A Cuban senior citizen is a model of gift giving.

Armando is a model of how to give gifts.

There’s a tiny church in west Havana, Cuba, that meets on a stained concrete patio outside the home of Poopa. The patio and stackable plastic chairs make up all of the physical elements of their humble church sanctuary.

(Picture of the church group: Some of the church members include Poopa, Pastor Jose and his wife, some translators, and Armando)

One of the church members is Armando, a 71-year-old man who lives in a five-story apartment building nearby. 

The apartment building where Armando lives.

In the summer of 2022, Filter of Hope teams distributed filters and shared the gospel with families near Armando’s church. During their visit, Armando received a filter because of his connection to the church. 

His neighbors needed clean water, too

But Armando was the only person in his apartment building to get a filter. He knew Filter of Hope planned to come back and distribute more filters in the future, but he didn’t want to see his neighbors have to wait. 

So Armando found plastic jugs in various places, enough for many apartments in his building. Using just one filter, he filled up the jugs with clean water and then delivered them to individual units on a regular basis. 

No one asked Armando to do this and no one paid him, but he kept delivering water for about a year. He gives new meaning to the word “regifting.”

He told them, “Someday the churches will come back and give you a filter, too.”

Filter of Hope Comes Back

This past July, Filter of Hope staff member Chuck Roeper and two American church teams from North Carolina and Arkansas came to Havana. Armando’s church was a hub for the filter distribution, and Armando volunteered to guide one of the teams to homes that wanted a filter. 

Chuck was very impressed by Armando. “He was such a kind and gentle person.” 

Armando’s Gifts Opened Doors

““I don’t know how many apartments he brought water jugs to, but I was told it was quite a few. Every home we visited he had given jugs and said that the FOH teams would come. The neighbors were always overjoyed to see Armando, and they excitedly welcomed the American team, too.”

(pictures of Armando and families)

“Armando helped the team install the filter and took part in the whole presentation. More people received Christ in those apartment buildings than usual. Armando’s sweet spirit and kindness had prepared their hearts.” 

Armando’s interest in loving his neighbors only grew. “He wrote down everyone’s name that received Christ. He was going to continue to meet with them to help them grow in their faith and get connected to his church.”

(Armando and his list: Armando wrote down all of the names of the homes they visited and their response so he could go back to the homes later.)

Now, everyone in Armando’s building has the gift of a filter that will give pure water for their family every day. And Armando and his church is continuing to share the gift of the Living Water and help other Cubans grow in their daily relationship with Jesus.