On October 1st, the city of Krakow, Poland, changed...

when 100,000 students entered the city overnight as the school year began.

And a small group of Christians, armed with the gospel and led by the Spirit, were waiting for them…

The first “Harvest Poland Project,” patterned after Hungary’s “Bringing in the Hungarian Harvest Project (BHHP),” partnered with the Krakow campus ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Our group from America ranged in age from high school to retired. They included a church group from Greensville, SC, and others who came from Orlando, Atlanta, Denver and even Asia. Joining us were the campus staff and key students of our Krakow Campus Crusade ministry. Together we did creative outreaches with the goal to present culturally relevant presentations of the gospel to the college students of Krakow.

The most successful outreach we had was the “American Café.” We rented a party room on campus and using American candy, coffee (Starbucks!), music, photos, college and pro t-shirts and ball caps, we turned the room into a slice of Americana. The students poured in and it was easy to begin gospel conversations in this coffee shop atmosphere.

Here I am with two brothers, John (left), and Kris (right) who came to our American Cafe. Kris made a decision to place his faith in Jesus Christ during our time together in Krakow.

At the American Café, I met with two brothers, John and Kris. John had placed his faith in Jesus Christ through a Catholic renewal movement led by a monk (!) and was familiar with our ministry in Krakow. He wanted his older brother to hear the gospel and brought him to the American Café. I had the privilege to share the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross with Kris.

After sharing Christ with him, I invited Kris to respond personally by faith to Christ’s payment of our sin penalty. I told him, “Merely reciting a prayer doesn’t make anyone a Christian. But if this prayer (pointing to the one in the back of the “Four Spiritual Laws” booklet) expresses the desire of your heart, then I encourage you to use that prayer to express your new-found faith to Jesus. Kris, does this prayer express the desire of your heart?”

Kris answered a succinct, “Yes.” “Then why don’t you communicate this prayer back to the Lord?” I encouraged. And right there, in a room crowded with people and music thumping, Kris surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. What a moment!

Kris and I met the next day, my final day in Krakow, and we talked through Ephesians 2:8-9 and 1 John 5:11-13. When Kris realized that salvation was by faith in the Son of God, a free gift from God and not a result of works, I could see the light go on in his spirit. His posture straightened up and tears welled up in his eyes. .

Even Ted Nugent dropped by our American Café in Krakow for a brief cameo. I asked him if I could jam with him on stage but he said he regretfully left his guitar back in Michigan.

“But it takes more faith to embrace your atheism than to believe in my God.” Here I am sharing the gospel with two Polish students at the American Café. I had the impression that the one on the left wanted to argue more than discuss. He really was a nice guy and you can tell God is working on Him; after all he came that night wanting to talk about the Lord!

After my conversation with John and Kris ended and they left, I stood alone in the corner thrilled but emotionally exhausted. I didn’t have the energy to speak another word. Then my attention was called to two guys who had just walked in and were standing nervously all alone. I knew what the Lord wanted me to do.

I introduced myself to the guys and immediately one said, “What is the topic of discussion tonight?” “Anything you want to talk about,” I said. “Can we talk about God?” he asked. He immediately launched and began his series of arguments as to why he did not believe in God.

Patiently I responded with what I hope were satisfactory answers to his arguments while conceding that it is impossible to be 100% absolutely sure about God. “But it takes more faith to embrace your atheism than to believe in my God.” I also asked him why he was so intent on fighting against the God who loves him, created him and gave himself up for him. (Its one thing to speak of God’s love to the genuine seeker. Yet I have learned to confront and challenge, even with my tone of voice, those who unashamedly reject God.)

The American Café was closing but our conversation was still going strong. “Shall we go to another place and keep talking?” I asked, having gained a second wind. They declined but we exchanged emails. I think he wanted to argue more than discuss. But that is okay. It was a great evening. At least 3 people that night gave their lives to the Lord at the American Café!

Here I am (left) with Dr. Bill Weathers of Greenville, South Carolina (far right). Between us are some of the leaders of our Polish Campus Crusade ministry. Robert Kowalsky, Polish Director of Development (left), Mariusz Kwapisz, Country Director of Poland (middle), and Marek Wyrzykowski, one of Campus Crusade’s Eastern European Regional Directors (right). All of them are great guys and a pleasure to work with.

One of the obstacles our ministry in Poland faces is trust. Since we are not part of the 95% Catholic super majority (even though we work with Bible-believing elements within the Catholic church), many people assume right away that we are a cult. So we must work harder to earn trust and credibility. ** Speaking of cults, Jehovah Witnesses are the second largest “Christian” denomination in Poland, greatly outnumbering Baptist, of whom there are only 5000-6000 in the whole country.**At the American Café, us visiting Americans thought it would be great if the room was full of American in their 20s who could connect even better with the Polish college students. But our Polish staff said that while all ages are needed to share Christ in Krakow, a room full of gray heads (like me!) was good because Polish students do not know anyone who is older who has a vibrant faith in God. This current generation of Polish college students is the first to not be influenced by atheistic Communism.

In spite of its troubled history, Krakow is a beautiful city! Here is a pic from the old town square on a crisp sunny fall day.

Our work that week generated many conversations where students heard clear presentations of the gospel. Between all the outreaches we did, over 5000 received personal invitations to learn about a relationship with Christ; many responded back with an interest to know more. Our Krakow campus ministry will be doing the follow up. Thank you for praying. Please pray for the follow up of Kris and others with whom we made contact. And please plan on joining us next year!

Equipping Laborers in Poland and Czech

It was a privilege to have at least some of my family with me while I traveled. Here we are (sans Elizabeth, Benjamin and Savannah who were all in their first week of school) enjoying the crisp air and green hills of eastern Czech while at a conference where I was asked to teach.

EB and I just returned from a week of ministry in Poland and the Czech Republic. It was a blessing to not travel alone but have EB, Rebekah and Quentin with me. I wish you could have met who we met, seen what we saw and experienced what we experienced.

Our first stop was in southern Poland for Campus Crusade’s Polish staff conference with 100 Polish missionaries. It was so encouraging to hear how the Lord is using this select group of Poles. EB and I both observed how the Polish people are more like Americans than most of the ethnic groups we have worked with in Eastern Europe. We found the Poles to have an American-like sense of humor, to be gregarious, optimistic, and hard working.

Saying "thanks" after the Polish ministry of Campus Crusade honored EB and me for our work on their behalf.

Even though Poland has upwards of 95% Catholic Church-goers, it is still predominately a secular society. Consider this quote I found recently in a publication from “Pioneers,” a missions agency like Campus Crusade: “As a percentage of population, there are fewer evangelical Christians in Poland than there are in Saudi Arabia—four times fewer! Roughly 90 percent of the counties in this country of 38 million have no evangelical church of any kind.”

On a free day, EB and I toured Krakow, the site of an outreach we are doing in early October with some American Christians. We visited the location of the WWII Jewish ghetto, where Hitler corralled all the Jews in Krakow before shipping them off to death camps. How do you explain the heaviness and hurt you feel while standing on the site where such evil happened?

This was the gathering place in Krakow's Jewish ghetto before the Jews were put on trains bound for the concentration camps during Hitler's reign. Today the square remains clear except for some vacant wooden chairs as an artistic way to say, "Everyone is gone; the ghetto has been emptied." I felt as if I was treading on a thin crust covering a worm hole from hell that regurgitated indescribable evil during World War II.

A short distance from the Jewish ghetto train station in Krakow is Oscar Schindler's factory, the subject of Steven Speilberg's movie.

On Monday we traveled a short distance across the Czech border to a beautiful retreat site in the extreme eastern reach of Czech. The location was high up in some rolling hills looking down on valleys with horses, farm houses, small villages, gurgling streams, fresh, clean air and green (even in August!) pastures and fields. It was picturesque! We spent a day with the staff of a Czech evangelical ministry called KVZ, the abbreviation translates loosely as “Christian and Education Outreach.” I taught on proper attitudes and Biblical basis for support raising. (Another ministry passionate for Jesus Christ but with great financial needs.)

For breakfast we were served cucumbers and hotdogs. For dinner one night we ate strawberry jam-filled potatoes with chocolate sauce and whipped cream!

EB and I really enjoyed our time with these 25 Czech brothers and sisters in Christ, all of whom share Jesus on campuses in the most atheistic country in Europe. 81% of Czechs do not believe in God, according to a recent study done by Pew Research. In terms of belief in God, in the spiritually dark continent of Europe, Czech is the darkest place of all.

While we split up to pray in small groups with our Czech brothers and sisters in Christ, I did notice a difference in style in our small group between Americans and Czechs. Which pair of feet above belongs to EB?

It must be noted, however, that while larger percentages of “deists” exists in other European countries, the percentage of evangelical believers across Czech, Poland, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and other Eastern European countries, is lower than in many Middle Eastern countries. All the same, why are there more hard-line atheists in Czech than in the other countries of Europe? EB and I posed this question over lunch to Dave Patty, the American director of Josiah Ventures in Eastern Europe, whose facility hosted the conference in Czech at which I spoke. Dave explained why there are so many atheists in Czech.

Me, on the left standing, addressing 25 Czech missionaries, along with my translator, Josef Pavlinak, the director of KVZ ministries.

To quote Dave loosely, the Protestant Reformation actually began in what is now the Czech Republic under the leadership of Jan Huss 100 years before Luther. Yet the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, who claimed those lands at that time, was militantly Catholic and demanded that all the “Hussites” either flee or return to the Catholic Church. For those that did neither, they were imprisoned or even killed, including Huss who was burned at the stake as a heretic by the Catholic Church in 1415. (It must be noted that in 1999 Pope John Paul II expressed "deep regret for the cruel death inflicted" on Huss and suggested an inquiry as to whether Huss might be cleared of heresy.)

Mandatory membership in the Catholic Church continued for hundreds of years until the late 1800s and for 40 years there was religious freedom among the Czech people. Then came Hitler followed by two generations of atheistic Communism. Religious freedom returned to the Czech people with the fall of Communism but the Czechs have chosen to stay away from their churches.

However, God has not forgotten the Czech or the Polish people. He has raised up Spirit-led, forward-thinking laborers for both countries. God in His mercy continues to reveal Himself to these people who have ignored Him. Yet isn’t that what God is doing for the ENTIRE human race?