the portrait painted by the government.
Jay Davis, a public defender in South Dakota, remembered a weekend years ago at a mineral bath resort, where Cuba was about all that Mr. Myers talked about. "He made it sound so wonderful, I started thinking seriously about going," Mr. Davis recalled.
Court documents say that Mr. Myers, an expert on European history, became interested in Cuba in 1978. Divorced, he immersed himself in world affairs as an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a contract instructor at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute. According to the complaint, Mr. Myers was invited to Havana by an unnamed Cuban official who had made a presentation at the institute. The trip, according to Mr. Myers's diary, had a profound effect on him.
Going through the Museum of the Cuban Revolution in Havana "was a sobering experience," Mr. Myers wrote about the trip in his diary. "Facing step by step the historic interventions of the U.S. into Cuban affairs, including the systematic and regular murdering of revolutionary leaders, left me with a lump in my throat. They don't need to try very hard to make the point that we have been exploiters."
Meanwhile, Gwendolyn Steingraber was getting her own crash course in world affairs as an aide to Senator James Abourezk, a South Dakota Democrat who was one of the leading proponents for ending the United States embargo against Cuba. A homemaker and a mother of four, she had been swept up in Senator George McGovern's anti-Vietnam War movement of the Democratic Party and began volunteering in political campaigns.
On Capitol Hill, she held a low-level job - mostly involving outreach to constituents - in the shadows of rising political stars, including former Senator Tom Daschle and Pete Rouse, who is a top adviser to President Obama. Former colleagues described her as bright, a bit na?ve and lacking the savvy and formal education - she did not attend college - to move up the career ladder.
"It wasn't the most important job in the office," recalled Wendy Grieder, a former legislative aide. "But to Gwen it was the big time." Peter Stavrianos, another former colleague, added, "She was not remarkably different than dozens and dozens of other people that you ran across in the 1970s who were McGovernites that got into politics for reasons other than to make a lot of money."
Mutual friends introduced Mr. Myers and Ms. Steingraber, who soon became inseparable.
"I have yet to meet a couple who are more in love than the two of them," said Amanda Myers Klein, 40, Mr. Myers's daughter. "They are beautiful together."
In 1979, Mr. Myers, then 42, followed Ms. Steingraber, 41, to Pierre, S.D., where she got a job at the Public Utilities Commission helping farmers use alternative energy. He worked on a biography of Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister, whom Mr. Myers admired for his policies toward the Nazis.
He also tried to make the best of living in the small town of 10,000 - camping, gardening, writing and hanging out at the truck stop talking politics with local farmers. Still, to people who knew him, it seemed clear that Mr. Myers would never fully fit in. "They were different than what we were used to seeing in South Dakota," said Greg Rislov, who still works at the utilities commission. "They dressed different. They lived different. There was no question in my mind that Kendall, with his Ph.D., was looking to do more than sit in a small house in Pierre all his life."
Less than a year after the Myerses arrived, neighbors said, police officers raided their home and seized the marijuana plants in the basement. And soon, the election of a Republican governor cost Ms. Myers, a political appointee, her commission job.
Investigators said a Cuban intelligence agent visited the couple and suggested that they return to Washington to work as spies. They moved back in 1980 and married two years later. Covertly, according to investigators, Mr. Myers became Cuban agent 202. She became agent 123. The complaint against them said he would either sneak documents out of the State Department or memorize information and write it down at home. Investigators said he gained access to at least 200 sensitive or classified reports pertaining to Cuba between 2006 and 2007. Meanwhile his wife would pass information along to Cuban contacts.
The F.B.I. warned the State Department in 2006 of a suspected mole in the agency. In what could turn out to be a significant coincidence, that was the same year that Mr. Myers drew attention for his political views. In a speech at the university where he taught, he derided the so-called special relationship between the United States and Britain as a myth, and said that President Bush had duped Prime Minister Tony Blair into supporting the Iraq war.
The speech received extensive coverage in the British press, and prompted the State Department to issue a strong repudiation.
"His was not the measured, balanced presentation you might expect of a State Department official," said Robin Niblett, a specialist on Europe who spoke at the same event.
By the time the F.B.I. caught up with the couple, Mr. Myers had retired from the State Department and was working part-time as a teacher at the School for Advanced International Studies. But according to the complaint, when an undercover agent posing as a Cuban spy greeted Mr. Myers with a cigar after class, the thrill of espionage returned.
He and Ms. Myers later met the agent in a hotel room, and said they did not want to resume full-time spying, but would be willing to work as a "reserve" force, the court document said. And they said they looked forward to sailing away to Cuba, which they referred to as "home."
"We really love your country," Mr. Myers told the agent, according to the complaint. "The people and team are just important in our lives. So we don't want to fall out of touch again."
Friday, June 19, 2009; A1
New York Times
By Ginger Thompson
WASHINGTON - She was twice divorced and fresh out of South Dakota when she fell for his worldly sophistication. He came from one of this city's most privileged families, and admired her work helping ordinary people.
Together, Gwendolyn and Kendall Myers set out to give the second half of their lives new meaning. At first, disillusioned with the pace of change in Washington, the great-grandson of Alexander Graham Bell, who at the time was a State Department contract employee, and the housewife turned political activist moved to South Dakota, where they embraced a counterculture lifestyle, even growing marijuana in the basement. They marched for legalized abortion, promoted solar energy, and repaired relations with six children from previous marriages.
When the wide-open spaces of the West quickly grew too small, the couple returned to Washington a year later, renewing their ties to the establishment that they had rejected.
But the government says the real reason for the Myerses' 1980 return was to spy for Cuba. In a complaint that reads in parts like a novel, federal prosecutors allege that Mr. Myers, now 72, used his top-secret clearance as a State Department analyst to steal classified information from government files for nearly three decades, and that Ms. Myers, 71, who worked as a bank clerk, helped pass the information to Cuban handlers. They were arrested earlier this month and are being held without bail.
The strongest argument in support of the government's case may have been made by the Myerses themselves. In the 40-page complaint they are quoted telling an undercover F.B.I. agent how much they admired Fidel Castro, how they sent secret dispatches to Havana over short-wave radio, dropped packages to handlers in shopping carts at local grocery stores, traveled across Latin America to meet with Cuban agents and used false documents to travel to Havana for an evening with Mr. Castro.
American officials say they are still trying to determine what secrets were stolen and the consequences for the nation's security. It appears that the Myerses were not motivated by money. The authorities said that other than being reimbursed for equipment, the couple were not paid for spying. On the contrary, according to the statements cited in the complaint, which one federal magistrate said made the case against the couple "insuperable," the couple felt disdain for America's foreign policy - Mr. Myers's diary described watching the television news as a "radicalizing experience" - and a romanticized view of Cuba's Communist government.
And, just months after Mr. Myers's retirement supposedly ended the scheme, they hinted that spying provided adventure to what seemed to have otherwise been a relatively mundane life. "We really have missed you," Mr. Myers said in April to the undercover F.B.I. agent who was posing as a Cuban intelligence official. "You, speaking collectively, have been a really important part of our lives, and we have felt incomplete."
The arrests of Mr. and Ms. Myers, who have been held without bail since their arrests earlier this month, made headlines around the world and ignited a flurry of messages between Miami and Havana. Prosecutors have refused to speak about the continuing investigation.
Meanwhile, the couple's friends and relatives from Washington to South Dakota are still in shock over the allegations.
"When the F.B.I. came to the door and told me my mother had been arrested, I kept thinking they must have the wrong house," said Ms. Myers's daughter, Jill Liebler, 52.
"The media has painted a picture of him as a loner, a zealot, a man with an agenda," said Michael Myers, referring to his father. "That's not who he is."
But others acknowledged that there were glimpses of the couple they knew in the portrait painted by the government.
Jay Davis, a public defender in South Dakota, remembered a weekend years ago at a mineral bath resort, where Cuba was about all that Mr. Myers talked about. "He made it sound so wonderful, I started thinking seriously about going," Mr. Davis recalled.
Court documents say that Mr. Myers, an expert on European history, became interested in Cuba in 1978. Divorced, he immersed himself in world affairs as an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a contract instructor at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute. According to the complaint, Mr. Myers was invited to Havana by an unnamed Cuban official who had made a presentation at the institute. The trip, according to Mr. Myers's diary, had a profound effect on him.
Going through the Museum of the Cuban Revolution in Havana "was a sobering experience," Mr. Myers wrote about the trip in his diary. "Facing step by step the historic interventions of the U.S. into Cuban affairs, including the systematic and regular murdering of revolutionary leaders, left me with a lump in my throat. They don't need to try very hard to make the point that we have been exploiters."
Meanwhile, Gwendolyn Steingraber was getting her own crash course in world affairs as an aide to Senator James Abourezk, a South Dakota Democrat who was one of the leading proponents for ending the United States embargo against Cuba. A homemaker and a mother of four, she had been swept up in Senator George McGovern's anti-Vietnam War movement of the Democratic Party and began volunteering in political campaigns.
On Capitol Hill, she held a low-level job - mostly involving outreach to constituents - in the shadows of rising political stars, including former Senator Tom Daschle and Pete Rouse, who is a top adviser to President Obama. Former colleagues described her as bright, a bit na?ve and lacking the savvy and formal education - she did not attend college - to move up the career ladder.
"It wasn't the most important job in the office," recalled Wendy Grieder, a former legislative aide. "But to Gwen it was the big time." Peter Stavrianos, another former colleague, added, "She was not remarkably different than dozens and dozens of other people that you ran across in the 1970s who were McGovernites that got into politics for reasons other than to make a lot of money."
Mutual friends introduced Mr. Myers and Ms. Steingraber, who soon became inseparable.
"I have yet to meet a couple who are more in love than the two of them," said Amanda Myers Klein, 40, Mr. Myers's daughter. "They are beautiful together."
In 1979, Mr. Myers, then 42, followed Ms. Steingraber, 41, to Pierre, S.D., where she got a job at the Public Utilities Commission helping farmers use alternative energy. He worked on a biography of Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister, whom Mr. Myers admired for his policies toward the Nazis.
He also tried to make the best of living in the small town of 10,000 - camping, gardening, writing and hanging out at the truck stop talking politics with local farmers. Still, to people who knew him, it seemed clear that Mr. Myers would never fully fit in. "They were different than what we were used to seeing in South Dakota," said Greg Rislov, who still works at the utilities commission. "They dressed different. They lived different. There was no question in my mind that Kendall, with his Ph.D., was looking to do more than sit in a small house in Pierre all his life."
Less than a year after the Myerses arrived, neighbors said, police officers raided their home and seized the marijuana plants in the basement. And soon, the election of a Republican governor cost Ms. Myers, a political appointee, her commission job.
Investigators said a Cuban intelligence agent visited the couple and suggested that they return to Washington to work as spies. They moved back in 1980 and married two years later. Covertly, according to investigators, Mr. Myers became Cuban agent 202. She became agent 123. The complaint against them said he would either sneak documents out of the State Department or memorize information and write it down at home. Investigators said he gained access to at least 200 sensitive or classified reports pertaining to Cuba between 2006 and 2007. Meanwhile his wife would pass information along to Cuban contacts.
The F.B.I. warned the State Department in 2006 of a suspected mole in the agency. In what could turn out to be a significant coincidence, that was the same year that Mr. Myers drew attention for his political views. In a speech at the university where he taught, he derided the so-called special relationship between the United States and Britain as a myth, and said that President Bush had duped Prime Minister Tony Blair into supporting the Iraq war.
The speech received extensive coverage in the British press, and prompted the State Department to issue a strong repudiation.
"His was not the measured, balanced presentation you might expect of a State Department official," said Robin Niblett, a specialist on Europe who spoke at the same event.
By the time the F.B.I. caught up with the couple, Mr. Myers had retired from the State Department and was working part-time as a teacher at the School for Advanced International Studies. But according to the complaint, when an undercover agent posing as a Cuban spy greeted Mr. Myers with a cigar after class, the thrill of espionage returned.
He and Ms. Myers later met the agent in a hotel room, and said they did not want to resume full-time spying, but would be willing to work as a "reserve" force, the court document said. And they said they looked forward to sailing away to Cuba, which they referred to as "home."
"We really love your country," Mr. Myers told the agent, according to the complaint. "The people and team are just important in our lives. So we don't want to fall out of touch again."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)