Raising windows and opening doors
Ben Greene
Pastor & writer
- Missions
Andrew and Miranda Brothers have the same concrete walls as their Poznan neighbors. So, when construction in another flat vibrates the entire building, they feel the shaking like their Polish neighbors.
Andrew went to the flat above theirs to talk to the owners. Instead of complaining, he offered to help them move in after the contractors finished cutting, hammering and drilling.
Then, they asked Andrew if they could drop an extension cord out the window down to his flat. The construction workers needed electricity. The Brothers’ family was more than willing.
“All the other neighbors hate us,” Andrew said the couple told him. “You guys are the only ones who don’t. We want to know why you are here.”
10 days turn into a purpose for their lives
The Brothers spent 10 days in Poland in 2019, surveying the country to hear from God about becoming global workers there. Converge’s 15:5 West Initiative for Poland is based in Poznan, where Steve and Jenny Valentine lead the gospel effort among the country’s least-reached people.
While the Brothers traveled the country, they gained confidence in ministering to the historically Catholic but mostly unreached people. There are about 1200 evangelicals and 20 evangelical churches in the land of 38 million people.
Poznan is a university town with about 100,000 college students among the half-million people who live in the city. Many young adults are turning away from Catholicism toward atheism or new-age spirituality.
“We saw a huge need here, and we came back and decided to start raising support,” Andrew said.
He felt called to ministry at 14, a year after coming to faith in Florida. Miranda decided to become a missionary at 17 after short-term trips to other countries. The two met at Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Florida, where they studied cross-cultural ministry.
That’s where she first heard the term “unreached people groups.” Both of them discovered such people would be those they lived to serve. That passion led them to Converge, and they moved to Poznan in July 2021.
“If it’s less than 4% evangelical, that’s where we want to put our time and energy,” Miranda said.
‘There are people we think are reached, but probably aren’t’
Even with ministry motivation and clarity like they had, people still told them, “Don’t go to Poland.” Other believers said the country was reached because of Catholicism’s historical influence.
Miranda understood perspectives like this because she had the same preconceived notions. At one time, she even thought missions meant a third-world country, not a developed country like Poland.
She’s learned the country is as unreached as it is because so many people still misunderstand who Jesus is. As a result, they don’t realize what he’s accomplished for people who trust him.
“I have such a burden for Poland because I think there needs to be an awareness brought to the world,” she said. “There are people walking around you every day who don’t have hope. There are people in different countries that we think are reached but probably aren’t.”
The spiritual life of Poland
Andrew explained that Poland has a sense of religion but not freedom through the gospel. Therefore, complacency among Polish people is commonplace — they don’t have the motivation for spiritual changes or life shifts.
This mild religiosity is partially rooted in spiritual beliefs and practices. But the way Poles believe or don’t is also connected to Poland’s intensely communal, family-oriented culture.
As a result, Andrew said Christians who leave the Catholic church face mental and emotional persecution, such as rejection by their families. At the same time, he said some people become believers and stay in the Catholic church.
The Brothers, who seek to make disciples by revealing Christ through the Scriptures, trust the process of growth in a new believer's life to help them navigate leaving the Catholic Church.
“We’re not anti-Catholic,” he explained. “We’re pro-Jesus.”
Related: Jesus is answering prayers of his people for those who don’t know him.
‘Where you play, work and eat is your ministry’
The Brothers, who live in the same city as Steve and Jenny Valentine, their Converge colleagues, have emphasized building relationships and learning the language since they arrived last year.
They are attending a local church, supporting the pastor with evangelism events and introducing Discovery Bible Study to the church’s members. Miranda uses DBS with two women, and Andrew has facilitated a church Bible study to demonstrate DBS in action.
Their ministry on the 15:5 West initiative team emphasizes four priorities: discipleship and church planting, community engagement, leadership development and collaboration.
“We believe to plant churches, we need disciples; and we need disciples to plant churches,” Andrew said.
To that end, their fellow believers organized two evangelism events in their community so more people could connect with Jesus through the local church. That has led to spiritual conversations and promising foundations for friendships with neighbors and people they regularly see.
“Where you play, work and eat is your ministry,” he said. “How will the people hear if someone doesn’t share?”
Two women came to Miranda, interested in talking with her about life and their experiences. Eventually, they started doing Discovery Bible Studies with Miranda.
These two women came to her when she was lonely and missing the church fellowship common in the United States. In addition, Miranda was feeling the frustrations of everyday situations in a place where you don’t know the culture and language.
Then she met these two women, started sharing Scriptures and they became friends. A breakthrough happened when one woman started crying as she talked about her loneliness.
“For her to cry in front of me was a big deal,” Miranda said of the Christian woman trying to raise her children to know Christ. “This is worth it if I only have two friends that I can share deep hurts with.”
Opening up to others — and God
The Brothers have also encountered people in pain, like their language teacher, Agata, who wonders about a God who would allow horrible things to happen. With Agata and others, Miranda and Andrew have shared about the miscarriage of their second child and the stillbirth of their third child.
“We started doing that with Polish people,” Andrew said. “We noticed that when we would open up to people, they would open up. It’s hard for someone to trust us if we’re not willing to trust them with our hearts.”
That happened with Agata during one of their early Polish lessons. She said she had some questions for Andrew; to her, he was a spiritual leader, although she didn’t quite understand his role.
Her questions allowed them to share their challenges in trusting God’s goodness.
“There are tons of people in the Bible who have doubted and cried out to God in their doubt,” Andrew said. “I encouraged her to do that, cry out to God, share her doubts with him.”
The Brothers are praying for God to motivate more Christians to come to Poland for the manageable risk of being available for conversations like they’re having.
“We need more faithful workers who will be obedient to the will and commands of Christ in Poland,” he said.
Why would someone invest more time where less achievement is a possibility?
As the Brothers’ ministry in Poznan takes shape, a quote regularly motivates Andrew: “People who expect a spiritual harvest invest more time in places where a response is more likely or already happening.” That can mean believers avoid interactions where fewer people accept Christ.
What the quote says last is why he reads it again and again: “This will likely result in unreached and unengaged people remaining unreached.”
Given the couple’s passion for least-reached peoples, that’s precisely why they lead Discovery Bible Studies, joined a local church and organized evangelism events.
That’s why Andrew walks upstairs when construction vibrates the walls. He’s coming not to complain but to connect.
So, their neighbor dropped an extension cord out the window and down the wall. Then, Andrew plugged the cord into their outlet.
The saws and drills went to work upstairs as the walls vibrated so an empty flat could become a neighbor’s home. Then, in time, a Christian family can sit around the table with those who don’t know God.
Andrew has heard it takes seven connections from seven different people for a Polish person to accept Christ.
“I don’t know if they’re going to accept Christ,” he said of their future neighbors. “But I’m sure it’s going to take one less connection for them to accept him because of me.”
Converge is asking God for a gospel movement among every least-reached people group – in our generation. Learn how we are playing a role in accomplishing the Great Commission and how you can be involved.
Ben Greene, Pastor & writer
Ben Greene is a freelance writer and pastor currently living in Massachusetts. Along with his ministry experience, he has served as a full-time writer for the Associated Press and in the newspaper industry.
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