Milestones
Milestones
Reaching the next generation through Gospel Joy ministries
Gospel Joy is a five year old ministry started and developed by one of our HighMark business seminar coordinatiors, Andrew Gorski. The ministries consist of workshops where young people (e.g. 18-36 year olds) learn Gospel Music, are taught the gospel through the lyrics, perform concerts for the city (so thousands more see the lyrics with many asking what they mean) and then some of the workshop participants join bible study/discipleship groups where they grow in the word.
Marta Florczak is one of the young women who attended a workshop, developed a love for the music, investigated what the lyrics meant, and accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior with whom she could have a personal relationship. Marta, like 98% of all Polish people is Catholic. She attends mass every Sunday at her local Catholic Church but she says her true church where she feels at home is the Word Zone - Bible study and discepliship group led by Gospel Joy leaders, which is a follow up event after Gospel Music workshops. Word Zone is the place where Marta is developing her relationship with the Lord and other Christians.
Marta on her situation: "From my first Gospel Workshops, Gospel Music has had great impact on my life. When I joined Gospel Joy a lot of things changed in my life, with the most important thing - my relationship with Jesus. I'm so grateful to God for people who are now around me, who support me, from whom I can learn looking at their faith. I feel I'm growing. Through gospel music Lord teaches me what true faith and trust in Him is, and makes me say - whatever you are going to take me through - I want to spend my always with you."
Marta is evolving into a leadership role in the Word Zone and is also one of the leaders of the Gospel Joy workshops and concerts, quite often having a soloist role. Marta will be attending the International Spotlight Conference at Perimeter on February 9th and 10th, and we are hopeful to be able to hear Marta sing at that time and meet with her after the Sunday evening service.
We are amazed at what our Lord is doing through Gospel Joy and leaders such as Andrew Gorski and Marta Florczak and are honored as a church to be able to partner and work where God is touching hearts and doing amazing things. Andrew is developing leaders (Gospel Joy is currently in five cities and will expand to Warsaw this year) and building bridges of hope to the Polish community.
Poland Next Generation Ministry
Have you ever wondered how to have hundreds of people listen to the Good News in a country where the evangelical church is seen as a sect and people wouldn?t go to such a church even if you paid them to?
In Poland it is extremely difficult to gather 30 people during an evangelistic event, yet hundreds of people come, and even pay, for Gospel music workshops!
God has given our partners a way to reach many hundreds of young people through Gospel Music workshops and concerts. The workshops are entire weekend events where hundreds of people come to learn joyful black Gospel music. During the workshops the meaning of the songs are explained, and this inevitably leads to a Gospel presentation.
Usually, more than 90% of participants are not believers. They come because they enjoy singing in huge choirs, enjoy dancing and clapping their hands to the music, and enjoy the informal atmosphere. One needs to realize that when, and if, these people go to church on Sunday it is almost always dark, silent, depressing and very serious. Not wonder they love it when they can shout and dance to the rhythm.
The results of the workshops are amazing. The participants typically have positive reactions to the explanations of the songs. They truly want to know what they are singing about, and even seem surprised that the Bible can be interesting and applicable. It is very natural for the instructors to present the Gospel. Everyone is interested in listening since they usually look up to the instructor, as this person is skilled in the area of leading choirs and singing. The leaders/instructors are like role models.
This amazing ministry is less than four years old, and has already conducted workshops and concerts in Poznan, Torun, Bydgoszcz, Szczecin, and Wroclaw.
The key in all of this is follow up. This is complicated to do with seekers in Poland since it is difficult to invite them to a Protestant church. People have the idea that the Protestant church is a sect, and this is true even with new believers. The first step in follow up, therefore, is not simply an invitation to the local evangelical church. The surpervising Polish Pastor, and the experienced church planting missionaries involved in the project follow up in a different way, through personal discipleship and through regular group activities which are focused on preaching the gospel, worship, and Biblical teaching.
Please pray for God?s kingdom in Poland, the Gospel Joy leadership of Andrew Gorski, Kris and Megi Sieliccy, Kenn Oke. Pray for the young men and women whose hearts will be touched by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel Joy workshops and concerts. Pray for the follow up discipleship and bible studies. Pray for the financial and human resources required to aggressively expand this ministry to other cities in Poland and for follow up workshops in the existing cities. Pray that God continues to bless this ministry in a mighty way.
