International Theological Education Ministries, Inc.

Rev. Scott Churnock, pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, Hazelwood, MO, Teaching Trip to Poland

In October, I had the opportunity for my 5th teaching session with ITEM. The previous four were in Dontesk, Ukraine. This time I traveled to Romania where I taught for one week in Bucharest at the Reformed Theological Institute and one week in Campina at the Maranatha Bible College. While in Campina, I met up with Dr. Ludwick. Dr. Ludwick, Ruling Elder John Lindley and I had begun our travels together in St. Louis, but upon arrival in Amsterdam, Dr. Ludwick headed for Wales, various cities in Holland, and Ukraine (to investigate sites for new schools and to recruit new professors), while John and I went to Romania to teach.

After meeting up with Dr. Ludwick in Romania, he and I flew to Poland to investigate the possibility of beginning a work there.

For a number of years the ITEM board has desired to establish a Reformed Seminary in Poland. After making contact with a Presbyterian pastor in Wales who had conducted a few seminars in Poland, we were given the names of several pastors in Wroclaw, Poland who desire to establish a seminary. Arriving in Wroclaw, we were met at the airport by two pastors (Bogumil Jarmulak and Marek Tomic) and an elder from the Evangelical Reformed Church in Wroclaw. Due to the late hour of our arrival, we were only able to talk briefly with these three men that evening. But the next day we met for several hours with pastors and elders from the Reformed churches in Wroclaw, Poznan, and Warsaw.

The Reformed church in Wroclaw started in 1996 as mission of a Baptist church in that city. It was originally an enterprise of the principal at the Bible Theological Seminary in Wroclaw. Interestingly enough it was entrusted to a co-worker (Marek Tomic) who happened to be a Calvinist. Marek’s Reformed teaching began to influence the student body and church. Challenged by the new thinking and pursuing Reformed principles, the church left the Baptist Union and became the Evangelical Reformed Church in Wroclaw. Assistance in the form of theological education and access to the UK schools came through Llandaff Presbyterian Church in Cardiff, Wales. The church now serves a number of students and the movement is spreading from Wroclaw to Poznan and Warsaw! These churches have organized conferences, summer camps, Reformation Day meetings, etc. They publish a journal called the “Reformation in Poland”, and are seeking to publish, in Polish, Lorraine Boettner’s “The Reformed Faith,” Cornelius Van Til’s “Why I Believe in God,” John R. De Witt’s “What is the Reformed Faith?” and John Calvin’s “Truth for All Times.” Our meeting with the pastors and elders from the three cities was very productive and encouraging. The church in Wroclaw is well taught and led by very capable pastors who are well-grounded in the Reformed faith. Their desire is for ITEM to assist them in establishing a Reformed study center. This would include periodic lectures, seminars and conferences staffed by ITEM professors. However, the church in Warsaw has requested that ITEM assist them with the establishment of the first Reformed seminary in Poland!

Their desire is to offer Master’s level programs for pastors and lay leaders. After meeting briefly in Warsaw with the pastor and 9 prospective students (during an overnight layover there on our return to the US!), one of the men said, “This meeting is the answer to many years of prayers for a Reformed seminary here.” What a way to end a trip!!

Dr. Ludwick and I found that in Poland “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” We went to Poland not knowing what to expect, merely hoping that we would be able to establish contact and continue a dialog with the Polish churches with a view of someday beginning a school there. We came home with far more than this! Right now we have a church in Wroclaw that has asked ITEM to provide professors for periodic lectures or conferences and to assist them with beginning a Reformed study center. We also have a church in Warsaw that has requested that ITEM begin a Reformed seminary in that city as soon as possible.

They have about 15-20 students “ready to go.” In fact, Rev. Moner Shadid, pastor of the Warsaw church, wants to begin the seminary in April!

As we look at the opportunities in Poland, there are three things ITEM needs. First, we need your prayers. This is obvious, but so essential. Without the fervent prayers of God’s people, all our efforts, plans and labor will be futile. Pray with us and for us. Second, ITEM needs the resources to begin and sustain these new works. It costs money to send professors, provide translators, write curriculum, rent meeting places, etc.

These are new works and so are not in the ITEM budget. Third, we need professors to teach in Warsaw and Wroclaw. Jesus exhorts us to ask “the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Join us in this prayer. We have immediate needs for a professor in April for Warsaw, a June conference in Wroclaw, and a July conference in Warsaw. If you have been an ITEM professor or have considered being one, we need you now in Poland!

 

Dr. R. David Ludwick, ITEM President, Teaching Trip to Poland

Scott Churnock and I (David Ludwick) traveled to Poland to meet with the representatives of three Reformed groups from the cities of Warsaw, Poznan and Wroclaw. This field trip was spurred by Rev. Dr. Peter Naylor of Cardiff, Wales, whose presbytery has interests in the establishment and perpetuation of Reformed Theological Education of pastors, teachers, and lay leaders there – the type ITEM supplies.

The Evangelical Reformed Church in Wroclaw is in a serious minority position vis-à-vis the Roman Catholics, Baptists, and Lutherans. The church in Wroclaw started in 1996 as a mission of a Baptist church in that city. It was originally an enterprise of the principal at the Bible Theological Seminary in Wroclaw. Interestingly enough it was entrusted to a co-worker who happened to be a Calvinist/Van Tilian and he began to influence the student body accordingly. Challenged by the new thinking and pursuing Reformed principles, the church left the Baptist Union and became the Evangelical Reformed Church in Wroclaw.

Assistance in the form of theological education and access to the UK schools came through Peter Naylor’s Llandaff Presbyterian Church in Cardiff, Wales. The Evangelical Reformed Church in Wroclaw now serves a number of students and the movement is spreading from Wroclaw to Poznan and Warsaw! These churches have organized conferences, Christian summer camps, and Reformation Day meetings. They also publish a journal called the “Reformation in Poland”, and are seeking to publish, in Polish, Boettner’s “Reformed Faith,” Van Til’s “Why I Believe in God,” De Witt’s “What is the Reformed Faith?” and Calvin’s “Truth for All Times.

Two years ago the churches started an institute entitled “Bible Institute of the Bible Reformation in Poland” – it is a Bible school for church leaders and members. However, the lectures occur only a few times per season and on weekends. The work hopes to establish itself as the nucleus of a Reformed Bible college – enter ITEM in Poland!

In the three major Polish cities we visited, numerous meetings ensued with various persons – potential students, actual pastors, potential pastors and teachers. The two principal representatives in Wroclaw are Buguemil Jarmulak and Marek Kamic.

Both have been theologically trained at the seminary level and provide leadership in the church in Wroclaw. While interested in the establishment of an institute/Bible College/Seminary, it was apparent that, knowing little about ITEM, they were at first hesitant to proceed with ITEM. (There was apparently some negative experience with another missionary group somewhere.) However, Scott noted that they had “warmed up” substantially the evening before we left to go to Warsaw and decided to change their initial plan of arranging a single limited participation conference next year. Consequently, they decided not only to have a conference, with some current apologetically relevant aspect of Reformed Theology, lasting three to four days (a long weekend), and held somewhere in “isolation”, but this time for the benefit of the participants, not “outsiders.” Moreover, they agreed to a one to two week conference twice a year, and several conferences throughout the year for pastors and elders, teaching them about the Man, Responsibilities, and the Office (three to four days each minimum and very intensive), as well as some type of program where not only the basics of Reformed Theology would be taught to the church’s congregations, but others by invitation might be taught at some advanced level too. Looks like they are quite ready to start a school and for all the right reasons, although because of the amount of effort necessary to be added to the schedules of those men already working their hearts out, they need outside help.

While in Poland, Scott and I observed that, there is considerably more theological literature published in Polish than we anticipated encountering. As a consequence the establishment and addition to libraries is more of a possibility than less. As several round-table discussions showed us, their familiarity of the leadership with American Reformed authors and titles was actually surprising, and not only that, but, they spoke in terms which those authors/books conveyed, portrayed, or caricatured – only the fruit of laborious efforts produce such a result! One other interesting observation deserves mentioning. The leadership in Wroclaw and Poznan are not only intellectually acute, but theologically well read and articulate. Most read English. They know what Reformed theology is and who they are as a church--they do not wish to be made something other than exactly what they are pursuing through Christ work: to have Reformed churches established and taught by Reformed pastors at the most competent level attainable. They are also interested in the merits in a non-Biblical culture of home schooling but are experiencing governmental/bureaucratic opposition. By the way, in true Reformed fashion, one full Sunday afternoon per month (from lunch to six in the evening) parents and children of half a dozen families alike were catechized by the pastor or an elder. Most impressive!!

 

Patrick Purham, ITEM Professor, Poland Teaching Trip

After spending ten days in Warsaw, Poland, on my first trip with ITEM, teaching and preaching at a small reformed church my emotions were all over the board. I was tremendously blessed to be used of the Lord to teach these brothers and sisters in the Lord during this time. I taught two Friday nights for three hours and two Saturdays for seven hours. In addition I conducted four Bible studies during the week on various topics and preached the two Sundays I was privileged to worship with these dear Christians. This was incredibly wonderful while at the same time very tiring.

My personal state ran the gamut from a wonderful sense of joy in the Lord to the other end of almost unbelievable loneliness from being in a foreign country, with my wife hundreds of miles away. I stayed in a beautiful home with the Pastor of the Church, the host for my trip and two of his seven children. All of these spoke English fairly well which made life much easier on a day to day basis.

When I arrived in Warsaw. It was raining, windy and cold. The pastor of the church, Moner, met me at the airport. He shared that only 0.5% of Polish people are Protestant and that as far as he knows his church is the only Presbyterian one in Poland. They call it the Good Shepherd Church for this is acceptable to the Catholics around them. Later that evening classes began. I began with a chronological view of the life of Christ from the Gospels.

The last hour of the evening I taught through the first chapter of Ephesians. Everyone was getting fairly tired and sleepy and cold. The room was not very warm but talking of the greatness of our God, His Sovereign power over our lives, and His personal work in us as individuals will warm any Christian’s heart. Time went well, even though it was late. Overall, the people (about 12 in all) were very friendly and a joy to teach.

The following morning, Saturday, January 22, we began our first class around 10:00 a.m. There were about ten people there, of which four were men counting the pastor. In our question and answer time we spoke of how to treat an ex-communicated person. Should they be allowed in any church services or activities? These dear folks struggle with the same problems we do in our Churches in the States.

I taught through the Gospel of John, the book of Acts, James and Galatians, also providing Hendriksen’s assessment of when the N.T. books were probably written. I decided to give the outlines,the dates, the themes and other basic information but then also go through the books explaining some of the content. After a teaching day of about six and a half hours following teaching last evening for two to three hours, I was rather tired and my throat was about done in. A long tiring but exhilarating day with God’s people studying His Word – a great way to spend a Saturday in Poland.

The following Friday and Saturday went basically the same way as I taught through I+II Thessalonians, I Corinthians, Romans, Hebrews and Revelation. Long and exhausting as well as exhilarating days. At the end of the teaching time, they brought me a present, a book about the city of Warsaw and a beautiful pewter/silver mug with the Polish Eagle on it. I was deeply touched as they handed me the present and clapped for me thanking me from the bottom of their hearts for coming to teach them God’s Word. It was a fitting climax to some wonderful teaching times with them.

On Sundays church did not start until 1 pm. The Good Shepherd Church meets downtown in an old beautiful but rented Reformed Church building. Before the service, the elders came in and we all prayed together (them in Polish and me in English). The service started with about 30 minutes, maybe more, of praise songs ending with the offering. It was truly a joy to worship with these people as they sang the choruses. The Spirit was definitely present. Then the elder leading the service introduced me and I spoke from John 3:1-11 on the necessity of the new birth. He said my message reminded him of an experience he had had in the States on a bus. A lady got on and walked up to a Catholic priest and asked him if he was born again. He said he was a priest. She said yes, but are you born again? He said no. She then talked with him and they prayed together for him to be saved and receive the new birth. Then the pastor and elders served communion.

The following week I continued in John 3 concentrating on our Lord’s evangelistic approach. Over the course of the week I taught four …………..

Bible studies on three different topics. First, there was a study on, “How to be a Blessing to Others”, taught from the first two chapters of Philippians. Later in the week I taught two different women’s studies on, “Godly Priorities”, and one men’s study concerning “How to be a Godly Father to Your Children”. Much of my material came from Tedd Tripp’s book, “Shepherding a Child’s Heart”. I learned to leave out many explanatory comments and shorten the studies to more of the main points because of the time involved in translation and the difficulty of the language barriers. They were really nice people for each study. The most we had was around 12 and the least about 8. Like Americans, they enjoy eating and nice refreshments were provided each time. At each study, we had time for questions and answers. At the men’s Bible study their questions revealed they are facing typical problems in their homes. One has rebellious teenagers. One asked about disagreements between his wife and himself over how to discipline. One asked who should administer discipline, he or his wife or both. Some wanted to know specifically how to discipline. Another was interested in knowing when we can consider our job as parenting basically completed. When are the children grown and we can more or less turn the responsibility over to God. All good questions and I did my best trying to point them to Scripture and the grace of our Lord. The pastor finally closed in prayer and the meeting broke up.

Sunday morning January 30th, 2005 I spent reading the Scripture and preparing for the worship service which began at 1 pm. I preached the second of my sermons from John chapter 3. The service was again warm and Spirit filled. I preached with a young man translating. Later, Moner took me to the airport and I returned to Budapest Hungary where my wife was visiting my daughter, tired, exhausted mentally and spiritually tremendously blessed. Overall, it was a wonderful trip, and remarkable experience in serving our blessed Lord. I hope and pray to be able to return one day.

 

Dr. Michael Williams, Professor of Old Testament, Calvin Theological Seminary, Poland Teaching Trip

For ten days this spring, from March 3–12, I had the great privilege of briefly witnessing first hand and participating temporarily in the efforts of Moner and Stenia Shaded, who are seeking both to engage their beloved country of Poland with a solid Reformed world- and life-view and to train and equip leaders to serve the church as it grows. It is an ambitious and demanding vision that requires a loving commitment to the church, steadfast perseverance and faith in our Lord, trusting patience in the mysterious work of the Spirit, and significant personal and financial resources. With the exception of the last, Moner and Stenia have been blessed with ample supplies of all of these. As pastor of Good Shepherd church and director of the fledgling Warsaw Biblical Seminary, Moner has his hands full. Add to this his everyday involvement in men’s groups, Bible studies, coordinating efforts with missions agencies, and fulfilling his responsibilities as husband and father and it is plain to see that Moner has a very busy life indeed. An equally energetic Stenia engages and encourages the women of the church and seminary, leads Bible studies, actively seeks new contacts outside of the church, and provides support for her husband and family—in addition to tending to the needs of the occasionally visiting professor. So, it is hard for me to imagine how my visit to their busy world, staying in their home, eating meals with them, requiring escorts for my journeys into the city, and generally taking up space, time, and food could have been so warmly received. I was told a popular Polish saying is, “Guests in the home, God in the home.” This proverb was clearly demonstrated by my Polish hosts. Most important thing is that the message of God was spoken and it surely touched many hearts.

My Polish experience began Thursday afternoon at the airport, where Moner picked me up and drove me to their home, the bottom floor of which is reserved for the seminary. After introductions, the Shadeds showed me to the comfortable room they had prepared for me. Once I had settled in, ……

I had the first taste (literally) of Stenia’s fabulous cooking. As the week progressed, I actually began to worry that I might have to explain a weight gain to my wife when I returned from my “missions trip.” Friday evening, after some sight-seeing, I began the first weekend course. These dedicated students work the whole week at regular jobs and attend Bible studies and men’s and women’s groups during the week and attend classes at the seminary on Friday and Saturday. It certainly causes one to reflect on one’s own commitment to growing in the Word. This first course on The Prophet and His Message continued from the previous evening all day Saturday, from around 9:00 in the morning until around 10:00 in the evening. This was followed by some discussion time with the youth of the church. It was a full day in every sense of the word— full of eagerness to learn, full of committed Christians, full of opportunities, and full of appreciation for the grace of God that binds believers from all over the world into one family.

Sunday enabled us to celebrate God’s goodness in a worship service in which I was given the opportunity to preach to my Polish brothers and sisters. This was followed by a fellowship time where I was engaged in several meaningful conversations by parishioners who obviously have a great excitement and thirst for the truth. After being fed with the Word, Moner, Stenia, their daughter Miriam, and I retired to a local restaurant, where we enjoyed some traditional Polish food and conversation in a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere.

The intervening week before the next weekend class was a whirl of activity, including individual counseling sessions, a Bible study on the book of Job, two evening Bible studies in the homes of parishioners (one on the book of Job, one on the principles for reading biblical narrative), and a Bible study for the men’s group and a Bible study …… for the women’s group on love and respect in marriage relationships. It was a wonderful time of building relationships and learning from each other. God is doing wonderful things in and through His Church in Poland! Somehow during this busy week there was also time for visits to the National Museum, the Winter Palace, and the Old City.

During the last Friday and Saturday of my visit, I offered a second course, this one on the wisdom books of the Old Testament—Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. This course was well-received and resulted in many good conversations with the students. It was with a genuine sense of sadness that I saw my time with Moner, Stenia, and their flock come to an end. While recounting it in brief fashion makes it seem like a lot of work, and perhaps it was, it didn’t seem burdensome at all at the time. The classes, Bible studies, and counseling sessions seemed more like conversations with friends. While I was in their home, Moner and Stenia caused me to feel as though I were one of the family. Even their grown children, Philemon and Miriam, made me feel right at home. As I was preparing to express my appreciation for their gracious hospitality and for the opportunity to participate in kingdom work a bit removed from my zone of familiarity, I was again surprised by their giving nature. Moner and Stenia, together with the students of the seminary, presented me with an inscribed book as a token of their own appreciation for my time with them. It is entitled, 100 Most Beautiful Places in Poland. It is filled with pictures of magnificent sites, architectural and artistic wonders, and natural splendor. It, nevertheless, has one glaring omission. It leaves out what I found to be the most beautiful place in Poland—the beauty of our Lord, Jesus Christ, as it is manifested in his faithful servants who labor selflessly at kingdom work at a place called Warszawa.

 

Moner Shaded, Pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Warsaw Poland

Stenia, my wife, and I are ministering in Warsaw, Poland, pasturing a growing church in the challenging Catholic culture that has been a part of Poland's identity for over 1,000 years. Theological education and the church planting in Poland face a special set of challenges. The Catholic Church has been such a strong influence in Poland that the lines between traditional Polish culture and Catholicism have grown together.

Another way to say it is that "to be Polish is to be Catholic". Consequently, the Polish do not easily accept Protestant evangelical churches.

Poland, a country with 95% Catholics and more Jehovah's Witnesses than evangelical Protestants, is in great need of culturally relevant, Bible-believing, Gospel-proclaiming, reproducing churches. Our goal is to facilitate the planting of such churches in each of Poland's 16 districts, which will reproduce themselves to the forth generation.

In response to the need, Stenia and I planted the Good Shepherd Church in Warsaw in 1993. The church has now around 70 members (first generation Christians, with Catholic background). Along with continued ministry in the Good Shepherd Church, we are seeking to develop and equip leadership for a church planting movement. The church established Covenant Theological Seminary in Warsaw as the national seminary of our denomination to recognize that Covenant is the only seminary whose Board of Trustees is elected by and submits to the governance of the Good Shepherd Church in conjunction with ITEM.

The purpose of Covenant Theological Seminary is to train servants of the triune God to walk with God, to interpret and communicate God's Word, and to lead God's people.

Doctrinal Commitments The primary standard for our faith is an unqualified commitment to the Bible as God's Word, immediately inspired and inerrant in its original writings and to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms which, although subordinate to the Bible in their authority, set forth the seminary's understanding of Biblical faith in a consistent and reliable form. Covenant Seminary students affirm the Reformed Christian beliefs as expressed in the great confessions and creeds of the Church. Special admission is given on a case by case basis to attendees who do not share these beliefs.

Seminary Needs:
1. Professors to teach: ongoing need for ten professors to come once a year for ten days.
2. A place to hold classes: begun in Moner's house.
3. A room for professors to stay: begun in Moner's house.
4. Food for students on Friday evening and Saturdays.
5. Translators: finances and training of theological translators per se.
6. Part-time administrator: to organize translators, student registration and grades, professor needs, food for students, etc.
7. Marketing strategy.
8. Expand a small but growing library.
9. Your prayers.