Letter to America from Poland

 
Travel to the beautiful Beskid mountain range in southern Poland, to the region of Silesia, to a 700 year old village named Dzięgelów lying near the Czech border, and you will find the headquarters for international and domestic missions of the Lutheran Church in Poland (official name:  The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession). 

Even though Poland, a strongly religious country, is over 90% Catholic, Lutheranism is especially strong in southern Poland and in Silesia thanks largely to the conversion of the prince of Silesia to Lutheranism shortly after the reformation began. From that time on, the protestant church has had an especially strong presence in south-central Poland. Today, there are about 80,000 members of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in 189 congregations throughout the country.

The mission center in Dzięgelów, directed by Rev. Grzegorz Giemza carries out a number of different activities in the name of the church.  For example, every day of the year it produces a one-hour Christian radio show.  It also has an active youth and children's ministry.  This ministry, nurtured by Jasia Gazda, holds "English speaking" summer camps for children of all ages where the materials used for English instruction, written by Jasia, are biblically based.  Thus, the teachers can teach the children about their faith even as they are teaching them English. The biggest ministry event of the year is the Evangelistic Week which is a crusade held the first week of July every year for over 50 years. Over 2000 attend the seminars, programs, and evangelistic event every day of this event having a lasting impact on the bringing of the Gospel to Poland.

Another important part of the mission center is the Bible school that is located on its premises.  And it is to this school that I came with my wife for the second time to teach the students a course on the Book of Psalms.  The school is directed by Rev. Tim Hinrichs, a member of the American Free Lutheran Church here in the United States, and his wife, Renata, a native of Poland who speaks fluent English and who served as my interpreter during our stay. 

The school has two separate aspects to it.  First, there is the weekday school.  Here, a group of students enroll for a year of coursework while living on the premises.  During the year, they take courses in Old and New Testament, Doctrine, Church History and Practical Theology such as counseling.  The students come to the school for many reasons.  Some of them have or are working toward Master's Degrees at other institutions.  Others may enroll at a university or some other institution at the end of the year.  A few of them may still be trying to figure out what they want to do.  All of them share a love for God's Word and a thirst to know more about him.  Several of them have gone on to study for the pastoral ministry or to become religion teachers in a Polish school.  This year of study gives them a great foundation for their faith and through it, future leaders of the Lutheran Church in Poland are strengthened and nourished.

Second, there is the weekend school.  Every other Saturday, people from as far away as Kracow (an hour and a half drive) come to the school to study the Bible and Christian Doctrine.  Many of these are professional people who work long hours during the week.  Many others are students at a University who go to classes every day during the week.  They come to the school and study theology from 8:00 in the morning to 9:00 or 10:00 at night!  During the two Saturdays that I taught, there were close to thirty men and women who attended!  Their love of the Scriptures and their desire to learn more about the Christian faith was a great inspiration to me.

 Thirdly, this year the classes on Saturday have been broadcast live across to the other end of Poland via the internet to a group of seven students who are enrolled in the school through their congregation. In fact, the classes I taught were simultaneously broadcast to students in Mrągowo (NE Poland). They hope to open other branches in the near future so more can be blessed through the study of God’s Word.

Tim and Renata are tireless in their many duties on behalf of the school:  teaching, counseling, translating, promoting the school and administering it.  In the midst of it all, they exude a sense of joy and peace and display a great heart for reaching out to others with the Gospel of Christ.

Though the LCMS has no formal relationship with the Lutheran Church of Poland, my colleague Bob Kolb and the Institute for Mission Studies under his leadership has given a number of my colleagues the opportunity to visit Poland and share in the work of the Great Commission with the beautiful Lutheran Christians of this country.  It is one more example of how the Holy Spirit continues to enable the Seminary to carry out its mission to both the Church and the world.

Tim Saleska