April 08, 1965 – Rev. Herbert Caudill was arrested by the Castro regime in Cuba as being the chief leader of a band of conspirators against the Cuban government. Even though the charges were trumped up, the tribunal found him guilty. Sentenced for ten years, Caudill was released from the Cabana prison on Nov. 25, 1966. The authorities said that it was because of medical treatment that could not be obtained in Cuba. Caudill was born in Georgia in 1903. At 15 he came to a personal faith in Jesus Christ, and soon after, he testified to his faith in the waters of immersion. During that first summer he read the Bible through. After graduation from high school in 1922, he enrolled at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. In 1926 he was ordained by the Tattnall Baptist Church in Macon, and then enrolled in seminary in Texas. While at Mercer he met Marjorie Jacob and they were married in Oct. 1930 after he had served in Cuba for a year as a missionary. Before that he pastored four different churches in Georgia and Marjorie continued her training in the piano and seminary. After mastering Spanish, their ministry began with the Spanish-speaking church in Calabazar. In 1933, the Caudills returned to Georgia so Marjorie could give birth to their first child. While away, Revolution broke out, but they returned and continued to minister in Regla, across the bay from Havana. He assisted the young Cuban preachers in church planting. When the government of Fidel Castro took power, the Caudills determined to remain at their post but they did send their son back to the U.S. He paid the price for his leadership position, but he won the crown.
Condensed by Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: pp. 192-94. [CF: Tom McMinn, The Caudills: Courageous Missionaries (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1982), p 59.]
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