Inspire, Spring 2002

20 Spring 2002 Maureen Zielinski Stirsman ’58 As prayer chairperson for her Sunday school class at Upper Room Church in Buford, Georgia, Maureen Zielinski Stirsman ’58 heard the prayerful story of Lidia and Albelardo Delgado, who also attend Upper Room. Maureen shares the Delgados’ story in her own words. I n Cuba, the land of Lidia’s birth, the Batista Regime ruled in the 1940s and 50s. During that time, Christians were free to worship. Lidia accepted the Lord when she was five years old. As she grew her prayers included, “Please, Father, help me to know the man you want me to marry. Send me a Christian husband.” Albelardo Delgado was 18 when a friend invited him to a Baptist church where he accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. Lidia and Albelardo’s paths crossed, not by chance, but in answer to Lidia’s prayers. Lidia attended the University of Havana where Albelardo studied pediatric medicine. They were married in 1962 and eventually had two children. In 1959, Fidel Castro, a Marxist guerrilla, overthrew the Batista government. Albelardo sensed their freedom was in jeopardy. People were beginning to leave Cuba in droves. Albelardo requested visas to leave. “You are a doctor. We need you here,” he was told. Albelardo was sent to the Bay of Pigs, where he worked seven days a week and was on call 24 hours a day. By the grace of God, and Lidia’s prayers, somehow he was able to do it. He never lost hope of getting his family away from the place that had become a prison. The career that Albelardo worked so hard to acquire was the very thing that kept him a prisoner in his own country. Many people tried to escape by boat. Some got away. Some died trying. The Delgados continued to pray for visas. “Maybe by Christmas,” Lidia said, wiping her eyes. Five Christmases came and went, and the visas did not come. The Delgado family was like the Israelites in Egypt. Lidia never gave up hope. “It will come, Albelardo, it will come. God has not forgotten us,” she would say. Albelardo replied, “I can live with less food, love, and less conveniences, but I can’t live without my freedom. We have to go. This is like a sentence without end. If you are in prison, at least you have a term to serve.” God did not forget them. Six years after Albelardo’s conversation with the immigration officers, the important letter was delivered. A week later the Delgados settled into their airplane seats and looked forward to their new life. They carried a few bags, old love letters, and some clothes, but they were free! It was 1974. As their children, Richard and Riysa, felt the wheels of the airplane touch down, Lidia put her arms around them and said, “Thank you, Father.” Her heart felt a bittersweet sensation. Tears ran down her cheeks. God had rescued them, and they were in America, where Albelardo went into family practice. Today, Lidia stands in front of the Upper Room Sunday school class in Buford, Georgia, holding a hymnbook. She looks very American in her denim dress and sandals. She smiles at her husband. His dark hair is speckled with gray and around his eyes are laugh lines. This is the man God sent to her when she prayed as a girl. Albelardo answers her smile. Lidia lifts her head and with a voice full of emotion sings: Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds thy hands have made. I see the stars; I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee, How great Thou art, how great Thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee, How great Thou art, how great Thou art. Lidia’s prayers and the prayers of other faithful prayer warriors were answered. Indeed, “How great Thou art, how great Thou art.” Prayer Delivered Them from Cuba