Emanuel Machnicki

The OliveTreeFellowship

Flashlights from Poland

It is a greatprivilege to take part in the LCJE conferencehere in Kiev. Iamrepresenting The OliveTreeFellowship, aministrybased in Poland. We had the opportunity to introduceourselves on the conference in Krakow in 2010. It was a veryencouragingexperience to meetlike-mindedBrothers and Sisters in Christ from allover the worldwhoshare the same calling and burden tobring the Gospel to the Jewishpeople.

Thanks to the Lord therearemanyopportunities in democratic Poland to minister to the Jewishpeople as well as to communicate the truth for and aboutIsrael. Here aresomehighlights from our field of ministry.

We keeporganizingourquarterly ‘Prayer for Israel’ conferencesthatgatherusuallyaround 100 participants from allparts of Poland. The OliveTreestaffmembersalsovisit and preach in differentchurches and denominationsinterested in Israel.

The summertime of vacationsoffersgoodopportunities to connectrelaxation with evangelization. For the last 15 yearsOliveTreehasorganized and sponsored the summercamps for the Jewishchildren and teenagers from Ukraine. Ourexperienced co-workersorganizeBiblelessons andrecreationalactivities. In the lastsummer, one of the groups consisted of 22 Jewish people from Ukraine plus 10 Polish Christians.

Anothersummereventiscalled ‘Holidays with the Bible’. Thesewerestarted in the lateseventies and havebeengoing on for over 30 years. For almost 20 yearsnowtheyhavebeenheldat the Farm nearWarsaw, run by Gustav and Maria. The holidaysareaddressed to Christiansconcerned with Israel and to ourJewishfriends, sothat we canspendtimetogether and makefriendships. Last year there were altogether 33 participants, including 8 people from Minsk in Belarus, from the Jewish organization of ghetto survivors, and 3 Israelis. The event was supervised by Sister Ania and her husband Marek.

OliveTreekeepsorganizing on regularbasiseducationaltrips to Israel. Thereareapproximately 4 tours per year with about 40-50 participantseach one. AftervisitingIsraeltheysaythey love the land of the Bible. Theyoften want to pray for Israel and for the Jewishpeople. We try to arrange the opportunities for them to meet with the Israelis and hopefully be a goodtestimony to them. The tripsaresupervised by Sister Hania.

We continue the youthministry for college students and youngadults,helpingthem to becomespokesmen for Israel in our country. We also want them to establishrelationships with the Jewishyouths. Therefore we supportthe youth exchange programs. In 2013 Olive Tree in cooperation of an Israeli non-governmental organization “SparkPro Israel” organized a youth exchange, where Jewish people, mostly secular, could spend a week with young Polish Christians in Poland, learning about Polish history, culture and people. The same group met again for a week in Israel to repeat the activity.Olive Tree has been participating in the program since 2010. The youth ministry is conducted by Timothy and Jola.

We arealsoactive on the field of publishing and media. We havebeenable to print and distribute a number of booksaboutGod’s plan for Israel. We issue abulletineentitled‘Our Elder Brother’ reaching several thousand readers throughout Poland. We alsosendourmonthlyprayerletter to hundreds of ourprayerpartners in Poland.Twice a weekour radio program is broadcast by a Christian evangelical radio.

Last year the Olive Tree staff members took part in recording of a TV program about Shavuot. The program was shown on Polish TV main public channel, some days before the Pentecost. In the previous years we participated in making several TV programs presenting the feasts of Hanukha and Pesach, as well as other topics connected to the Judeo-Christian heritage.

In October 2013 “Olive Tree” took part in a reconciliation conference organized by a Baptist church in Poznan. The speakers were representatives of Jewish, Polish and German nations. The event got publicity in the secular media.

I am not entitled to speak for otherministries in Polandlike“Send me” by Kazimierz Barczukor Szalom Ministry in Oswiecim and others. As far as we know,theyaredoingwell and areexpandingtheirvariousactivities. Alsomanylocalchurchesspontanouslytakevariousinitiatives. In most of Polishcities and townsthereareplaces of Jewishmemorylikecementariesorformersynagogues but thereare noactualJewslivingtherewhowouldpreserve the memory.Usuallytherewere no Polishpeoplewilling to do that. We havequite a fewexamples from allover Poland whenlocalevangelicalChristiansfilled the gap and tookcare of suchplacesgaining much appretiation for that from the Jewishcommunity.

Right after the WWII theconstructivedebateon Polish-Jewish relations wasrestrainedfor politicalreasons, and, so to speak,put to a „freezer” for almost 40 years.Nowis the timewhenPolishpeoplehave the opportunity to deal with the uncomfortabletruththatduring the WWII we were not always theinnocentvictims of the Nazisorpowerlesswitnesses to the genocide.The historicalresearchnowbeingconducted, especially on the socalled‘III phase of the Holocaust’provesthat innumerouscasesPolishpeoplewere the soleoppressors of theirJewishneighbors,whichdemitologizessome of the narrativeson Polishheroismduring the war.Unfortunatelya major part of the societyrefuses to acknowledegethosefacts and accuses the wholedebateof beinganti-Polish propaganda, as well as a distortion of the Polishhistory.

Since a fewyearsPolishnationalmovementshavebeen on the rise. Therearegroups of younghooliganswhodemonstrate on the streetsusingparamilitarytacticsandemploingextremistrhetoric. Theycallthemselvesthe defensors of Polishtraditionalvalues. The anti-racistNeverAgainAssociationsaiditdocumented a 30 percentrise in the number of racistorxenophobicincidents and crimeslinked to the far-rightlastyear.Nationalistideologyisoftenbased on a beliefthat “truePolesareCatholic” whichimpliesthatmembers of ethnic and religiousminoritiescannot be truly “Polish.” Therefore, anti-Semitismis a crucial part of theircoremessage.Currentlytheyaretrying to enterthe political mainstream.

Poland needs adecidingspiritualbreakthrough. I believethat the darkness of antisemitism,sodeeplyrooted in Polishmentality,is the mainhindrance to the unleashing of God’sblessingover my nation. In yourprayers, please, remembermy country.