Baptistic Theologies, 2009

sian Baptists. When they came back, they tried to find congregations to join. They also started to proclaim the Gospel to other people. The hopelessness that many people had experienced meant that they started to look for answers in their lives. The evangelical message had a significant impact, 38 especially on people in the eastern or Orthodox part of Poland. Lukasz Dziekuc-Malej was one of those who was committed to encouraging mission on the part of Slavic Baptists in Poland. His background was Greek Orthodox and he embraced the evangelical faith in Bialystok. He was sent to work in Brzesc, on the banks of the river Bug, where there was no Baptist church, and he started a youth club, a Christian bookstore and a school. In this region of Poland, called Polesie, people spoke generally in Russian, so it was revolutionary to start a Polish¬ speaking school. The emphasis was on connecting with society. Brzesc became something of a Baptist centre, and outreach took place in the villages around. 40 Those who began to attend services were very interested in the Bible but many of them could not read it. Thus the school that was opened offered not only a general education but taught people to read, specifically so that they could read the Bible. People would walk about thirty kilometers to attend a service in Brzesc. It was important for them to 37 Stanislaw Bajko, Baptysci i Ich Nauka, Poslaniec Serca Jezusowego, 1946, No. 5, p. 145. 38 The reason for that situation can be understood: unlike the Roman Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church did not forbid their members to read the Bible. 39 Gutsche, The Beginning of my work in Poland, p. 28. 40 Ibid., pp. 18-19. 94 Baptistic Theologies be part of a fellowship of evangelical believers. In the new church, which was open to new ideas, leaders organised orchestras where members played mandolins, guitars and violins, and they sang in three languages: Russian, Ukrainian and Polish. They also emphasised open prayer, using their various languages in one congregation. 41 As well as Polish literature there was Russian and Ukrainian literature. Russians printed their own monthly paper called ‘Majak’ (Lighthouse) while Ukrainians published ‘Pislaniec Prawdy’. ~ Relationships were built across ethnic boundaries. Through a variety of means small Baptist groups emerged in cities like Bialystok, Grodno, Wilno and Rowno, and in many small villages. In Galicia the new churches were usually the result of people coming back from deportation. There was also the influence of Austrian soldiers, who came mainly from Czech families. In many places Baptists witnessed in quiet ways. 43 In the small villages everybody knew everyone else and the lives of Baptists were observed. This witness in daily life attracted others. In 1924 no less than eighty-nine people were baptised in the little village of Rudka. This Baptist church became a refuge for ‘the poor and the ho