by Dale Reeves
Story Pastor
This past week I had the privilege of visiting one of our church’s amazing mission partners in Zakościele, Poland, with our lead pastor, Brad Wilson, our executive pastor, Alan Baumlein, and our CCMusic director, Jeremy Braley. Proem Ministries was founded in 1990 by Maui and Ewa Dwulat, and is led under the direction of several very capable Polish nationals. Their staff ministers through sports camps, a thriving Christian school, three sites where their church meets, and community help initiatives—most recently with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Proem provides relief, trauma counseling, and housing for many refugee families who have been forced to flee from their homes. They were even able to purchase a hotel with forty-five rooms that can house refugee families.
As our team from Mason spoke with Maui, he explained that Proem is an acronym for “Partnership, Relationship, Oneness, Evangelism, and Mission.” In a country where just .2 percent of Poles are of a Christian faith outside of Catholicism, Maui is a legend. As a youth pastor, 35 years ago, Maui and his wife founded the ministry known as Proem during a turbulent period of communism’s decline in Poland. He has been involved with conferences led by Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, and has spoken at the North American Christian Convention and International Conference on Missions. In the five days that the Mason contingency was in Poland with them, Maui shared with us story after story of God’s faithfulness to them through the years, in continually expanding their vision, and then seeing God do miraculous things in allowing them to raise funds in record times so that the expansion of the gospel could continue in Poland.
What do a theater, a dance studio, and a former prison have in common? They all are occupied by Proem Ministries and are the location of their three on-site churches, situated in the towns of Tomaszów, Łódź, and Piotrków—collectively known as Tomy Christian Fellowship. Each of those sites has many redemptive stories that can be told. Today, they are averaging about 400 people on all three of their campuses. Rafal Piekarski is their lead pastor, and many of you heard him speak at Christ’s Church this past July.
“Dzien dobry” Means “Good Morning”
I was looking forward to preaching at the Tomy Church, as it was a celebration of their gratitude and thanksgiving for all that God has done through their three church sites; their beautiful 15-acre “Zako” camp that reaches 3,500 youth and their families every year; the Christian school that has grown to 550 students in twenty years (from preschool through high school, as well as after-school programs in sports, arts, and in English); and their help center for Ukrainian people.
I was going to greet the church Sunday morning with the casual, “Dzien dobry” (“Good morning” in Polish), but while feasting on some scrumptious kielbasa and pork chops at camp director Daniel Wawrzyniak and his wife Edyta’s house, Edyta suggested I greet them all at the church on Sunday morning with the phrase, “daj mi buzi” (pronounced in English as “Die-me bougie!”) Her husband Daniel is quite a prankster, so if he had told me to say that, I would not have believed him, expecting that he would be pulling my leg. But Edyta seemed much more believable and sincere. When we returned to our rooms at the camp on Saturday evening, I googled the term in Polish and discovered that it means, “Give me a kiss!” I thought I might have been set up, but when I asked Edyta about it before church on Sunday morning, she smiled, assured me, and said, “No, say it, it will be good!”
After we joined in some praise and worship with their worship band, Exodus 15 (check out some of their music here), with lyrics on slides written in both Polish and English, and after some other announcements and family fun, it was time for me to preach the Word, with the help of a translator, Adam Szumorek.
I began Sunday’s message, “daj mi buzi,” and it met with some laughter, then I went on to preach about the concept or the Hebrew word, Dayenu, “It is sufficient!” You can see more of the worship service here:
The Right Words at the Right Time
No matter what language is spoken, the Word of God has power to change lives for all eternity. At the end of the worship service last Sunday with our precious new friends at the Tomy Church in Poland, we took communion together, then witnessed seven baptisms, some that were planned ahead of time, and some that were spontaneous . . . as the Holy Spirit convicted several people of their need to begin a new life in baptism. I loved having a front-row seat to witness the emotion, sheer joy, and tears on the faces of those who have labored with Proem Ministries for many years. They have spoken words of encouragement, words of healing, and words of power from God’s holy Word, the Bible.
Can I ask you today, which of your ONE MORES are you speaking words of truth to? Which ones are you having good conversations with?
Having good, bridge-building conversations can lead to God conversations, and ultimately to Gospel conversations where you have earned the open door to share more of your redemptive story and how the Word of God is freely given to all so that others might find their way into God’s kingdom.
Like me in Poland, you may not feel as though you can speak their language, but the Word of God tells us that the Holy Spirit will teach us what to say, if we will but listen to his still, small voice. He is, essentially, our translator. Jesus told his disciples several times that the Holy Spirit would give his followers the words to say. And John 1 tells us that Jesus himself is the Word who has always been with God, the Word who gives life to everything that was created, and the Word that brings light to all things so that the darkness can never extinguish it. If we love Jesus and follow him, he will give us the right words to share with those we want to bring to the light of Jesus.
Oh, and about that phrase, “daj mi buzi”: it actually happened. As the four of us were saying our goodbyes and hugging our partners in Proem, eating lunch at the Zako camp after the worship service at church on Sunday, Daniel came up to me, told me we could keep our partnership because he liked the sermon, then he pulled me close and kissed me on the cheek.
“All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss” (1 Corinthians 16:20, NIV).
Want to learn more about our partner in ministry in Poland? Check out proemministries.org