In Poland, evangelical Christians make one tenth of a percent of the nation. This means that only one person in a thousand belongs to a Christian church. It is one of the smallest minorities in Poland, yet the most persecuted one. It is happening despite numerous declarations of assurance from politicians and it is against the law that guarantees equality of all faiths in the Republic of Poland and legal protection of minorities.
A striking example of a state-sanctioned witch-hunt that is aimed at one of the evangelical communities was a media attack on the New Covenant Church of Lublin on October 24, 2019, in which over 20 major media outlets in Poland participated. Not only did they engage in smearing us and stoking hatred against us, but we were deprived of the right to defend ourselves, except for only one newspaper, Rzeczpospolita. The fact that the government-controlled media, such as TVP Info and Polish Radio, played the leading role in this outburst of hate speech and the coordinated attack is exceptionally outrageous. Their articles carried such headlines as, “Senator from Civic Coalition used to be a member of a mysterious Lublin cult,” “Religious community “resembling a cult.” Civic Coalition senator among its founders.”
It is worthy of attention that members of the New Covenant Church of Lublin are already subject of hatred on social media as well as physical attacks. Unidentified perpetrators have repeatedly damaged Pastor Paweł Chojecki’s car, threatened him, his family, and his co-workers with death or assault; they also vandalized the church’s property. The police and prosecutor’s office have been ignoring these crimes despite reports concerning them (except for one case last week).
It is difficult to predict what kinds of attacks on evangelical Christians in Poland will transpire in the aftermath of the recent hatred campaign against the New Covenant Church of Lublin, stimulated by the Law and Justice’s government media. Does it have to come to the point of shedding Christians’ blood before the authorities give up their persecuting and discriminating non-Catholic Polish citizens? Is this the manner in which the government of the Republic of Poland is planning to honor the upcoming Reformation Day on October 31?
We are calling attention to the fact that Adolf Hitler and the apparatus of the Third Reich began the Holocaust in this manner. First, by means of propaganda, Jews were besmirched and portrayed as inferior and unworthy of people protected by law. Then, came the violence, pogroms, and – eventually – concentration camps…
God calls upon Christians to stand faithfully by those who are belittled and persecuted (Heb. 10:33). Therefore, we are asking those, who are standing by Jesus today not to be silent in the face of the witch-hunt orchestrated by the government of the Republic of Poland against one of the churches of Christ. If you do not manifest your solidarity with us today, they will destroy us first and then they will come for you.
How can you help us?
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Pray for us that we would persevere in the time of trial; also pray for those in power that they would give up fighting with God and begin implementing His laws rather than pursuing the benefit of their party and denomination.
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Sign the petition: https://www.citizengo.org/en-us/signit/174607/view
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Encourage your pastor and your congregation to publish an official statement concerning the government-led persecution against the New Covenant Church of Lublin and Pastor Paweł Chojecki.
Members of the New Covenant Church of Lublin and viewers of the Against the Tide TV.
