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The Clock Faces Are Synchronized |
A
visit in 1997 by Pastor Steve Michie, Jim Burke and Jean Hrbek of The First
Presbyterian Church of Northport resulted in a challenge by Pastor Omelio
Martinez Anton of Nueva Paz. He asked that Northport and The Presbytery if
LI join the congregation of Nueva Paz to make the rebuilding of their sanctuary
a partnership project. Upon returning to Long Island, it was decided by the
Cuba Work Group to support this effort by making it a unified project of Presbyterians
on Long Island. Seven years later on May 23, 2004 , the new sanctuary was
dedicated on the 100th anniversary of The Iglesia Presbiteriana de Nueva Paz
- 100 years of serving Christ in that small farming village in the center
of Havana Province in Cuba. To help celebrate, a delegation of 10 Presbyterians
from Northport attended the 3 days of celebration with their congregational
partners in Nueva Paz. Emphasis was placed on mission partnership by shared
worship services 200 miles apart. Special gifts such as a new communion set
were placed in the sanctuary of Nueva Paz by the delegation from Northport.
Additionally t-shirts promoting the Centenario (100th anniversary) were shared
by both congregations and photos were taken to be shared helping the bonding
of the two villages. A highlight of the trip was the surprise that one delegate,
Toby Kissam was an expert at repairing "Howard Tower Clocks circa 1904"
and that the Nueva Paz tower clock fit his expertise. Therefore, the clock
which had not been working in many years was able to be repaired, synchrononized
and wound. The clock is now a symbol of the bond between the Two Steeples
and the Two Peoples. Other special projects brought to the church in Nueva
Paz include a computer modem for communications, medicines, and mail - letters
from 5th grade students in St. Paul's Lutheran School in Spanish. On the return
trip, there were letters from the children of Nueva Paz and the exchange of
letters continues. The celebration of a mission partnership is enhanced by
accepting the gifts of the spirit from the ten who visited Nueva Paz and brought
back the love, friendship, and common beliefs of our brothers and sisters
in Cuba to share not only in Northport but in all of The Presbytery of Long
Island.
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The
Sanctuary  Nueva Paz |
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Left - Celebration Eveing, Right Top - The Session Right Bottom - The Delegation |
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