Polish National Tragedy

On April 10, 2010 Polish President Lech Kaczynski was killed when the plane he was traveling in with his wife and a Polish delegation crashed at a western Russian airport.

There are no survivors. Ninety-six people died in the plane crash. The president had been traveling with a Polish delegation to Russia for the 70th anniversary of the massacre of Polish prisoners of war in the village of Katyn. Over 22,000 Polish officers were executed there by Russians during World War II. The plane was approaching the airport at Smolensk, Russia for the fourth approach in heavy fog -- just a few miles east of Katyn -- and hit some trees at the end of the runway.

Together with the death of the President and his wife, many elite of Polish politics were killed, including the members of the President’s cabinet, the top heads of the Polish Armed forces, the head of the Polish National Bank, the head of the National Memorial Institute, former president of Poland during World War 2, and many top politicians, as well as families of murdered Polish officers who came to take part in the memorial service.

The nation of Poland underwent deep shock and national mourning for 9 days. People in every city gathered to light candles and lay flowers in memory of those who died. Pictured below is a group from our church also obseving the time of mourning, using using it to lead the crowd there in prayer for Poland and the families that have lost someone.

Please pray for Poland, the families of those who have died, and that the Lord would use the situation to bring change to Politics and revival to the nation. I believe that in the midst of the tragedy that God has a great plan to use this to bring about His will for the nation.

Aside from the president and his wife, a large amount of Polish elite and leaders died. Here is the list

From the Presidential cabinet
The President of Poland and his wife
Head of the President’s Cabinet
Secretary of State
Director of Foreign Affairs Protocol
Director of State Protocol
Vice secretary of National Defense
Vice secretary of Internal Affairs
Vice secretary of State
Second Vice secretary of State
9 Secrete service officers
Presidential chaplain
Presidential doctor
Member of the president’s staff
Russian translator

From the Armed Forces
Chief of the Armed Forces
Commander of the Polish Army
Commander of the Polish Navy
Commander of the Polish Air Force
Commander of the Polish Special Forces
Commander of Warsaw’s Army Unit
Brigade General
Operational Commander of the Armed Forces
Catholic Field Army Bishop
Orthodox Field Army Bishop
Lutheran Army Chaplain
Vice Chancellor of Army Chaplains

From Parliament and Senate
1st Vice-Marshal of Parliament
2nd Vice-Marshal of Parliament
Vice-Marshal of Senate
15 Senators / Representatives of Parliament
Former president of Poland during World War 2
Former Marshal of Parliament and Head of the “Polish Community”

State Agencies
Head of the Polish CIA
President of the Polish National Bank
President of the Legal Bar Council
President of the Polish Olympic Committee
President of the National Memorial Institute
Head of Civil Rights Advocate
Secretary of the Preservation of National Places of War and Suffering

War Memorial Organizations
President of the Katyn Foundation
President of the Katyn Committee
President of the Katyn Family Federation
President of the Katyn Family Association
Chaplain of surviving family members of Polish Officers murdered in Katyn
General secretary of the Siberian Association
Director of Parafiada Association
Director of Katyn Affairs and repressed people
Vice Director of Katyn Affairs and repressed people
11 Representatives of murdered families of Polish Officers in Katyn
2 World War 2 veterans

Other passengers
Founding member of the Solidarity movement
President of the SW University
Polish actor

Plane crew
Plane captain
3 co-pilots
3 stewardesses

New presidential elections

Right now the head of the parliament, Bronislaw Komorowski took over the responsibility of president until a new president is elected. There are currently 24 candidates and the first round of elections will be on June 20th. Please pray that one who fears God will be out into office. Pray for Bronislaw Komorowski who will be running for president. Born again believers in Poland feel that he is God’s man for this time. Also pray for him as he right now is electing new people in government and the armed forces to fill all the vacant offices of those who died.

Change of church

About a year ago we felt that the church where we were attending had gone seriously astray from the standards of God’s Word. I would not like to publish the details on the internet, but there is information in the newsletter. After almost one year of trying to work out this conflict in the church, we were left with no choice but to resign and look for a new church. At the moment we have not made a decision of where to attend, so please pray for us as we seeks God’s will.

Preaching in Gdansk

Recently I preached in Gdansk at a church called “David’s Army” (where we have attended now a few times). I was asked to talk about using God’s wisdom in cutting costs and looking for ways to increase income. I taught using a power point presentation that I put together. Pastor Krzysztof has asked me to preach again in on Saturday, May 22 on the topic of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He has asked me if I could conduct once a month for his church a Saturday meeting and expects that a lot of people will be attending not only from his church, but from a few others also.

Home group

The house group that we are leading for new and non-believers continues to meet every Friday evening. We have had the opportunity to invite 5 times guest speakers who were guest lecturers at the Bible school. One couple who attend, Tamila and Mikolaj, are from the Ukraine. They have really grown in the faith. They have asked me to baptize them in the sea once the temperature is a little warmer. A second couple, Alicja and Pawel are also growing fast in the faith. Pawel converted a few months ago in our home. They are planning to get married in September and have asked me to give the main message at the ceremony. Renata and myself are giving them pre-marital counseling. Almost everyone in our home group is also visiting us during the week just to talk one on one. Pray for us as we have recently invited 5 other non-believers to join us, that they would accept the invitation and that we could share the gospel also with them.

Bible school

I continue to teach at the Bible school daily 2 classes. These 2 classes take much of my day. First preparing lessons from my own materials, correcting homework daily, preparing quizzes and tests, an also spending time with the students helping them with their daily problems. I have just finished teaching on the book of Revelation, and now I am teaching on the church and everything concerning the church – structure, ministries, gifting, the mission and methods, authority and submission, etc.

Family news

Our girls are growing, and now our middle daughter – Asia, will be finishing 6th grade. According to the Polish school system, she needs to take an exam, and then look for a junior high school that she can get into with her grades. She wants to apply to the art school where Karolina currently is. It requires a high level of talent and also academic skills. A second school that she would like to try for is a private school which is a 20 minute bus ride from our house. There are lots of plusses to this school, but the one minus is having the finances to pay for it. Please pray with us for the right choice of schools that would be the best for Asia. Gosia is doing well in the 3rd grade.