A letter from Doug and Liz Searles in Poland
October 15, 2009
World Communion and small miracles
Greetings from Poland in the name of Jesus Christ!
On October 4, many of you were praying for believers worldwide. There’s a great sense of uplift in knowing special prayers for unity are circling the globe, and we really felt it! We’d like to share with you what was happening in Poland on that day.
First of all, a young woman entered our church in Lodz for the first time. It seems that she and her boyfriend had been working in Belfast, as so many young Poles have done. One Sunday, they both wanted to go to church in Belfast, but couldn’t find a Roman Catholic church right away.
Time was passing, so they decided to enter the first church they came to, which turned out to be a Presbyterian church. The couple was warmly welcomed, sat next to the pastor at tea and fellowship after the service and returned to warm welcomes Sunday after Sunday. Polish workers are not always easily accepted in Northern Ireland for religious and economic reasons, so the Polish couple felt they had found an oasis of hope and relationship.
Back in Poland on World Communion Sunday, this young woman, returned from Belfast, arrived at the Lodz Reformed church at 9:30. Worship starts at 10:30, but the choir practices at 9:45. We invited her to join our “Joyful Noise Band” and — wow! — she sings and loves to sing and wants to return. Doug was preaching, and the service was partly in English, which she understands well. At fellowship following the service, she was warmly welcomed by age peers, and we are hoping that she will continue to worship with this congregation.
That same World Communion Sunday, a young Filipino-American woman arrived. She is beginning her studies at the medical university here in Lodz. She has a heart for outreach, will be attending the Lodz church English-language Bible study and, we hope, will continue to worship with this congregation. She, too, joined the choir.
People in the pews were greeted by brand new and never-seen faces and voices singing a new song — “Santo, Santo, Santo” in three languages with the stalwarts of our choir. What a World Communion Sunday it was!
We thank you for your continuing prayers and support. Both are needed and treasured during this critical time in the life of Kosciol Ewangelicko-Reformowany — the Evangelical-Reformed Church in Poland.
Peace in the midst of all storms,
Liz and Doug Searles
