Mission Trip to Poland 2006

Report on Poland Mission Trip 2006

A team of four (4) arrived Szczecin, Poland August 4, 2006 via Berlin, Germany.

First of all, a special expression of thanks to the Morningside youth who prayed for us and provided snacks and prayer cards each day. They were all needed and appreciated. We also thank all the Morningside members and friends who kept us in their prayers as well. We knew that GOD’S people were praying for us as we served HIM.

We also thank Pastor Gustaw Cieslar, Pastor of the Szczecin Baptist Church, Szczecin, Poland and the members of the Szczecin Baptist Church who worked very hard along beside our team. Also a special thanks to Krystian who is working very hard for our LORD in Stargard, Poland.

Our mission objective was expressed in the title of the workshop, “Each One Teach One” and to assist the members of the Szczecin church with a three (3) day Bible school for children, youth and adults.

We averaged 70 attendees of which 16 were workers at the Bible school.

General Information and comments about the Szczecin Baptist Church:

The Szczecin Church was established in 1844 by a German Minister. It is 162 years old. It was originally a Baptist Church. In 1946 the Communist took it over and made it into an apartment house. The ceiling in the sanctuary was so high they had to leave it as a sanctuary. Then in 1989, when Poland was no longer Communist, the government gave the church back. They gave it to the Methodist but later found out it originally belonged to the Baptist. So it was given to the Baptist in 2002.

The church from its beginning has been a mission minded church. Before the war they had sponsored 22 missions. So again they are thinking of reaching out to the Polish people through missions. It is something else. It is a church well established in the faith and strategically located.

The Szczecin church has 2 missions – Stargard and Gryfino. Swinoujscie (Seaside) was a mission started by Szczecin years ago and is now on its own as a church.

The Gryfino Mission is a work in progress. It is a house left to the church by a lady at her death. Gryfino is a wonderful town of about 20,000 people and the property is located near town and next to several large apartment buildings. In fact, a new apartment building will be built adjacent to and joining the Gryfino Mission property. The Gryfino Mission is an outreach to the community.

The church in Szczecin was being used for church services and gatherings on Sunday up until a few months ago when they began the renovation of the church. Pastor Gustaw rented a school about a mile or so from the church for Sunday services until they complete the renovations which may take some time. All depends on funds. They still use the church for meetings during the week for meetings and Bible study. The building is on the historical register so they cannot tear it down. It would be cheaper for them to build a new building versus renovating the existing structure. But that is not an option.

The church still has some apartments the church has to rent to the tenants or else purchase or provide another apartment for the tenants. The income from all the apartments is about $400 per month. One man rents an apartment for $80.00 per month and does not live in it. He says he will sell it to the church for $30,000 plus. Of course the church cannot afford to pay such a large sum for the apartment.

The church is fortunate to have a member who is an architect. He also plays music for the church. He has checked the building’s foundation and structure and they are sound. They have received approval (June, 2006) from the government permitting agencies to renovate the church and add a top floor to the building. This is important to provide a better roof structure than the building currently has and additional space which the church can use.

They estimate the cost to be $500,000 including the renovation of the basement. The renovation of the basement has already begun by the church members. But the church members have done all they can do except for some insulation. The rest of the work has to be done by a contractor.

They plan to have a coffee house and a Christian bookshop in the basement. These are important for outreach for 2 purposes: (1) across the street from the church is a prison. People line up to visit those in prison and have to wait for several hours. A coffee shop and a Christian book store across the street would be very inviting to those who are waiting in line. (2) There are 7 universities in Szczecin. The coffee shop will be very appealing to the young people and passers by as well. There are about 9,000 sq. feet in the basement. They also want to have a large meeting room for Bible study and other rooms for youth group meetings. Much potential.

The Szczecin Church has a piece of property they have on the market for $250,000. When that property sells they will use that money for the renovation. We discussed a loan from the bank but that is not an option.

The Szczecin Church is considering selling the Gryfino property. They think it will bring about $35,000 but they are still considering if that property could be best used for outreach in that community.

Pastor Gustaw is considering raising his own support money so the salary the church is currently paying him will go towards the needs of the church. The church members seem to be doing their part and are very excited about the church and its future. Out teams thinks it is a beacon of hope for many.

Pastor Gustaw will speak to the Sunday school at Morningside October 29, 2006 at 9:45 AM.

The Poland Mission team was led to give assume of money to the Szczecin Church to help them toward finishing their basement. The money was greatly appreciated and will be used to purchase the insulation. The members will install the insulation. An e-mail was received a few days ago and the members have already used the money to purchase the insulation and it has been applied by the members.

Sunday afternoon the team was picked visited the Stargard Mission about 15 miles away from Szczecin. The Stargard mission is located in a rough area of Stargard.

A young man we call Paul, whose real name is Krystian, drove us to the Stargard mission in his car. I was not sure we would make it but he assured me it was a good car. It began to rain. The windshield wipers were bent and streaked as they swiped across the windshield. It was obvious the car needed windshield wipers. Then the windshield began to cloud over as vapors flowed up from the dashboard of the car. Then the red light on the dashboard came on alerting us that the car was overheating. We stopped at a service station where he put water into the car cooling systems reservoir and off we went to Stargard.

I could hear a clicking sound as he accelerated the car from stop to faster speeds. I knew exactly what it was. His CV joints were about to go. I asked him about them. He said the car needed some work. I fully agreed. No more major problems, except in order to open the car door from the outside to get into the car, you had to make sure the windows on the doors were down because you had to reach through the windows and open the car doors from the inside.

The LORD is so good. The LORD provided Krystian with some money and he was able to sell his car for $400 and purchase a mini-van for $800. This is what he wanted so he could pick up children and people to attend mission services and VBS in Szczecin. Krystian made us very tired with all he has going on. He has a heart for the LORD and a servant heart. We think of him as a young Paul.

Our team was blessed with members who are committed to our LORD and were well prepared for the mission trip. The team had to be flexible because we did not know how many children, youth or adults would be helping or attending. We did not know our involvement in another city, Stargard. The team trusted the LORD to provide and guide. HE did. This was HIS mission trip and we had the joy of participating and see HIS hand at work.

Again, thanks for all your prayers. It was as if you were right here working along beside each of us.