Europe’s Baptists Grieve for Poles
Europe’s Baptists Grieve for Poles
Prague/Warsaw – In letters addressed to Polish Minister-President Donald Tusk and the Baptist Union of Poland, Europe’s Baptists have expressed condolences regarding the tragic death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, Maria. The presidential couple along with 94 other persons, including leaingr representatives of politics, the military and the church, lost their lives when their plane crashed near the Western Russian city of Smolensk. Kaczynski and a Polish delegation had intended to participate in a memorial service for the victims of the war massacre in Katyn. Eight clergymen were also aboard. A delegation from the Polish Baptist Union also attended the official memorial service of 100.000 Poles in Warsaw on 17 April. Baptist congregations throughout the country had previously prayed for the families of the crash victims.
Anthony Peck (Prague), General Secretary of the European Baptist Federation (EBF), had written to Tusk: 'We have been shocked and deeply saddened by the news of the plane crash.' He continued: 'We know this is a major tragedy for the whole Polish nation and we mourn with you the loss of so many outstanding leaders.' Peck added that Poland is a nation rooted deeply in the Christian faith and pointed to the recent Easter celebrations and their expression of resurrection hope: 'It is to that Easter faith we turn to find comfort and hope in the face of such tragedy and loss.'
The President of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Pastor Alexey V. Smirnov (Moscow) wrote to his Polish colleague Gustav Cieslar in Warsaw: 'God’s Word calls on us Christians to empathize and be compassionate towards one another, for ‘if one part suffers, every part suffers with it' (1. Cor. 12:26). He assures that Russian congregations are praying that the deep wounds of the Polish sisters and brothers might be healed, their spirits strengthened and given the power to cast all of their suffering onto Christ following the irreplaceable loss. One is also praying for peace between the nations, so 'that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness' (I. Tim. 2:2).
President Hartmut Riemenschneider (Marl) and General Secretary Regina Claas (Elstal) also wrote the Polish Union on the behalf of Germany’s 'Federation of Evangelical-Free Churches.' They stated: 'It is hard to imagine the depth of your suffering and the extension of the terrible consequences for your country.' One prays that the country might find new leaders to fill the void, but also that Baptists 'as Christians will be able to testify to the people in their surroundings of the hope founded in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.'
Only hours after the accident, many members of the EBF’s Executive had expressed their sympathies to Polish Baptist Pastor Daniel Trusiewicz (Wroclaw), head of the EBF’s IMP mission project for the planting of congregations by indigenous pastors. In a letter of thanks he noted that 'in one blink of an eye Poland has lost the elite of its nation. This tragic loss will not be easy for us to restore.' He requests prayer during this 'awfully painful and unprecedented tragedy.'
Eighty-two congregations with roughly 5.000 members belong to the Baptist Union of Poland. Nearly 96% of the country’s 38 million inhabitants are Roman-Catholic.
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Anthony Peck (Prague), General Secretary of the European Baptist Federation (EBF), had written to Tusk: 'We have been shocked and deeply saddened by the news of the plane crash.' He continued: 'We know this is a major tragedy for the whole Polish nation and we mourn with you the loss of so many outstanding leaders.' Peck added that Poland is a nation rooted deeply in the Christian faith and pointed to the recent Easter celebrations and their expression of resurrection hope: 'It is to that Easter faith we turn to find comfort and hope in the face of such tragedy and loss.'
The President of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Pastor Alexey V. Smirnov (Moscow) wrote to his Polish colleague Gustav Cieslar in Warsaw: 'God’s Word calls on us Christians to empathize and be compassionate towards one another, for ‘if one part suffers, every part suffers with it' (1. Cor. 12:26). He assures that Russian congregations are praying that the deep wounds of the Polish sisters and brothers might be healed, their spirits strengthened and given the power to cast all of their suffering onto Christ following the irreplaceable loss. One is also praying for peace between the nations, so 'that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness' (I. Tim. 2:2).
President Hartmut Riemenschneider (Marl) and General Secretary Regina Claas (Elstal) also wrote the Polish Union on the behalf of Germany’s 'Federation of Evangelical-Free Churches.' They stated: 'It is hard to imagine the depth of your suffering and the extension of the terrible consequences for your country.' One prays that the country might find new leaders to fill the void, but also that Baptists 'as Christians will be able to testify to the people in their surroundings of the hope founded in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.'
Only hours after the accident, many members of the EBF’s Executive had expressed their sympathies to Polish Baptist Pastor Daniel Trusiewicz (Wroclaw), head of the EBF’s IMP mission project for the planting of congregations by indigenous pastors. In a letter of thanks he noted that 'in one blink of an eye Poland has lost the elite of its nation. This tragic loss will not be easy for us to restore.' He requests prayer during this 'awfully painful and unprecedented tragedy.'
Eighty-two congregations with roughly 5.000 members belong to the Baptist Union of Poland. Nearly 96% of the country’s 38 million inhabitants are Roman-Catholic.