Reaching Poland is critical to mission work in both western and eastern Europe. Yet Reformed Christians have ignored this reality for years and have neglected to send missionaries to this large European country. My goal here is to make the case for Poland’s importance to confessional Reformed/Presbyterian mission work and provoke a discussion concerning the issue.

Without further ado, here are the top seven reasons why Reformed/Presbyterian churches should reconsider Poland as a crucial base for mission work in Europe:

1. Attachment to Christianity. In the whole European Union, Poland is the country most dedicated to Christianity. Poles have seen themselves as defenders of Christianity ever since King Sobieski’s Vienna victory in 1683. Unlike most other European nations, abortion is illegal in Poland and public schools openly teach religious (Catholic) doctrine. However, anti-clericalism is growing, which provides a unique window for confessional Reformed churches to offer Rome-free Christianity.

2. Hurting State of Polish Protestantism. The mainline Polish Reformed Church is very small and weak, unable to respond to the needs of Polish society. Further, Polish Protestants make up one of the smallest communities in Europe, numbering less than 100,000 in this country of 40 million. Most Poles have never in their lives met another Pole who is a Protestant. A Polish woman who worked (not as a professor) at Harvard University once told me that there is “no such thing” as Polish Protestantism. Reformed missions, if irenically conducted, could strengthen the tiny Polish Protestant community, offering theological materials helpful to all Protestants. Just today I received an email from a Polish Baptist pastor/church planter who’d read Michael Horton’s Putting Amazing Back into Grace, asking me to translate and publish the book in Poland.

To learn the next five reasons, please click here.