BLAND – The Gasconade Valley Baptist Association is considering ways they can assist the Warsaw Bible Church in Warsaw, Poland. This church ministers to many refugees from Ukraine, and their numbers have swelled considerably since Russia invaded the Ukraine homeland of these refugees. The association sent four people to Poland in August to consider partnerships and future mission trips.
Kevin Sullivan, the pastor of First Baptist, Owensville, went on the trip along with Trent and Dana Young, director of missions and wife at the association. Chris Cook, pastor of Parkade Baptist Church, Columbia, went on the trip to help with the partnership arrangements. He works with the Future Leadership Foundation, a group the Gasconade Association has partnered with for several years.
The Warsaw Bible Church is served by Senior Pastor Michal Baloha. He visited the association last year to request assistance as they serve many Ukrainian refugees. A good number of them are wives and widows of Ukrainian soldiers. Conditions in that war-torn nation are very bad. Many of the refugee women have children, and they need to seek employment in Poland. So the Warsaw church helps them in many ways as they await the resolution of the war.
Gasconade Valley Association has partnered with the Ukraine Baptist Seminary in L’viv, Ukraine. Cook and Sullivan have made trips to that seminary in the past.
The group met with leaders of the Polish Baptist Union and The European Baptist Union while they were there. They received updates and suggestions on how to best come alongside the church and help the church minister to the Ukrainians.
The Warsaw Bible Church has two other associate pastors, and they have established three other church missions in other parts of the city. The group had the opportunity to meet with some of the other churches and preach there. They also led discipleship seminars to train up new leaders for the growing church. As Sullivan put it, “The people feel overwhelmed, and their burden is great. There are more people to help and evangelize than they have leaders for.” They wanted to equip new leadership to help the pastors of the church as they care for the refugees.
Dana Young spoke to a group of Ukrainian women. Many of them were the wives and widows of soldiers. They thought there might be a few dozen attend, but they were pleasantly surprised when 58 women poured into the hall. Mrs. Young spoke to the ladies helping them with their physical and spiritual burdens. The widows of soldiers killed in the war especially touched her heart as they shared their grief.
She said, “It became so real to us. We met people and our hearts just go out to them. There is so much stress and such an unknown future.” The ladies were invited to tell their stories and the grief and stress was very obvious. “They know they will see their loved ones in Heaven,” she said. There were some tears shed as the conference unfolded.
Young said the refugee women and children are in a tough position. If a whole family leaves (including the man in the family) they have to abandon all their possessions and property. If the woman leaves and the man stays to fight in the war the refugee woman has to try to work to make a living for the family in Poland. Many men in Ukraine are being pressed to fight in the war. Their military pay is minimal.
She added, they crammed a lot into two days. The fospel is certainly needed in Warsaw as well as back in the Ukrainian homeland of the refugees.
Trent Young told of one refugee named Serge who was there and was working a volunteer in a kid’s camp at the Baptist seminary in Warsaw. Serge had been imprisoned for his Christian activities in Belarus. He had testified in some trials for other Belarus believers who were being persecuted for their faith. Belarus is dominated by Russia, and Christians are under a lot of persecution there.
When he was released from prison, Serge tried to resume his Christian work. But he realized he needed to leave the country because he could not actively practice his faith. He left Belarus and walked to Poland. He was told at the border that he should never come back. The border agent said, “Don’t come back or you will be shot.”
The Gasconade Valley association is planning a return trip to Poland in 2025, and they welcome any possible volunteers from the association or other areas of Missouri to contact the director of missions. His contact information: Trent Young; phone, 580-475-6267; e-mail, gasconadevalleybaptist@gmail.com.