My name is Michael. I am from Poland and I am a Christian because of basketball. I was a basketball referee in Poland in the spring of 1998 when I first heard about having a relationship with Jesus Christ.
College Church missionary Jeff Dusek, who ran a basketball/sports ministry at a Torchbearer Bible School in Sweden, brought his basketball team down to Poland for a week of ministry through basketball. I was refereeing a game between the Swedish Bible School team (made up mostly of Americans and Canadians) and a Polish team in a “friendly match.”
I was invited to an post game party by the Swedish team and heard for the first time about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. I am Polish, so of course I grew up Catholic, knew of Jesus, knew all the Bible stories and prayed to Mary. Seeing the way the Christian basketball players acted and hearing them talk about Jesus really interested me. I asked Jesus to forgive my sins and to come into my life and be my best friend and Savior. My life has never been the same since.
Jeff and I emailed each other and the next spring, 1999, I again refereed a game between the Swedish Bible School team and a Polish team. It was then that Jeff invited me to come to Sweden to work at the Bible School for the summer. It would be a chance for me to learn English and start to discover what having a relationship with Jesus was all about. I went to Sweden that summer and started to learn more about Jesus and was around Christians 24 hours a day which helped me see Christ in action. After my summer in Sweden I did my mandatory two years in the Polish military. I missed not being with my Christian friends and continued to desire to learn more about the Lord.
After my time in the military was over Jeff again invited me to come to Sweden, this time to attend Bible School and to play on his basketball team. I was so thrilled and excited to attend. My life wasn’t perfect but I was learning and growing and following Jesus. I loved my new relationship with Jesus. Two of the highlights of playing on the basketball team were getting to go back to Poland to share with my own people about my relationship with Jesus. The second was gaining the knowledge to work with kids teaching them basketball and about Jesus.
I also had an opportunity to go to Eastern Europe for a week to help missionaries by working with kids and playing sports with them. During this time I felt the Lord leading me into full time mission work. I am now a missionary there, where part of what I do is to teach kids basketball, English and tell them about Jesus.
I am married to Angelika and we have one boy Jakub(4) and one girl Zuzia(1). We would love your prayers for our ministry.
