Our story

- 1861 -

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The first baptist church on Polish land was planted in the village of Adamowo (c.a. 60 miles from Warsaw) by a former Lutheran teacher Gotfired F. Alf, who became a believer a few years earlier.

- the 1860s-80s -

 

Baptist movement starts to grow, churches are planted across the whole country of Poland.

- 1908 -

 

The Baptist Church in Łódź opened their first orphanage, the fastest developing city in Poland at the time, with an important Jewish community.

-1922 -

The congregation in Łódź started running the "Bethlehem" hospital, with a 75 patient capacity admitted in the following departments: surgery, internal, gynecology, ophthalmology, and oncology. According to the records of hospital director Berty Lohrer, "in 1934, 874 Roman Catholics, 437 Evangelicals, 160 Jews, 109 Baptists, and 9 Orthodox passed through the hospital."

-1930 -

The opening of an orphanage in Brześć, today on the territory of Belarus, which was run by Pastor Łukasz Dziekuć-Malej. There were about 16 children residing at the home up until the outbreak of World War II.

-1935 -

The opening of a retirement home in Narewka, a small town with Orthodox and Jewish communities. The retirement home is still operating in Białystok, 20 miles from Narewka.

-Sept. 1st, 1939 -

Nazis Germany attacked Poland from four directions, without a declaration of war. By the 8th of May 1945, when IIWW ended, 30% of Polish citizens were killed by occupants, and 90% of the Polish capital - Warsaw was destroyed by bombs. After the war Polish land was smaller - about ⅔ of its previous territory.

-1939-1945 -

During the II World War, congregations in villages, as well as the Radość (eng. Joy) Center located in one of Warsaw’s suburbs, welcomed children from churches in large cities for summer vacation. After summer, Radość Center was used as a rehab center for recovering Jewish prostitutes.

-Post-war years -

The Polish territory, previously split and occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was given new borders. Only 10% of baptists from before the outbreak of the war remained in the new Polish borders. There were no planned charitable activities because Polish people suffered greatly. 

-The 70s & 80s -

During the communist years, western countries, especially the USA, began to send money for the construction of new chapels, which helped establish the baptist community again. The evangelical churches in Poland also received other material support that was difficult to obtain at the time - clothes, food, educational and musical materials, which were distributed among the churches and helped to live the months and years with dignity. Polish Christians were smuggling Bibles and Christian literature in the Russian language to the Soviet Union. 

-The 90s -

Liberation from communism brought a breath of revival to evangelical churches in Poland. In cooperation with foreign partners, Polish churches began to engage in activities among the poorest, the disabled, and the addicted.

-2017 -

As a result of Poland's significant economic development during the 25 years of freedom, Polish churches began to become independent from foreign aid and resumed their independent initiatives

The Baptist Charity Action (BACh)  - a Baptist initiative that conducts extensive charity work in Poland - was founded.

One of the first actions led by the charity was involvement in purchasing and opening a center for addicts in Rzegnów.

-2022 -

Russian invasion of Ukraine. Because of the unique opportunity of having available facilities in Baptist churches across the country, Baptist congregations immediately got involved in helping refugees during the Ukrainian refugee crisis as millions fled to seek shelter in Poland.