Poland (MNN) — With the death of Poland's president in an airplane crash last month, the country is gearing up for an election to select his replacement next month.
Only two candidates matter. One is Lech's twin brother, Jaroslaw, leader of the opposition Law and Justice Party. The other is Bronislaw Komorowski, the speaker of the lower house of the Polish parliament, who has been acting president since the crash. However, many people in Poland are still searching for answers.
Jack Elwood, president of Avant Ministries, says they have a Short-Cycle Church planting team there. He says people have been stunned: "That kind of rolls over into questioning. And many times it has opened doors for our team to engage in spiritual discussions with people because everyone's talking about it. Even in the midst of these difficult circumstances, people can find Christ in the midst of great pain."
What about the response? Elwood says, "We've seen a great spiritual responsiveness. We're engaging people in what we're calling 'Spiritual Discussion Groups' that are able to be the foundation of a growing church. We're seeing many people draw close to Christ as a result of this."
The team needs prayer. Elwood says, "Pray that they will continue to be bold in their identification with Christ and with sharing of the Scriptures with people who are in great pain. Sometimes that's a real sensitive issue because they don't want to take advantage of the circumstance, but they do want to use to show people why they need to find hope." That takes real discernment .
He's also asking you to pray for the Avant team support. "Many of our teams are struggling with finances, partly due to the economic downturn and some of the challenges with churches around the country." That's affecting teams not only in Poland but in other parts of the world.
