Back from the USA to the mission field in Poland

I just returned from a trip to see my family and friends in the USA. It was a really good time, and I enjoyed spending time with my mom, my dad and his wife and my half brothers, as well as getting together with a number of friends that I have not seen in awhile.

You can view some pictures of my time in the USA- maybe you will be in one of the pictures? Pictures of my family are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/jerry.renata.dean/FamilyPictures
while pictures of friends are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/jerry.renata.dean/USATrip

Now that I am back, there was a lot of ministry waiting for me. Four lectures on my first saturday here, and preaching on Sunday

Klaudia's mom died

This past Friday the mother of Karolina’s close friend Klaudia died after a long battle with cancer. We are helping her 22 old sister to receive custody of her. The chances are not that large. She has no job, no husband, a 2 year old baby and lives in a run down building that has been condemned. The first step is getting them decent housing and a friend had agreed to pay all her rent for the first 6 months.

Her father does not have custody rights and is not interested in Klaudia . If her sister will not receive custody, then we will try to take her in as a foster family to prevent her from being sent to an orphanage. Please pray with us for this difficult situation and for the best thing to be done regarding these sisters.

Listen to "Rise up mighty warrior"

November 25th, 2007 I preached at my home church Grace Fellowship in Danvers, Mass. The message can be downloaded from their site at:

http://www.gfcma.org/gf/sermons.htm

Listen to "Put what you have in Jesus' hands"

November 11th, 2007 I preached at the Pentecostal Tabernacle in Cambridge Mass. The message can be downloaded from their site at:

http://www.ptspice.org/sermons/2007/11/11/put-what-you-have-in-jesus-hands/

To the goal

Please see the next article regarding our goal for financial support

So far 9 families have made monthly commitments to support our mission work in Poland. Another 66 are need to make our goal. (This information will be updated regularly.)

Financial support for mission work in Poland - Jerry & Renata Dean

Since I have been home in the USA for a visit, a number of people have been asking me about my financial support. I usually don't directly mention financial needs or ask for support, but at the moment I feel that this is the right thing to do. The Bible clearly says we don't have because we don't ask. Although this is directly related to our relationship with the Father, I think it also applies in other relationships.

For this reason I'd like to inform you that there is a very great need, as our monthly financial support only covers 20% of our basic needs. For the past 5 years I have been working full time in missions work in addition to a full time job to make up the lacking 80%. I just can't continue doing so for a number of reasons. That is why I am making this need known.

I am looking for 75 families that would be able to support our mission work at $22.00/month. For most families such an amount is not a lot, but if 75 families could invest in the work of building the kingdom of God in Poland, it would allow Renata and myself to focus fully on ministry - and believe me, the need for missionaries in Poland is very great!

I realise that some people may be able to give considerably more, while some may be only able to give $10.00/month. Whatever amount you could give would be appreciated. Please send me an email at misja@barnaba.and.pl and let me know about your decision.

On the right side of this blog under "Support information" you will find 4 ways in which you can make your monthly donation - by check, bank transfer, credit card or using your Paypal account.

Thank you for considering being a vital part of mission work in Poland!

Update on pastor Jurek

Good news! Pastor Jurek said his first two words after not being able to speak! They will now also remove his respirator and sew up the hole in his neck. The doctors are looking for a reason for his miraculous recovery from ALS - an incurable disease which never regresses. (Nov. 15)

Pastor Jurek slowly regained some movements in his hands and legs. Two weeks ago he stood for the first time with two people helping and supporting him. A few days later he took a few steps. He is still very weak and without muscles, although most of the body mass has returned. He is also able to breath without the respirator for a few hours at a time as his lungs have started to regain strength. Praise God! The doctors are amazed. Although is is very weak, the sickness is regressing - a medical impossibility! (Nov. 1)

Church planting work in Turek

This summer I had an occasion to spend a little time with pastor Krzysztof from Konin. He pastors a very small church of 10 people in a city of around 60,000 people. He has a pastor’s heart, but goes through the many struggles that typical Polish pastors have who care for such a small flock – very little finances, lack of helpers, opposition from the outside. In spite of the difficulties the Lord put on his heart to help another pastor start a new church. It is in a city an hour away from both of them where no church exists. The city is called Turek with about 30,000 people. Just imagine, this is just one of hundred of such cities of this size where no church exists. I was asked to go there with him. Five believers have been meeting in a rented hall for some time and day I was there a guest came. I was sharing on the cost of following Jesus. The man’s heart was moved and he indicated that he wanted to become a Christian. We prayer together for forgiveness and salvation. What a joy! Pastor Krzysztof has invited me back to minister in Turek and Konin.

Church in Kolo

I was asked to minister in the church in Koło. I haven’t been there for many years, but in the past ministered there quite regularly. Pastor Julian asked me to share on the person of the Holy Spirit and pray for people who would like to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It was a wonderful time. One woman came up to me afterwards and testified that she was in the church 10 years ago as a guest and gave her heart to the Lord when I had been there and gave an alter call. From that moment she joined the church and has grown into a very mature sister. Pastor Julian has invited me to return in a few months for a longer period of time to minister in his church and the 2 other churches that he oversees. Here is a picture of their church.

Dean Family News

Karolina is now in the 6th grade and is doing well. Asia starts 4th grade in a new school together with Gosia who is starting 1st grade. Our decision to put our 2 youngest daughters in a new school appears to be a good decision. Almost everyday each one goes to school at a different time and gets out at a different time. This really is inconvenient, as the two youngest ones need to be driven and picked up from school.

Other news - latest mission trips

• I have a number of invitations next year to minister in Koło, Konin, Turek, Gniezno, Szczecin, Pyrzyce, Strzelce Opolski and Gdynia. Please pray for the Lord’s leading in each of these cities.
• The school year at Christ for the Nations has started with 15 students in the first year, and 12 in the Saturday school, as well as the 2nd year students. At the moment I am teaching in the Saturday school 4 lectures every Saturday. Renata continues to work in the office 4 days a week.
• After hearing of a certain pastor that had been accused falsely of a number of terrible things and was asked to step down from pastoring the church I decided to visit him in order to encourage him in his faith and pray for the Lord to bring justice. He was very blessed that I visited and spent time with him (he is 6 hours from where I live). A few weeks later the Lord justified him and the accusations were proved false. He has now returned to his church as pastor.
• This week I will be preparing some people for baptism in Gdynia.

Christian internet radio in Poland

In Poland because of the very heavy influence of the Catholic church, evangelical churches are not granted any licenses for programs on TV. This is in spite of battles for many years to purchase air time. A few churches, like pastor Godawa’s church, have invested in all the necessary equipment and built a studio but can not broadcast. They can only rent time on the local city’s cable channel. There is also no nation wide Christian radio that is available. This can change though through prayer.

Coming up next month are elections and if the PO party (which is not heavily tied to the Catholic Church) wins the majority of seats in the house things could change. In the meantime Christians here have turned to an area that the government does not control yet – the internet. A few internet radio stations have been started recently. Logging on to the internet you can hear Christian music and teaching. Two of the most popular radio stations asked me if they can broadcast my teachings. So now every week all over the entire nation with no limitations the Word of God is going out. I never thought that I would ever be on nationwide radio. Other people need to pay to get their sermons broadcast but I don’t need to pay! You can also listen anywhere in the world by typing the web addresses:

http://www.radiochrzescijanin.pl/ and clicking on button 1,2,3 or 4, or at
http://www.ewangelista.pl/index.php and click on play.

Christian music (Polish & English) is played between teachings. You might even hear me preach in English with Polish translation.

Evangelism Crusade in Świnoujście

My second road trip with Mission Music took me to the port city of Świnoujście. The 3 churches there organize every summer a Christian Culture Week that lasts 10 days. We were there for three days. The city gave for free the use of the concert shell on the main boardwalk. About 250 people were seated for the concert, and another 100 in the café’s surrounding area listened every evening to the gospel. On the grounds were also set up 3 tents, one of them seating about 200 people. One evening I called people forward that had various sicknesses for prayer. One women was crying from the pain she had in her back and shoulder. She was healed instantly and to prove it stretched and repeatedly touched here toes. Her tears of pain turned to tears of joy! A few other people were touched as God did a work in their life.

The day before we left Pastor Gabriel called at 11:30 pm and asked if I can go with him to a brother who is very sick and in pain. It turns out that for many years he suffers from back injuries. He just returned from the hospital the day before and was scheduled the following week for another operation. He could barely walk or move. The power of God was present. As we prayed sweat rolled down his forehead and I knew God was healing him. He turned to the left and right, bent over backwards and then forwards with very little pain. I felt that God would heal him more as he steps out in faith and ministers to others. His wife then asked for prayer for two very large growths on her side about 4 inches long and protruding about 1 inch.

Later after talking with pastor Gabriel he reported that the tumors are reducing in size, and that the brother instead of going for an operation got in his car and traveled to a few nearby cites to testify to others and encouraged them to evangelize their towns! Praise God!

On the road with Mission Music

A long time friend Jurek Dajuk who is the lead singer for “Mission Music” asked me if I would join him on 2 rode trips. Mission Music is a group of professional musicians. Most of them play in various symphony orchestras around Poland. They put on evangelistic concerts in Poland and even Europe. Depending on the need, the team ranges from 2 people (Jurek and his wife Gosia) to a group of 50 musicians.

Our first stop was the county of Kaliska (a group of 6 villages) which organized a 2 day fair. Jurek arranged for the villagers to attend 2 days of choir training to sing together with him his gospel program. There were so many very good things happening there that I don’t have space here to write about them all. In nutshell, about 40 people attending the choir practice (where aside from practicing songs they heard the gospel and spent 8 hours with the team), they sang gospel songs with us, other choirs also sang gospel, and we gave the main performance each evening.

Although this was organized by village officials, they had banners everywhere with the phrases “Be Holy” “The Lord is our Shepherd” “Let’s praise the Lord”. The local children did 2 dramas. One about Lazarus and the rich man, and the other about the 5 foolish and 5 wise virgins. The entire 2 day program looked more like a Christian festival than a country fair. About 300-400 people attended each day. The people of that region are very open to God and are very religious. After talking with Anatol, the main country administrator (the “major” over the 6 villages) it turns out that he is born-again and 10 years earlier attended the Christ for the Nations Bible School in Gdynia.

Even though there is no church in the Kaliska region they are so open that if a missionary came to start a church, he would have open doors everywhere and the blessing of Anatol who would also help. Please pray for the Lord to raise someone up to plant a church in this area and for Anatol to stay close to the Lord although he has no church where he could attend.

Update on pastor Jurek

Since I last wrote Pastor Jurek’s heath has rapidly decreased. He lost a lot of weight, almost every muscle in his body disappeared and he lost control over his entire body. The only thing he could move was his his eyelids. He lost control over the basic functions of his body requiring the insertion of a feeding tube, urinary tube, etc. In June he was in the hospital for observation when his heart suddenly stopped beating. The doctors reanimated him but he did not regain conciseness. They told his wife Alina that he most likely won’t wake up and may not survive the night. She called me that evening and I drove through the night to get to Szczecin in the morning. To the doctor’s surprise he awoke. Since the breathing tube that they placed down his throat was causing a lot of difficulty, they decided to do a tracheotomy and attach him to a respirator. There was a probability that he would not survive the operation in his very weak state.

Three days later they performed the operation and two hours later he woke up. As I prayed for him later that day I felt such a presence and power of God in the room. I commanded him to squeeze my hand. For two months he had not moved his fingers, but today he moved them – just a little! Alina broke out crying for joy. Then he squeezed with his other hand. The next day again the presence of God was felt in the room. Again there were commands to start moving his hands and legs, and again there were slight movements.

Jurek was released from the hospital before 2 weeks had passed from this incident. After another two weeks the doctors stated that his sickness has stopped progressing. At home he started gaining weight. He had been only a skeleton, but now the body mass was returning. Not only that, but he regained his basic body functions and was able to control urine and bowel movements. Then after another week they confirmed that his sickness is retreating. He also started moving his legs and hips, fingers and neck. Although he can not speak he communicates through blinking at letters shown on an alphabet chart to form words and sentences. Now little by little they are turning off the respirator to cause his lungs to start working for themselves. Although he can move some of his limbs, they are not strong enough for him to sit, stand, hold something, etc. Unfortunately, his process of regression ceased a month ago.

The Lord prompted the hearts of many Polish believers to not only pray for the Wasilewski’s, but also help carry the enormous medical costs which are not covered by any insurance.

Pastor Jurek currently is of good health mentally and spiritually and is full of faith and hope. Alina is very tired and discouraged at the moment and very much needs your prayers. Pray that the plans of the Lord would prevail and that Jurek would return to full health.