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School by the Sea

"You are so different from other people... You guys are from a different world."
By: Maciej Strzyzewski

The last year at School by the Sea was so amazing that I decided to write down some interesting stories because I feel it would be a sin not to do so. I am wondering why I have never done it before as there have always been lots of blessings worth sharing. Recently I read a comforting piece of advice in a wise book – Better late than never.

First of all I want to thank God for two teachers the Lord sent us last year, Sylvia from Australia, and Carrie from America, Carrie. We had 25 volunteer teachers altogether and appreciated all of them but these two in particular helped us maintain the mission focus of the school.

Every Friday morning we held worship services in our office for the staff. This special time let us realize who we were and what we were doing. We came closer to God and closer to each other and that was fantastic. Some may suggest that this should be obvious, but I’m mentioning it because a few times in the past we had student missionaries who were not as willing to participate in the spiritual activities of our school. This year was different.

School by the Sea must be an apple in our Father’s eye. While there is a serious spiritual crisis in Poland where people are turning away from the Church and its institutions, God is giving us an opportunity to work in His place where lots of people come and appreciate what we do. The students don’t come to hear sermons. They come to learn foreign languages but because they’re at School by the Sea they hear a lot of testimonies about a living God from our teachers. We always take advantage of Christmas and Easter time and spiritually-related topics from the text books in order to share the Good News with the students. At Christmas time we gave away 470 Steps to Christ books and chapters from the Desire of Ages.

During classes a first-year student, Wlodek unexpectedly asked a question: ‘Where does your church meet?’ Then I had quite a long conversation with the group about God. Then Wlodek added: “What you’re saying is very interesting. I’ve read a very good book on this topic. It was probably published by the Jehovah’s witnesses. The title was The Great Controversy.” I started laughing. Later I had a long conversation with Wlodek in a park and we prayed together. He looks like a gangster but in his heart he is a very sensitive and honest man who is looking for a better life. As I was thinking of a new environment for him I wrote to Heart Good Foundation in Norway (an Adventist institution) about Wlodek. He is now working there. Recently we got a request to send him the Bible. I pray he will continue to seek Christ.

Four years ago we started additional free meetings for our students where they could practice their English while studying the Bible. Twenty-five people were attending the meetings but only 5 – 15 of them attended each meeting. When the next school year started they stopped coming. We tried to renew the meetings but without success. Not a single person would show up. Last year my wife, Agata, came up with a new idea for Friday evenings. She suggested having a block of meetings about vegetarian cooking in English, English music, discussions about traveling and interesting people. These topics brought the students back. There were 3 – 12 people coming every Friday afternoon. We talked about friendship, biblical lifestyle, missionaries and Christian education. These meetings gave us another chance to focus people’s attention on God. Three of the students have visited our church, seven started reading our books.

One of the students who visited our church was Pawel (15). He had recently received his confirmation in the Catholic Church but at Friday afternoon discussions he talked about things he didn’t like about the church. Pawel was invited to our church, and to our surprise he eagerly agreed to come. Later he was invited to a youth program in a neighboring town, and again he was very eager to come. He talked about how he liked the unity of our church, the music, and was surprised that Adventist people were so happy and friendly. One of the young people asked Pawel if he was an Adventist. We were very surprised when he responded with “Not yet.”

Another student had been unemployed for a number of years, and was depressed, had low self esteem and was frustrated. She attended most of the Friday meetings where she talked to us about her problems. We offered to pray for her and she gladly accepted. She later sent a resume to a company she wanted to work for and eventually they offered her an interview. She was extremely nervous about the interview and so again we offered to pray for her, and she accepted again. After the end of the school year, within days, she was contacted and told that she had been offered this job. We pray that God will continue to work in her life and show her He is a God who cares and is relevant.

Agata developed a deep desire for sharing the great power of God openly. She has the gift of intercessory prayer for the sick and has seen a lot of positive results. For many weeks she spent a few minutes in each class to talk about the great things God had done for many people. The students responded well in most cases. Renata (24 years of age) seemed to be cynical. She had an annoyed expression while listening to Agata talk about the Lord. Agata lent her a book about a man of God. The girl was surprised and confused but she took and read it. At the closing ceremony of the school year she told Agata: “I wanted to quit many times because I was so busy, discouraged and often didn’t have the energy to learn. I kept coming to class because of your attitude and the amazing things you were saying.” One lady, Beata (50 years of age), came and said: “You, Agata, are so different from other people. The man from the office, Tomasz, is different too. You guys are from a different world.”

Over many years I have collected a total of 150 tapes of excellent sermons. I listened to them twice and I didn’t really know how to use them again. I thought of lending them to people but life demonstrates that most of the things I lend never return. So I stopped lending. On the other hand there is no use keeping them on a shelf. Latest technologies have helped me solve the problem. I transformed the sermons into MP3 format and put them on a CD. A CD costs 20 cents and contains 20 sermons with various speakers. Now every month I distribute them to my students. I decide who to give them to based on the expressions on their faces when I talk about the spiritual life. Recently two ladies said: ‘I want to come and see your worship service.’

I gave a CD to one of my 18-year-old students. One week passed and she didn’t say anything. Two, three weeks passed and she still hadn’t listened to it. To me it seemed that she was not happy I gave it to her so I asked her to bring back the CD. Then she said she wanted to keep it and promised to listen to it. A week later she stated the sermons were fantastic. Out of all the sermons she enjoyed most were Martin Weber’s.

In the year 2000 the Conference bought a building for the local church. It was in ruins. School by the Sea had an office there. At first we wanted to renovate it but it was not worth it. Pulling it down and building a new one was too expensive. A month ago we sold the building and bought a different one which is much younger and in a better shape. There were five companies willing to purchase the new building but we won the silent auction, bidding only $2000 more then the others. Finally after 40 years since our church was established we will have our own place to worship God in and School by the Sea will have its own classrooms. That’s really good news! Moreover the school has purchased a new office in the old town. We realize that if the office is open eight hours a day, we can meet lots of people who are coming straight off the street. We have 20 – 50 customers every day.

Tomasz is the one who takes care of the school administration. He spends a lot of time in front of the computer. Between doing charts, schedules, contracts etc. he meets people on the internet. Personally I don’t like technology, but it does work sometimes. Without meeting them face-to-face, Tomasz led two people to Christ. One of the girls, Magda, was baptized recently. Right after that she went to study theology at the Adventist Bible school in Poland.

Every Tuesday Tomasz goes to Trzebiatow where we also conduct some classes. While teachers are working, he goes from door to door offering Christian materials with good results. Some time ago Tomasz met Pawel (40 years of age). They have met 20 times so far. Pawel has watched video tapes from NET 2000 with Dwight Nelson. He has listened to 18 cassette sermons of Martin Weber and Morris Venden. He has also read several books. Recently his sister became interested in the Bible. Pawel is ready to take Bible studies. Both of them have visited our church twice.

At the end of the school year one of our students, Greg, came to the office to talk about God. At the beginning of the school year he purchased the Bible from the book stand in our office.

A lady came to the office to make some photocopies. While waiting she started looking at books on the stand. She bought the book “Tomorrow Begins Today” by Alf Lohne. After a few days she came again and bought the same book. Then a few days later she bought another one plus “The Unbelievable Power of Prayer” by Roger J. Morneau.

We pray for God’s leading and wisdom. Sometimes we feel we do too little. We would like to see more people give their hearts to God. We would like to pray with them. But as it is not always possible, we can pray for them. We believe our ministry is to be the light and salt of the world. We work in a very specific environment of secular people and it is not the matter of what we want but what can be done. Only God knows hearts and He only knows who, when and how that person can be drawn to Him. We want to be part of this wonderful process.

If after reading this article you have a desire to work with us using your gifts, we will be very grateful. You can apply to work in Poland by visiting the AVC web site.

Maciej Strzyzewski is a vice-director of School by the Sea. He also teaches English.
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School by the Sea office. New church Building Tomasz School by the Sea students School by the Sea students Wlodek got his start at a better life while a student at School by the Sea Agata has a deep desire for sharing the great power of God. The new office, although very expensive, is situated in a very attractive location in Kolobrzeg. It represents the school and the church well.