Saved from the Shadows

Michal wasn’t looking for a Savior. He wasn’t even looking to be found. Like many of Poland’s homeless, he was hiding from reality in the Kalisz Train Station on a splintered, sagging bench. Drunk and strung out on drugs, he had no hope, no one to help, and no one to care about him. That is where Michal met Bread of Life’s Kalisz Director, Tomek Jezyk. Tomek does care about the lonely, forgotten souls in the train station. Every week, he searches its shadowy corners to reach out to people like Michal. Tomek is well-equipped to help these precious souls that Polish society has forgotten with a Masters in Addiction Counseling. Through his relationship with Tomek, Michal later attended a revival, where the Lord used ITMI’s Bob Taber to help Michal see his need for Jesus. Michal was adopted as a child of God that day. Now sober for over two months, Michal still battles the demons of his past. “There was a time in my life when I wanted to commit suicide,“ Michal says, thinking back, “This was before I believed in Christ. I was alone and had no support from heaven.” This time, though, he is equipped to resist them and cling to the anchor of his newfound faith as a child of our loving Father.

Tomek Jezyk, himself a spiritual beneficiary of Bread of Life’s work, is also a Karate Champion in Poland. Tomek combines his education and physical skills to help the at-risk and street children in Kalisz. Tomek reaches out to children who have little to no experience with a loving, attentive and involved earthly father through David’s Club. David’s Club offers Karate lessons to youth as a vehicle to share Jesus with them. The Karate lessons help them protect themselves against the dangers of the street as well as build their self-esteem and create a positive release for frustrations. “If we don’t go after the street kids, orphans and at-risk youth, then we know who will go after them…mafia, pimps and gangs,” Tomek says. Tomek doesn’t want to see these kids grow up to live the life that Michal lived. On May 1, 2007, Bread of Life launched “Project 600”. The goal: over 600 street kids, orphans and at-risk youth in Poland will have the opportunity to be adopted into the Family of God by hearing about Jesus Christ and His love for them the way Michal did.

The spiritual culture in Poland is wary of evangelical ministries, such as Bread of Life. Even though they are offering hope and help to communities, they are resisted by many, who still believe that evangelicals are a dangerous, menacing cult to be shunned at all costs. But Bread of Life is making great inroads. Villages and public schools are requesting that David’s Club expand to their area and help their youth, as well. They are beginning to see the love of Jesus in action, and want Bread of Life to show them more about this all-powerful force that compels a Karate Champion into dirty, stinky corners of train stations in search of the forgotten and destitute.

Though equipment and rented space for Karate lessons incur costs to Bread of Life, Tomek never turns any children away when they cannot afford the lessons. Instead, he offers them the opportunity to “pay” for the lessons in community service. The kids clean former communist block apartment buildings for free, and Tomek explains to the bewildered tenants that salvation is for free, as well. While the payment for the Karate lessons is going a long way in terms of eternal benefits, it still doesn’t pay for the equipment used for the lessons. To meet their goal of reaching 600 children this year, Bread of Life still needs to raise a total of $15,770. While that number may seem daunting, every $33.00 that is donated gives the Holy Spirit, through Tomek, the opportunity to change the course of one child’s life forever.

By Summer Kelley