Young Boy in Cuba Thanks God for Backpack that Didn’t Burn

Liam, an 8-year-old boy from Havana, Cuba, recently shared his testimony of how he believes God performed a miracle to remind him of the power of prayer, faith, and trust amid life’s challenges. Now he says he wants others to experience that divine presence in their lives too.

Liam’s story took place against the backdrop of a recent visit by a team of volunteers from the General Conference (GC) Secretariat of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, to Havana, Cuba. Led by GC secretary Erton Köhler, associate secretary Elbert Kuhn, and other leaders and their staff, the team participated in outreach and evangelistic initiatives across several congregations. The volunteers painted churches, made minor repairs, and conducted evening evangelistic meetings that resulted in dozens of baptisms across Cuba’s capital city.

Devising a Plan

Earlier in 2024, when GC associate secretary Gerson Santos learned about the GC Secretariat plan for a mission trip to Havana to engage in outreach and evangelistic activities, he wondered how he could best support church members and friends in that island nation. He wanted to preach God’s Word, of course, but he was also interested in making a tangible difference in the lives of some people in Havana.

After asking some questions, Santos learned that a simple backpack is a luxury item for many school children in Cuba. Most families don’t have the funds to buy one, and worse yet, backpacks are often unavailable even when there is money to purchase them.

Santos got in touch with his daughter Anne Elise and her husband Cleber Machado, who pastors the Orlando Central Seventh-day Adventist Church in Orlando, Florida, United States. “She is a children’s ministries leader and is always looking for opportunities and initiatives to help others,” Santos said. “Children and their families at Orlando Central decided to support an initiative of funding the purchase of school backpacks to distribute among a few privileged children in Havana. I eventually arrived in Cuba with twenty backpacks to distribute among children.”

An Answered Prayer

Once the GC Secretariat team arrived in Havana in late July, Santos was assigned as a guest evangelist at the Guabanacoa Seventh-day Adventist Church. There, he preached every evening to church members, their friends, and neighbors. Many children also attended the meetings.

At the evening gathering on August 30, a special story for children highlighted the importance of “praying without ceasing.” During that story time, leaders distributed backpacks to several children who had been inviting friends to the Guabanacoa church meetings. Among them was Liam.

“I had been praying for a backpack before the start of the school year,” Liam said. “But I wasn’t surprised when I got it. I knew that God would give me one.”

A Nighttime Miracle

That night, Liam returned home, placed his brand-new backpack not far from his bed, and soon fell sleep. As a very active child who likes playing in the park and riding his bicycle, Liam is known for his deep sleep. “When he’s sleeping, there no noise or commotion that can wake him up,” a person who knows him well said. “He’s a heavy sleeper.”

That night, however, Liam woke up to find flames and heavy smoke in his room. Liam managed to run from his room to alert his parents and his 10-year-old-brother, David. Eventually, Liam’s parents managed to extinguish the fire in Liam’s room before it spread.

When the family investigated the cause of the disaster, they discovered that the fan in Liam’s room had suffered an electrical malfunction, which resulted in a fire that soon reached a rug by Liam’s bed and moved across the room. Among his scorched belongings, however, Liam and his family were happy to see that his new backpack was still there, intact. The fire hadn’t touched it.

At the Guabanacoa church evangelistic meeting the following evening, Liam and David shared their testimony with church members and visitors.

“I knew that God would protect my backpack,” Liam said. “And if God gave me a backpack, I know that He could also protect me from the fire.”

Then, Liam looked at the rest of the children who packed the front rows of pews. “Never go to bed without praying!” he said.