Polish Prayer Meeting

Yesterday I had the blessing of taking part in the Polish prayer meeting. I was half and hour late, I ran into the room, dropping my cell phone with a loud bang. Everyone was silent and turned around to see what happened. I find these awkward entrances quite common in my Lietuve life. There were about 60 of my brothers and sisters there. It was so beautiful to see each of my dearest Polish brothers & sisters share their hearts and visions for evangelizing in Poland. It just brought tears to my heart and eyes.  It was moments like these that God left my heart completely speechless. I’ve been waiting my entire life to meet my young generation of Europeans who love Jesus and really get to know their hearts, souls, what makes them come alive, what makes them cry, what makes them smile, and what drives them to have a relentless passion to live this beautiful life. It was interesting to hear the perspective of what the actual spiritual state of Poland is. I knew that in general Europe is a very spiritually dead country, and less than 3% of the continent of Europe is evangelical.  As missionary Steven Wallet says, “The geography of Poland is like bread and butter, the population is evenly distributed throughout the entire country. In some European countries, the majority of the population lives in the capital or larger cities. In Poland this is not exactly the case. Lots of the people live in small villages throughout the country. There is a huge need to start some type of ministries that are specifically geared toward reaching the people of Poland who live in villages. As discussed in the meeting, young missionaries are more drawn to doing ministry in the larger cities of Poland (Warsaw, Krakow, Katowice, Bratswaw (sorry dearest Polish friends, I know I spelled that wrong). There are many churches and ministries that are strongly established in these cities. There are about 17 other major cities in Poland where my generation of Poles goes to university to study. This is another key opportunity to start ministry in these places as well. As for ministry dreams that were discussed, one Polish couple is trying to find a space in Warsaw to build a community house. This community house would be a place where there would be a coffee shop, areas to do art, record/play music, dance, express any creativity and build local community while evangelizing. My Polish brother Bulve has the idea to start a metalcore band and use this band to evangelize to the large underground punk/metalcore scene in Poland. (My heart couldn’t help but smile and laugh that I had the exact idea for Lithuania as well) Some of my Polish brothers and sisters have the calling to do ministry outside of Poland as well. They are praying for direction as to what other countries God is calling them to go to.

Poland has a strong Catholic presence. Just like other countries in Europe, such as Lithuania, most people identify themselves with the national religion of their country. As for those who actually practice their country’s religion, the numbers are quite low. The ministry key in this situation is not to let the “divide” of Protestant and Catholic get in the way of loving people for Jesus. I personally believe at the end of the day it’s all about “Loving God, and Loving People”. As simple as that, yet it is easier said than done. I don’t think it matters so much what branch of Christianity you identify yourself with, wither you are Protestant, Catholic, Lutheran, Assemblies of God, Evangelical or something else.  The challenge is to find a way to relate to each dear brother and sister in Poland so that they would get to experience Jesus love in their lives.

In conclusion to this prayer meeting, my heart is so encouraged to hear of the passion and aliveness that there is so much hope and greater things are yet to come for the dear country of Poland. My heart and eyes were once again re-opened as well to the reality of the spiritual state of Europe. I’m so overwhelmed at how GREAT the NEED for European missionaries, planting churches, establishing strong Christian communities and ministries are. It’s to the point where my soul just freezes questioning how can such a huge task of evangelizing Europe be accomplished? I know in God’s perfect timing, everything will come together, I believe we serve a God who is capable of doing beyond the impossible. I firmly believe in complete healing and restoration over every dear life in Europe. At the end of the meeting, we all got into small groups of 6 to pray.  This moment felt so unreal to me. I pinched myself to double check that I was actually alive for this moment. Just sitting in that circle hearing my Polish brothers and sisters pray their hearts out, touched my heart like the kiss of a golden sunset. Just realizing the fact that I was standing in a room full of world changers, revolutionaries, and pastors continuing and starting the new era of evangelism in Europe, I am so humbled to be alive for such a time as this.