Following the Polish tragedies: “We have to go on in our pilgrimage as faithful as possible”

It’s difficult to imagine the tragedy and pain that the citizens of Poland have experienced in the last month. Nearly “100 key people for our country died in a few seconds,” says Wojciech Szczerba about the April 10 Presidential plane crash, killing all 96 people on board including the Polish president and many of the country’s top political and military leaders. Wojciech, the Rector of the Evangelical School of Theology (EST) in Poland, said, “We tried to do our best in the difficult context. We tried to be the best possible witnesses of hope. Even if there are no immediate answers to questions, tears and grief, there is still hope.”

Two weeks following the plane crash, EST planned to host their second annual Festival of Protestant Culture, a week-long event filled with activities to celebrate the rich Protestant heritage in the city of Wroclaw. Months of planning and working across denominational lines took place until “the whole country sunk in grief, and reality froze for a moment,” Wojciech says. Their plans crashed with the plane, he says, and the event was postponed. Then the Lutheran Bishop from Warsaw, Rev. Mieczyslaw Cieslar, was killed in a car accident on his way home from the president’s funeral service, totaling two key Lutheran figures lost in just over a week. Amidst the unthinkable tragedy, the school thought a service with the voice of Protestants was really needed, “a voice that would show our tears and our pain with the rest of the country, but at the same time, our hope in the Almighty, Good Father.”

About 300 pastors, church leaders and politicians among others came to the service to be together, pray for the country, reflect on the situation and surrender their grief to God. “It was like a beautiful song to God, like our offering to Him, showing our unity and our hope in Christ….Featuring pictures of those who were lost, short testimonies of their friends and beautiful music, I could not think of anything more wonderful at that time.” A concert followed in the school’s chapel, where “for a while, we could just forget all the tragedy around us and sink in the poetry and music.”

Now it seems, Wojciech says, that the country is slowly waking up and moving forward from the great losses. As people continue to wonder why this all happened, EST says they have an opportunity to share the comfort and hope that is found in Christ. “A tragedy happened. We remember it, and we try to learn from it, but we have to go on in our pilgrimage as faithful as possible….Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your words of encouragement. Thank you for being with us in these difficult moments. We thank God for all of you.”

Update: Please pray for Poland as the country experiences another difficult time – massive and widespread flooding that has flowed from the Czech Republic. An unknown number of people have died, along with much loss of property, homes, businesses, livestock and crops. Citizens are helping each other, and rescue efforts and other resources have been available for the victims.

If you would like to support the training of future ministry leaders at schools around the world like EST, please click here.