May 2009 Lift
Look … at the fields (John 4:36)
What picture comes to mind when you hear the words “Eastern Europe?” Though the entire region shares the historical backdrop of communism, each culture and country is quite unique.
Poland shares a border with atheist Czech, but is one of the most religious countries in Europe. At one time, 90% of the population considered themselves members of the Catholic Church. Having a Polish Pope was a great source of pride for them.Though practically everyone believes in God, most have never read the Bible for themselves, and few understand the nature of true conversion through grace, by faith in Jesus Christ.
In fact, Poland has one of the smallest percentages of Protestant evangelicals in Eastern Europe. Only .1% are part of an evangelical church – that is 1 in a 1000!
Our JV Poland team has been taking the gospel forward for 15 years now, faithfully reaching young people and discipling leaders. During that time they have found that one of the best ways to reach this “lost religious generation” is to pull them out of their context for intensive weeks of camp. Several years ago they began praying for a permanent facility where they could engage in this kind of outreach year round.
God led them to a recreational center owned by the largest mining company in Poland. Located on a river, and having its own private lake, the center functioned as a vacation site for company employees. However, because of the change in economic conditions, the company was willing to sell – and through a long series of miracles we were able to buy!
Our Poland team called the place “H2O”, because of all the water. The most important water is the living kind – the inner spring Jesus offered to a Samaritan woman who was wondering where to worship.
We’d like to see doubled fruit through the ministry in Poland during the next three years. H2O is a central part of this because of the doors it opens for evangelism. It needs to be renovated and brought up to EU standards before it can be reopened for ministry. Pray that God would provide teams and resources to bring this project to completion soon.
Dave Patty, President, Josiah Venture
