"Four years ago I started a Ukrainian church in Warsaw. Now I know why God led me to do it.”
With these words, Slavik Levandovskyi, a Ukrainian pastor, who came to Poland before the full-scale war, opened Evangelical Poland’s Forum on How to help Ukrainians which was held in Warsaw on the 11th of May.
Evangelical Poland is an organization put together and led by ITMI's Andrew Gorski. Evangelical churches only make up a minuscule percentage of Poland's population, so resources are thin. Historically, churches tend to function on their own, with little connection to other churches.
Andrew saw this as a problem from a Biblical standpoint, as Christ emphasized the unity of His people. (John 17:21) The early church demonstrates the culture of eager willingness to help one another. (Acts 2:42-47) From a practical standpoint, churches struggled to equip their members for evangelism, discipleship, and Christian compassion and service.
He understood that if churches shared the resources they did have, every church would benefit and this would help Christians share their faith and churches reach more people with the Gospel.
"The Church is stronger when leaders and pastors work with each other and help each other," he wrote.
To fill the gap he observed, Andrew formed Evangelical Poland, which now has 400 leaders involved in some way!
Forum for Ministry to Ukrainians
As millions of refugees poured into Poland, there was a frenetic phase of preparation to meet the overwhelming needs the refugees who had lost everything would have: places to stay, traumatic experiences to process, and immediate needs for food and clothing.
As that phase seems to be coming to a close, church leaders are realizing they have a unique opportunity to share and spread the Gospel with people the Lord literally brought to their doorsteps.
Evangelical Poland provided this opportunity for the leaders of these churches to come together, brainstorm and learn from one another what are effective ways this situation can be used to share the Gospel.
Below Andrew summarized the key points of the one-day strategic meeting, which gives you a glimpse into the challenges that Christians and churches are facing in Poland right now, as well as what the way ahead may look like.
A Strategic Step in Ukrainian Relief
Over 100 pastors and leaders gathered for a day of intense brainstorming and experience-sharing regarding the next steps of Ukrainian Relief. The amount of wisdom created great synergy and the participants left blessed with new perspectives and tools for further work.
Thanks to your support, we were able to organize this meeting. Please continue to pray for Poland and the Relief that is not ceasing in its intensity.
Rainier van den Berg, a Christian leader in Poznan, Poland, encouraging and being encouraged by a fellow leader at the Evangelical Poland forum.
Evangelism Among the Hurt
The group was reminded by an experienced missionary to Ukraine that amidst the vast spectrum of help we are providing, we have a unique opportunity to share the Good News with those hurt by the war.
It is worth remembering that people desperately need Jesus.
Please pray that the Holy Spirit prepare the way as we serve the refugees and strength for everyone involved to understand the times and seasons of sowing in tears and reaping with joy.
Leaders grow and are encouraged through small-group prayer time.
Integration - A Key Point for the Refugees to Stay in the Church
As one of the Ukrainian speakers pointed out – there is no division between believers and unbelievers – they all need a sense of belonging, a place to share their experiences and their hurts.
For the Ukrainian believers, informal home groups are a great platform to share the testimonies of God’s grace in the midst of tragedies. The churches are helping by providing places and infrastructure for those meetings and having ambassadors of integration helps a lot.
Some of the refugees have never been to an evangelical church before and offering them a safe place causes them to visit again and make friends with the congregation.
Crucial Needs – Food and Shelter on Both Sides of the Border
We can see that there are at least two crucial aspects of help that are beyond capacities:
- Financial support to buy food and pay rent and the other expenses
- Help with finding a way to earn money to cover those costs
There are already systems of help that are emerging in different parts of Poland, with consulting services for work-related issues.
But, the challenges with language and childcare are still an issue. Fear of the government's inability to provide help is rising.
Generating ideas and resource lists to help leaders and pastors and their churches help Ukrainians.
Refugees Are At Different Stages
Ukrainians lost literally everything, and even though their experience of loss is similar, they are at different stages of decisions regarding the future (if they are capable of making decisions).
Some of them want to go back to Ukraine as soon as possible, some are in transition to other countries and some decide to stay here in Poland. Each of those groups requires different assistance and deals with different challenges.
The Crisis Among Polish Volunteers
There is a burnout visible among the Polish volunteers – they start to feel overwhelmed and they have no one to talk to about their burden.
During the meeting, a set of good practices was created, including rotation work for volunteers (with a decent amount of breaks in-between). Plans for training refugees to support newcomers were discussed. It is very important to utilize a support system, as nobody knows how long this situation will last.
Systems of Specialized Help
At least 10 big organizations that were present during the conference gave information on the assistance they can and are willing to provide.
Among them were crisis management and counseling, storage and transportation, work on the border (providing shelter and assistance), youth camps, literature, and a call center. This is another big step toward churches being able to access helpful resources that are available as the advocate for the refugees that are in their midst.
Literature and other resources were shared for leaders to learn about at the forum.
Using the Potential of Ukrainian Christians - Roundtable Discussions Online
Plans were put in place for an online gathering for Ukrainian Christians to be held in June, aiming at energizing them to use this crisis as a platform for shining the light of the Gospel.
The organizers are convinced that refugees can become missionaries in Poland both for other Ukrainians and Polish people. Please pray that God will lead the way and make this platform fruitful, so the Light of the Gospel shines through the darkness of those times.
Andrew and Evangelical Poland, and our brothers and sisters in Christ in Poland that have been equipped and helped are deeply grateful for your support of Andrew's ministry, enabling him to serve the church in this important way, as well as your support of the projects of Evangelical Poland!
