Wojciech

The following was written by John Unger and is a prayer request, praise, and epilogue to our trip.

As you recall, we had 10 people come to church on Sunday, who heard us at the concerts we did in Gdańsk.  One of these was a man named Wojciech (pronounced “Voy-check”).   Although he speaks no English, through Gary Farr, an Englishman who helps Pawel in his evangelism in Gdańsk, Vojciech shared some of his story with me. 

Wojciech is an amber craftsman, specializing in carving solid amber blocks into artistic sculptured works.  In his mid-forties, Wojciech has been a very troubled man, searching for God in various books and religions, and almost became baptized as a Mormon 11 years ago.  His wife died several years ago, and he has been raising his daughter alone since.   Four times he has unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide; his last attempt at hanging himself was foiled by a large amber carving he was working on.  Wojciech had attended three of our Gdańsk concerts, and was very moved by the message preached during Saturday afternoon’s concert.  On Sunday he came to church, took the Lord’s supper, and spent the whole day in fellowship with us. 

Early Monday morning, three taxis – and Pawel – ferried the RCC team to the Gdańsk airport, and we arrived a little before 6:00 AM.  After unloading all our luggage and gear, we said our farewells to Pawel, and proceeded to the ticketing counter to get our boarding passes.  Afterward, we headed to the security line and made it through with no issues.  Once that was done, the team decided to get something to eat and rest at our gate. 

After we ate together I went to do some final shopping at the duty-free store near the gate, where I bought a nice bottle of vodka.  Not long after, as I was sitting at the gate, I heard my name called over the loudspeaker system, to come to Security Control.  It was probably around 7:30.  Initially I was afraid that I was in trouble for the vodka I had bought, but as I got to the security checkpoint  there was Wojciech, standing with a security guard on the other side of the security scanners.   I was amazed to see him. (Pawel told me later that Wojciech had asked him when we were leaving; Pawel had told him, but didn’t think anything of his question, considering it to be only curiosity).

Wojciech waved at me, holding up a blue plastic bag, and beckoned to me to come to see him.  I was hesitant to go back through security at that point, so I just waved back at him.  He seemed to understand, and then handed the guard the bag he was holding.  The guard took the bag and passed it through the scanner, and I received it on the other side.  I looked inside the bag: it contained books, cards, and a pen, all souvenirs from Gdańsk.

I called, “Dzien kuje bardzo!”, waved at him again, and said, “Do widzenia!”  As he turned to go, he stopped and reached into the satchel he was holding, and took out a red velvet bag.  From it, he pulled out something brown, and gave it also to the guard.  The guard passed it through the scanner, and then handed it to me.  It was a bag of amber chips.  I was stunned:  this was something very precious to Wojciech that he was sharing with me, not only in appreciation for our team's friendship, but more so for the gospel which he had received.  I called to him and thanked him again in Polish and again waved good-bye, then walked back to our gate to share what had happened with the team, who were wondering what was going on. 
 

The team was as surprised and touched as I was.  It was and is very poignant to consider that Wojciech went out of his way to come to the airport early in the morning, to give these gifts and express his appreciation to us.  I am still in awe of God's work in Wojciech's life and ours, and am amazed at how He performs His wonders.  This event has become the highlight of the mission for me; to me, it's emblematic of our whole trip and the reason for it.  We came here to share Christ with the people of Poznań and Gdańsk, and by His Spirit He has granted us success.   Praise His Name!
John Unger