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Opening of the Polish-Ukrainian Bible Institute in Lublin
The inauguration of the Polish-Ukrainian Bible Institute in Lublin took place on August 20. The main goal of the Institute is to integrate biblical Christians from Poland and Ukraine to carry out evangelistic and church projects together, as well as to exchange experiences of working for Jesus in the Polish and Ukrainian peoples, learn from each other and pray together for the future of our nations.
The inauguration ceremony was led by Pastor Pawel Chojecki of the New Covenant Church in Lublin and Roman Loboda, a Baptist Christian from Zaporozhye, who helped bring together Ukrainian Christians and Christians from the Against the Tide TV community.
The institute will organize ten monthly conventions. The lecturers will be pastors, professors and Christian leaders from Poland and Ukraine.
The first series of lectures on discipline in the church in biblical, historical, and cultural terms was given by Pastor Pawel Chojecki of the New Covenant Church in Lublin. Lectures from the first convention will be available on the Institute’s website.
Those interested in joining the Institute are invited to contact us by email: [email protected] [Article in Ukrainian]
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We are not paid by any means by the government, political parties, corporations, or any other groups and therefore, we can work completely independently and achieve such success in reaching Poles with the truth.
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WHAT ELSE:
Ukraine Independence Day
On August 24, we celebrated Ukraine’s Independence Day. To mark the occasion, we broadcast a special edition of the Against the Tide LIVE program, and also participated in the “Heart for Ukraine” concert at the Chelm Culture Center, which was organized by Ukrainian churches, the Future of Ukraine’s Children Foundation and the Baptist Church in Poland. The Ukrainians honored five people, local leaders personally involved in helping our neighbors. Among them was Pastor Pawel Chojecki, head of Against the Tide TV.
Pastor Yaroslav Troć, who serves as pastor of the Volyn district of the Baptist churches, gave a speech on what God has done among Poles and Ukrainians.
During the “Heart for Ukraine” concert, a Ukrainian Christian Vladimir Pasa gave a particularly moving speech: “Dear Poles, I want to ask you, why instead of taking Lviv from us, you gave us weapons, you gave us tanks? Why instead of remembering the slaughter of Volhynia, you gave us a roof over our heads, food, clothing? You sacrificed so much of your time, so much money – why? Why did you not seize the opportunity? I also want to address Ukrainians: Why do you think the Poles acted this way? Because the Poles acted as true brothers, as true friends. We should remember this story – that Poles gave us a hand, opened their homes for us, shared what they had most precious. And we should, it is our duty, tell our children and grandchildren about it. We must never forget this.” [Video- Ukrainian]
The special edition of our LIVE program was full of interviews with guests from Poland and Ukraine. Against the Tide TV hosted Ukrainian parliamentarian Kira Rudik; Pastor Henryk Skrzypkowski; Olena Golikova, Ukrainian journalist; Vitaly Sus, founder of the Heart for Orphans mission; Roman Loboda, a Christian from Ukraine; Dmytro Matiuchin, head of the social service department of the Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine; Nicholas Rykowski, president of the Free Place Foundation; and Krzysztof Stanowski, director of the Center for International Cooperation of Lublin City Hall.
We asked our guests about what else Poland can do to help Ukraine.
Michal Falek, on behalf of the entire editorial staff of our TV, conveyed wishes to Ukrainians on the occasion of their holiday.
This month was full of cooperation and contacts with the people of Ukraine. We were able to experience support and friendship from each other, as well as strengthen and encourage each other to further actions.
During the Sunday meeting of the New Covenant Church, we listened to a sermon on following in the footsteps of Jesus, delivered by Roman Loboda.
We also hosted Dmitry Kharybin, a Ukrainian youth pastor from Poltava, who currently serves at the Baptist Church in Wroclaw. We spoke with him about the Christian churches’ involvement in aid for Ukraine and the differences between Catholicism in Poland and Orthodoxy in Ukraine. [Video – Ukrainian]
Krzysztof Skiba in the Against the Tide TV
We talked to Krzysztof Skiba, leader of the band “Big Cyc,” satirist and publicist. We covered the topics of his trial with Polish public television and his relationship with its head, Jacek Kurski, as well as the moral state of Polish Catholicism, and Skiba’s political involvement.
We also asked our guest about his attitude to faith and where he gets the strength to be an anti-system activist.
Blazej Kmieciak on Against the Tide TV
We spoke with its chairman, Prof. Blazej Kmieciak, about the difficulties in the work of the State Commission on Pedophilia. According to the Commission’s report from this year, the largest number of pedophiles is among Roman Catholic clergy. We asked our guest about how reliable the report’s data are and what the problem of pedophilia is among other denominations, as well as what the Commission’s cooperation with the Catholic Church is like. We also spoke about the project to eliminate the statute of limitations in pedophilia cases and touched on the Vatican’s instruction to bishops.
Professor Kmieciak commented on the problems encountered in the Commission’s work: “For me as a government official, but also for other government officials, e.g., judges, prosecutors, the problem is that we suddenly collide with a wall. We hear: “We will give you the documents concerning this case, but it will happen only the moment you present us with an argument on the international legal way.” Let’s assume that we agree to this international legal route, but there is a provision in its instructions that says that it is up to the Holy See to make the final decision on whether or not it will hand over the documents. And here is the basic problem, a very serious one, because realistically, the power to obtain these documents at this point is none – not only by the State Commission, but also by an independent court of the Republic of Poland. For me, there is no agreement on this.”
Discussion of the price tag
Price increases in Poland are the highest in 24 years. Studies show that more than 40% of Poles experience a deterioration in their physical or mental health due to the rise in inflation. We invited Dariusz Duma, philosopher and entrepreneur, Andrzej Domanski, economist and financial markets analyst, and Marcin Duma, president of IBRiS, to discuss the impact of high prices on our mental health. We asked our guests about how to live in a country where costs exceed earnings, and where to get hope and positive information from.
WHAT’S NEW:
- We have prepared an animation based on the “Putin’s Pope” leaflet. It is available on our YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter. Find the paper version of the leaflet in our online store.
- We have published a report on the Christian Camp 2022. The report was created in a new form – we give the floor to the Polish community, who are our guide to common experiences and emotions.
WHAT WE ARE WORKING ON:
- In September we are holding another meeting of the Polish-Ukrainian Bible Institute in Lublin. This time the lectures will be given by Zdzislaw Miara of the Mt 28 Christian Movement and CROWN Financial Education. The theme of the lectures in September will be an introduction to the process of independent Bible reading and study, and an example of how to apply interpretive principles based on difficult verses of the Letter to the Hebrews. Those interested in joining the Institute are invited to contact: [email protected]
- We are also organizing a Christian conference in Chicago and Florida for the Polish community. Chicago is traditionally the site of the largest concentration of the Polish community in the US, and Florida is currently the most popular place of relocation for many Poles living in the States.
- We are preparing for the new academic year in the Megachurch project.
- We are also working on an evangelization campaign aimed at students. October is the best time to reach them.
- We are thinking of starting a mini-Christian café, please pray for this project!