Baptism in the Baltic Sea

Some time ago Mikolaj and Tamila started coming to our home group. They are from the Ukraine. There had been some very difficult legal situations that I offered to pray for. God answered the prayer the very next day about a situation that they tried to change for the past 6 years! This led them to make a strong commitment to Christ. Immediately Mikolaj, who smoked all his life quit with no problem. This July they asked me to baptize them. What a day of joy it was for them and the start of new beginnings! Another young women 2 nights before the baptism felt the Lord urge her to do be baptized also. The baptism took place in the Baltic Sea.

Wedding

Pawel and Alicja from our home group were married this past month. At wedding were many unsaved family members. I gave a message about the love of God, comparing the saving grace of God’s love to the love that should be in marriage, mixing in an evangelistic message. Pawel’s 20 year old brother admitted to him that he was trying his best not to cry. After the ceremony I had an occasion to talk with a few family members, including Pawel’s dad. I was able to share some of my testimony and I think God started to do something in his life. Pawel’s parents live about 3 hours from us and have invited us to come and visit them when we have time.

Revival Conference

On November 12-14 I will be one of the main speakers for the annual Revival conference held in Kutno (central Poland). I will have 2 main sessions and also 3 workshops on the topic of handling finances and getting out of debt. Most of the people attending will be pastors and leaders from very small churches (5-20 people in their church). Please pray that I would be open to hearing what the Lord would have me say to them in the main sessions and workshops.

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.

New discipleship group in Gdynia

Next week we will be starting a discipleship group in our home. We will be inviting friends that don’t attend any church but are open to learning about God. At this point in their lives, they may not walk into a church, but would be open and even eager to attend meetings in our home. A home atmosphere lends itself to honest discussion and the opportunity to answer questions and pray for people’s needs, learn about God and make friendships. The group will consist of some people who have recently made decisions to follow God and people who are ‘seekers’.

Preaching in Gdynia

On the weekends when I am in Gdynia I am often preaching in the Pentecostal church. Recently as I stepped up to the pulpit the Lord lead me to change the topic and preach on something I had not prepared. As a result two people gave their lives to God. One of them was Mariusz, a man I have known for a few years. His wife converted a few months ago, and now it was his turn. He told me that while I preached everything about the gospel become so clear for him. In addition, I have preached in the Church of Christ in Gdynia, taking along with me students from the Bible school. In Gdansk at the church “Army of David” I spoke on the dangers of falling in debt. They filmed the meeting to use as a DVD later.

Translation of TV programs

The Polish television studio “Everything is Possible” asked me to translate their programs into English to be transmitted on cable TV in the USA. The programs are about 50 minutes long and are usually in the form of an interview about someone’s life that was changed when they met Jesus.

Teaching and ministry in Gdynia

When we are at home we attend Ecclesia – a local Pentecostal church in Gdynia. More often I am invited to minister Sunday mornings. Recently I have spoken on “The gift of God – salvation”, “Overcoming temptation”, “Spiritual revival”, “The baptism of the Holy Spirit”, “Faith and overcoming fear” and I plan to do a series on “Man’s most dangerous weapon – the tongue”. Twice now I have also been asked to have a sermon for the children – for me it was a small challenge to preach to children for I am not accustomed to it. Also I was asked to share my testimony at the children’s club that the church runs for the neighborhood kids. The most difficult ministry though was conducting the funeral of a friend of mine Janusz who had his 4th heart attack. He went on to be with the Lord Jesus after a time of being in and out of the hospital. I gave a gospel message at the chapel knowing that most of his family are not believers. I knew almost his entire family and used the opportunity to share the message of hope with them. Again later at the grave they heard about the hope the we have in Christ. Two weeks later his youngest daughter Gosia (who is married) gave her life to the lord and has started attending the church. Her husband is an atheist, but he had also come a few times now. She is making friends with people in the church. Janusz’s wife Regina was devastated at her husband’s death, but her faith in God remains strong as she ministers in the worship team.

Home group in Gdynia

Ever since coming to Poland we have led various house groups. The most recent one meets at a family orphanage. Our friends have 4 of their own biological children and 6 other children that they care for. Also attending the house group regularly is another couple and one man. From time to time other guests also come. Picture here are some of the people we meet with every Friday night.

Barnabas Ministry Website

Over the past few months our mission’s web site has attracted lots of new people from all over the world. Some of the most recent people who wrote to us included: a pastor from Pakistan who asked for us to pray for him and his church, a Christian organization in Israel looking for mission information on Poland, a brother from Australia asking for church addresses for a new convert, a brother from Venezuela who wants to come as a missionary to Poland and asks for our assistance, a sister from the USA whose family was from here and would like to do missions work in Poland, and also a brother from the USA who is a Christian recording artist would like to visit Poland and see also where is family originated from. I am hoping to help organize missions trips for these last two people. If you also felt on your heart to do short or long term missions – please write.