On exploration in Southeast Poland
Long ago, in the late 1990s, shortly after I moved to Poland, we once went on holiday in southeastern Poland. The impression I remembered from cities such as Lublin, Sandomierz, Tarnów or Przemyśl, was one of poverty, of beautiful cities that were largely neglected and impoverished. And the roads were even worse, narrow, with deep ruts and holes.
What has changed in the last 25 years!
Now you drive over beautiful highways in 4.5 hours from Poznań to Lublin, an impressive city as if raised from the ashes! Where in the 90s the dilapidated old town was the domain of homeless people and “misfits”, it is now a pearl! With an clear “legacy” of the Jewish past – in this region before the Second World War dozens of percent of the population was Jewish. It was special to experience both this inheritance and all change! A tip for everyone who thinks about another visit to Poland!
In four days, on behalf of Evangelical Poland, we had twelve meetings in eight different cities with representatives of churches and organizations that make a difference also in this region! Because … Poland may go through rapid development, not everyone manages to join in. Due to much more limited social provisions than in most other EU countries, far too many people have a hard time providing their existence with all the known problems that come along with that. And there we as Christians have a calling. A calling that we together can give a much better answer to than alone!
