I thought I would share with you an exciting testimony from the work here in Poland. “Godincidence” is not a word you will find in the English dictionary, but it’s a very good description of what we have recently experienced here in Lublin.
A few weeks ago we had baptism and because summer was in full swing, we decided to have it outdoors, in a nearby national park, and at the same time use the opportunity to have a little picnic with the church. Before the baptism I had a short teaching about it, and while I was talking, there was a married couple on a walk to the forest who stopped to listen.
When I was finished, they contacted us and it turned out they had an exciting story. Some time before they had received Jesus as Saviour, but there were no Christians who had witnessed to them. They had just been reading the Bible and in that way started to believe in Jesus. They kept on reading and could see they needed to get baptized, but didn’t know anyone who could baptize them. They searched a little on the net, but didn’t know what was what, and they lived in a little village where they didn’t know of any evangelical alternative.
The same Saturday as we had baptism, they were on a walk to the forest. As they were walking they could suddenly hear someone talking about baptism. They curiously came closer and saw a lot of people gathered, and one who stood teaching about baptism. That could not possibly be a coincidence!
When I was finished with the teaching, they got in touch with Marek Charis, who is now the main pastor of the church, and asked if they could also get baptized. He talked to them a little and could see that they had understood the Gospel and received Jesus as Lord and Saviour — so then the next natural step was to get baptized.
God does things also among the international students. In the picture above we see Isaac from Kenya getting baptized. He is one of the students who got saved after he had come to Lublin. Now he is active helping in the church and studying at the same time.
After the baptism they took part in the church picnic and found out that they knew one of the married couples from the church. That couple lived in the same village as them, and since that place is quite far away from Lublin, they had started a little house church in their home. Before the day was over, they had made contact and arranged to become part of their house fellowship.
The harvest is ready
I knew something rose in me when I heard their testimony, because the last 3-4 years I have regularly heard similar stories of people who hadn’t known any Christians, but had started to read the Bible. They had understood they had to get saved and baptized as well.
Jesus says in John 4:35: “… Lift up your eyes and look at the fields! They are all white for harvest …” and this is about today’s Europe. It’s not the harvest that is the problem, but the lack of workers. That’s why Jesus says that “… The harvest is great, but the workers are few. Ask therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out the workers into his harvest …” (Luke 10:2).
How many people will get saved in Europe this year is actually a little up to us. God is more than ready, the harvest is already prepared — but where are the workers? Let us do as Jesus says — let us sincerely pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out the workers.
Prayer and willingness to go is a good recipe for a revival and we have really experienced it the latest months here in Lublin. This year we have had prayer every morning, where we among other things pray for the city, the areas around and for God’s calling for the people. That’s why I believe it was not a coincidence that this couple was on a walk in the forest exactly when we were there as church, and exactly when I was standing and talking about baptism.
We experience that people are more open when we are out evangelizing — and I am convinced that this is the direct result of the prayer. A few weeks ago me and a friend were out in the street to talk to people and we experienced that everyone we stopped was “divinely picked”.
We can all do a little
We are really grateful for all of you who are supporting the work we are doing here in Poland. It’s thanks to you that we can do what we do. Of course we know that God is our provider, but He often uses people — and for us, you are the tool that God is using to provide for the work we do. That’s why we are grateful both to God and to you, and we pray that God may reward you abundantly.
Best regards
— Kasia & Ronald Gabrielsen :-)