- Missions
What happens when a Cuban professional boxer shows up to a charity concert in Poland raising funds for Ukraine? Now, that’s a question I never thought I’d ask. And I certainly never thought I’d be able to provide an answer.
On January 6, 2023, our church, Amazing Grace, in Poznan, Poland, hosted a charity concert to support churches in Ukraine. The goal was to provide funds for two Ukrainian churches to provide heating for people who remain in their congregations. Families from these two churches in Ukraine have been a part of our church in Poland since the beginning of the war.
The concert got off to a great start with incredible musicians performing songs in English, Polish and Ukrainian. After the first set of songs, an auction took place. The people had prepared many goods to auction. What struck me, though, was that a number of items auctioned were based on the skills of the people from our church.
Related: You can assist Ukrainian churches through the Converge Ukraine Relief Fund
One of the ladies from Ukraine who attends our church is a hair stylist who auctioned off her skills to provide haircuts for two people. Music professionals in our church auctioned off private music lessons. Language teachers offered language lessons. It was incredible to see how the body of Christ came with everything they had ― not just their money, but their time and talents to serve people in need.
One of the key moments in the auction came when one member of our church, a Cuban professional boxer, was inspired in the moment and offered free training sessions with him at his boxing club. The price at which these lessons were sold was incredible, and you could feel the generosity in the room.
As I watched all of this unfold, I thought about how beautiful it is to see Christ at work in and through his people. People from multiple tribes, tongues and nations came together in a small Polish theater to raise money for people and churches in need in Ukraine. Praise be to God!
Converge is asking God for a gospel movement among every least-reached people group ― in our generation. The 15:5 West Initiative works among the 15 largest cities in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia to plant gospel communities in at least five unreached villages around each of these cities.
