Piotr Zaremba
Location: Poznan, Poland
Timeline: On-going
Status: Currently operating
Topics: Bible translation, Christian leadership, Church planting
The Need
Poland is predominantly Roman Catholic (95%) and Evangelicals are often viewed as a cult. The Post-Communist culture in Poland contributes to suspicion of those outside the Roman Catholic Church. Evangelical churches are needed to equip, encourage and disciple believers. They also need to have a quality study tool available to them in their language, so they can learn to “feed” themselves from God’s word and be encouraged to share Christ with others, even though this requires unique creativity, persistence and boldness.
Description
Rev. Piotr (Peter) Zaremba is a church planter at heart. His ministry focus is planting, reviving and equipping churches for the Great Commission. Pastor Zaremba is currently a senior pastor of the 5N Baptist Church in Poznan.
Within five years of being planted, the fellowship has planted two daughter churches. The Poznan International Church was created for the English- speaking members of the large student population in Poznan.
The Gniezno Baptist Church was planted under Piotr’s ministry as the only Evangelical fellowship in the chief Roman Catholic city of Poland. Piotr was appointed a Bible translator by the Baptist Union of Poland. Piotr and his team of translators lead the first Evangelical project of Bible translation for the Polish-speaking people around the world.
Over 170,000 copies of the Gospels translated by Piotr and his team are already in circulation world wide. Piotr functions as ITMI’s European Director. As such, Piotr provides mentoring and oversight for all of ITMI’s missionaries and projects in Poland and Romania.
ITMI can feel comfortable sending short- or long-term missionaries to Poland, because we know that they will have loving accountability, guidance and wisdom to work under.
The ministries that Piotr oversees include two church planting endeavors, a ministry to orphaned children, transformation efforts geared toward helping the homeless, Gospel music evangelism, and an outreach program to international students in Poland.
History
Piotr graduated from a Christian Academy of Theology in Warsaw, Poland with a degree in Protestant Theology. Subsequently, he was elected the Youth President of the Baptist Union of Poland.
He held this position for four years, until 1989, when he accepted the challenge to grow the Body of Christ in Poznan, Poland’s second largest city. Since then, Piotr has played a vital role in planting five churches - four in Poznan and one in Gniezno.
Piotr’s other contributions to the church in Poland include: teaching Systematic Theology and Ethics in the Baptist Seminary, teaching Hebrew at Poznan State University, 17 years of translating and writing of Christian theological books, devotional and study materials, smuggling Bibles into the Soviet Union, and research conducted on the Minor Prophets Scroll found in the Judean Desert.
Goals
- Complete the translation of the Polish Study Bible.
- Disciple and mentor Polish and American workers.
- Grow and multiply Evangelical churches in Poland.
Needs
- Prayer and financial support.
- Polish workers to support ITMI’s many projects in Poland.
- Short-term missionaries to serve in Poland.
Who’s Involved
- ITMI to provide oversight and US awareness.
- ITMI Polish missionaries who independently conduct their various projects under Piotr’s oversight.
- Various churches and supporters around the world.
- Baptist Union of Poland.
