Poland Sends Record Missionary Workers as Evangelicals Take Advantage of EU Expansion

largest Christian revival in decades, says a key evangelical leader who almost died for his faith in Christ.

"Under Communism the older generation of believers always had to defend their faith. And now this younger generation has more freedom, so they go and are willing to reach others with the Gospel," explains Jerzy Marcol, 49, Director of Biblical Mission Association(BMA) and partner of Wycliffe Bible Translators. (Pictured: Polish missionary Marcol).

Marcol, who was threatened with execution because of his faith in Christ by the Communist regime, says BMA already send 20 missionary workers to hotspots around the globe, including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kazakstan, Papua New Guinea and Siberia.

He hopes others join the missionaries at a time of an apparent growing interest in Jesus Christ among Polish youngsters. Hundreds of mainly young people rushed to a platform in recent days after preachers urged them to accept Christ and become "born-again" at the Festival of Life, organized by Polish denominations in cooperation with American pastor Mike MacIntosh and his 20-thousand strong Horizon Christian Fellowship church.

POST CARD TOWN

The five day event in the postcard town of Wisla which ended Sunday, July 18, marked a new era for Christian unity as even Catholic bishops gave their blessings for the event, says Marcol, whose BMA was represented at Poland’s unprecedented Festival.

"In the Communist times we had very limited opportunities to be the sending country. Now we have a missionary movement from Poland", a mainly Catholic nation. He believes the European Union, which Poland joined May 1, together with nine other mainly former Communist countries, has a positive impact on the churches.

"The cooperation with other organizations is much easier when we are in one geo-political unit," he tells BosNewsLife. Marcol says sending out missionary workers is crucial for his nation’s spiritual survival.

DEAD SEA

"If we are a country that only receives, it is like the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea receives water from the Jordan River, but no matter how much more water you pour into it, it remains dead. If we want to transform Poland in a living country we have not only to receive, but become like a Lake of Nazareth. That lake receives water but also gives water."

The 49-year old Marcol, who is married with three children, adds God is able to "transform Poland from a Dead Sea to a lake of Nazareth," something he claims to have experienced in his own, complicated, life.

At age 26 Marcol narrowly escaped the death penalty after refusing to say the military oath to in his words "defend Communism to my last drop of blood," shortly after Marshall Law was declared in December, 1981, as part of a government crack down on the Solidarity movement and a symbol of anti Communist resistance.

DEATH SENTENCE

"It happened 22 years ago, but when I talk about it is difficult to hide my emotions," Marcol adds, teary eyed and his voice trembling. “I was interrogated by different groups of officers. They were threatening me first with 5 years imprisonment, than 10 years jail, and finally they threatened me with a sentence of death. When I was interrogated by a group of officers one of them said: "You are a very stubborn person. You refused to take an oath but there are many Christians in the army who have no problems with it." 

"I had a problem because the Bible says very clearly that you should not take an oath," recalls Marcol, who says his answers were "lead by the Holy Spirit" of God. Christ was important to him. "It is very simple," he told the officers. "Mohammed, Buda and all others who claimed to be prophets showing the world the way to eternity are still in their graves. But the grave of Jesus is empty because God rose him from the death. And with the same power He will raise one day all those who believed in Jesus."

An officer lost his temper and jumped from his chair, remembers Marcol. "He asked me: "so what will happen with those who reject Jesus?" I said: "the Bible says that every human being is very precious in God’s eyes and that the penalty for sin is death. But the Bible also says that Jesus came and paid the penalty for our sins and whoever believes in Him is reconciled with God and has eternal life. But whoever rejects Jesus will have to pay the consequences and will face eternal condemnation."

INNER PEACE

The soft spoken Marcol says that after telling these words he had inner peace and was praying "Lord thank you that you have given me the right words."

What happened next surprised the back-to-the-basics-evangelical. "I can tell you I have never seen such a frightened people as (these officers) who had the power to send me to death."

After two days in a military jail he was escorted to the Navy Supreme Court, accompanied by soldiers who had orders to shoot and kill him if needed. At the court a prosecutor asked him to reconsider his opposition toward he military oath. He did briefly. But after reading a Bible text in an English language New Testament, Marcol claims he realized that God had different plans.

CROWN OF LIFE

"It says "be faithful till death and I will give you the crown of Life," he recalls. "So I prayed and went back to the officer and said that I was not going to change my mind because I wanted to follow Jesus". The prosecutor apparently “did not know what to do with a soldier who wanted to follow Jesus".  "In the end he said: "Okay you are free and serve in the army without a military oath."

Other evangelical Christians in his position may be forgiven for having said a spontaneous "Hallelujah" or at least one "Praise the Lord," after escaping death.

But Marcol’s reaction initially was subdued. "I was sorry I could not be a martyr for Christ who means so much for me," he explains. Don’t tell that to his 20-year old son Jan who wants to rescue people from death, as a paramedic, one day. "I am happy my father did not receive the death penalty. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here today," Jan says smiling.

"But I later realized God was teaching me a lesson to trust Him," says his father about that period. After becoming sick while serving in the army, Marcol ended up in a psychological hospital because a doctor looking into his eyes was surprised he was so happy. "Why are you so happy?" the doctor asked him. “I answered: "because I have Jesus in my heart," says an emotional Marcol. "That was enough to send me to a psychiatric ward."

SUICIDAL SOLDIERS

Two weeks later, he lead several depressed, suicidal soldiers, to Christ. They no longer needed the hospital drugs and saw "Jesus was the answer," claims Marcol. "They wanted to work and to live again." The hospital director had enough.

"He told me: "Go home and preach the Gospel." And he has taken that advice seriously, till this day, together with his wife and other team members. Soon Marcol will leave for another mission trip to Ukraine to help Gypsies who live without proper housing and sanitation. "It’s just 20 kilometers from the European Union, but a completely different world," he wants to help change for Christ. (Pictured Living conditions for Gypsy children in Ukraine).

He is apparently not concerned about pending difficulties on mission trips. A sign in his office in Ustron near Wisla reads: "God morning this is God speaking. I am going to take care of all your problems today. Have a nice day…"