Last December, my associate Avni Menalla and I travelled to Eastern Europe in search of where the Lord would lead Momentum Europe. Specifically, we were asking Him to direct us to the country that would become the focus of our next expansion in Europe.
Within about 12 hours of arriving in Warsaw both of us at almost the same instant realized that Poland was the country God had in mind for us.
For the past several years I’ve come to know the National Ministry Team Leader for the ministry of Cru in Poland. His name is Zbyszek Masewicz. (If that seems like an overload of consonants, just think of him as “Z”.) I’d been impressed with his leadership as he stepped into a very challenging ministry situation, and had successfully brought needed changes to the ministry there.
But on this trip, what impressed both of us almost simultaneously was the subway; full of sharp looking, intelligent seeming, young men and women – young professionals – who seemed eager to tackle their world. It was the Christmas season and the entire length of Warsaw’s Old Town was decorated as spectacularly as any city I’ve ever seen in Europe. Between the people and the creativity of the décor, it seemed like Warsaw was saying, “Here we come, Europe. We’re ready to play an increasingly significant role on the continent”.
We also realized that the time to do something in Poland – Warsaw in particular – is now. As it rapidly emerges from the suddenness of going from communism to post- communism, it’s apparent that secularization is taking root. A few years ago Poland stood out among countries of the European Union as they fought to keep references to God in the European constitution. Now, I would not be so sure they would.
So, quite unexpectedly we found in Poland the two key elements of strategy that we were looking for:
- Tremendous opportunity as the leadership potential of Poland came into view and as we saw in the national ministry of Cru a desire for Momentum Europe to come alongside them
- Tremendous urgency as we see the creeping influence of western secularization beginning to supplant Poland’s historically spiritual values.
So, Poland is now officially Momentum Europe’s sixth ministry in Europe – joining Romania and Albania from the East, and our teams in Nice, Dresden and Dublin in the West. This newest partnership was kicked off at the recent Rendezvous and will move into high gear during the upcoming Impact Tour in October.
Be on the lookout for Momentum Europe news regarding this newest ministry partnership.