Short-term, Long Impact

Ten years ago, Ron and Jane Dissly obediently followed the Lord as he led them to missions in Poland. Ron and Jane took a leap of faith to live in a foreign country and culture for a year while planting a church…something they had little to no experience with. But, as we’ve seen Him do before, the Lord chooses the most unlikely servants to ensure the glory goes to Himself. This dedicated couple’s obedience yielded the Poznan International Church (PIC).

The church, a brainchild of ITMI’s European Director and seasoned church planter, Dr. Piotr Zaremba, was designed to meet the needs of the many international residents of Poznan, Poland. Home to the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan attracts many English speaking internationals. The University offers an English version of most courses. However, prior to Poznan International Church, none of the very few evangelical churches in the area could offer English worship services. When Ron and Jane returned to their home in the United States, and Richard Nungesser took over pastoral responsibilities for the young fellowship. Today, ten years later, PIC is attended by someone from every continent except Antartica, and is a thriving outreach to the international community in Poznan.

Last spring, Coralanne Nungesser and Shyanne (Anne) Mbugua began their one-year commitment to serve the Poznan International Church in Poland. Coralanne’s assignment is to create, facilitate and organize a mid-week, student led service as well as other activities for college students. She recently launched Foundations of Faith, a mid-week meeting for University students including worship, fellowship, and speaking on Christian living and what the Bible says about issues and topics students learn about in their University classes. Anne’s purpose is to facilitate a serving program encouraging and equipping the members of PIC to serve their community and the family of God. Additionally, she is leading a Bible study group that focuses on learning the Word of God, precept by precept. As she invests in the lives of those around her and in the members of PIC, she is thankful to be seeing spiritual growth in their lives. Anne shared, “The ministry in Poland can be tough, many times it is hard to see the fruit in a couple of months, but God has been gracious enough to allow me to see it in the lives of those I’m influencing for the cause of Christ.” These girls are committed to serving Jesus and others, and are already seeing results, which will continue to grow after they leave Poland, whenever that may be.

Other ITMI ministries in Poland, such as Bread of Life, Gniezno Baptist Church and Gospel Joy have benefited from short-term missionaries, as well. Brian Fentress of Phoenix is well into his one-year commitment to serve Gospel Joy as a Black Gospel Music Instructor for their Workshops. An African American with musical talent, Brian is extremely popular with Poles, and this allows him to be heard and seen in ways a Polish national could not. Poles value his input and listen when he talks about Jesus because the popularity of his music style makes him as popular as a rock star in Poland. His impact on the country will be multiplying for years after he returns home.

For those who cannot make a one-year commitment, there are still great opportunities to make an impact for Christ. Bread of Life and Gniezno Baptist Church hosted several short-term mission teams that came to Poland and helped with the construction of a church meeting place and an education building for the New Life Center. They also conducted some meetings, evangelism and equipping local Christians for ministry. Several families have visited individually and simply served ITMI workers and aided with evangelism, showing that you don’t have to wait for your church to plan a trip for you. These various groups have not only made lasting impact on international communities, they have returned to the US and been great advocators for international missions.

Thanks to Short-term teams, construction continues on these two ministry facilities.











In 2007, the Lord again led the Disslys on a short-term service, this time to Kampala, Uganda, where ITMI’s Muhindo Kawede has recently opened the International School of Missions. Kawede’s vision for the school is to produce godly, Christian leaders that can lead the body of Christ into active faith that will reach their communities and minister to the needy. But first, they must learn solid doctrine, Biblical leadership, accountability and how to study and teach the Bible. Without leaders possessing these qualities, the Ugandan church may continue to misunderstand Biblical doctrine, while learning “appropriate” church behaviors from American “Christian” television.

The purpose of Ron and Jane’s trip was to serve as teachers for a semester at The International School of Missions, which struggles to locate and pay quality teachers that have had sufficient Biblical training themselves. Jane is teaching English and Music, while Ron is teaching Pastoral Care, Biblical Counseling, and Biblical Finance, and together, they are teaching Christian Marriage. Jane is also leading a Bible Study for women in the community, many of whom are impoverished single mothers with no outlet for earning honest wages. Jane began teaching them to bake and sell American sugar cookies to create income without dishonoring Christ, after adapting the recipe for Ugandan charcoal ovens. The women bring their chairs or sit on the floor and hungrily drink in the deep teaching of God’s Word, and testify that they are experiencing spiritual changes in their daily lives. Many of them are already saved and yearning for discipleship and a deeper relationship with Jesus, however, 2 of the 47 women that have attended received Christ as their personal savior since the study started!

The trip hasn’t been easy. The rugged environment and unreliable infrastructure of Africa have made simple daily tasks such as grocery shopping, washing clothes, sending an email or making a phone call quite challenging. But Ron and Jane are making an eternal impact in Uganda. The leaders they are training will go on to make great impacts in their community and country, and will be equipped to lead the Ugandan church into a deeper and stronger faith.

Short-term missionaries are a vital component to the growth of mission projects. We aren’t all called to serve long-term in a foreign country, but we are all called to share the gospel with all nations. Going on a short-term trip is just one way to answer that call. Supporting a missionary, sharing Jesus with your neighbor and battling daily in prayer for missionaries and Christian workers are other great ways to respond to the Great Commission.