MY CONVERSION TESTIMONY

My conversion started in Poland in 1983. At that time I had a girlfriend but because I drank alcohol too often, smoked etc., she finally left me. So to be able to have a chance to be with her again I decided to change my life. But, after some hopeless attempts I finally realized that in my case it was impossible to overcome my weaknesses using my own will power as it was very weak. My father was a communist and atheist and my mother never told me anything about God. But I was so desperate that I thought I had nothing to lose if I tried to find empowerment in religion. So, I decided to give God a chance. I went to a big Catholic cathedral when nobody was there, and for the first time in my life I really prayed. Though I wasn't sure God existed I eagerly started bagging Him, with tears in my eyes, to change my horrible self-centered life. And as a result I immediately felt a strange peace as if someone wanted to tell me He cared, loved and answered my prayer.

About a week after that first heart-felt prayer, I was given a book titled the Great Controversy which was written by Ellen White. The chapters which dealt with the history of Christianity and Reformation were very interesting and I was even touched while going through them, but only when I started to read about the reality of good and evil angels, spiritism, changed God’s Commandments, second coming of Jesus, amazing Bible prophecies, the reality of new amazing eternal life, and that salvation is a gift from God I got so excited that I was reading those chapters till morning! Soon I bought the Bible and carefully checked whether what the book said was true. I was so excited and felt like I had found something most wonderful and amazing, and I immediately wanted to share these truths with all my friends and family members. I was 100% sure they would accept it. But as you can guess the reality was not so bright, and instead, I faced a very strong criticism from my family members and I have lost all my friends too.

Few months after that I had to serve in Polish army for two years (it was obligatory under communism) but I continued reading the Bible and I realized that the author of the book "Great Controversy" was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. So I found a local SDA Church in the city were my unit was situated. I felt so good in that church that sometimes I was even willing to take a risk and attend the church without a pass, but thank God I never had any problems.

Since I became truly converted and born again Christian, Holy Spirit enabled me to give up drinking and smoking and from that time (1984) until now I have never been even thinking about doing it.
After coming back from the army and after working for 1 year as a Dental Technician I felt Lord was inspiring me to go to the Seminary School so I did it although it was a painful experience as my (late) father disinherited me and I wasn't allowed to come back home.

After almost 2 years in seminary Bill Dull (President of the Living Springs Retreat) came to Poland with his wife to share the health message with us. And knowing that I was already very interested in health he invited me and 2 other young Adventists to come to America to participate in a one-year training. You can imagine how happy we were as at that time (1989) to stay for one year in the land of milk and money when Poland was still under communism .

In my personal Christian experience there was a time when unconsciously I tried to earn God's favor by my own achievements. Fortunately, in 1990 while studying at Living Springs with other students we were invited to the Uchi Pines Institute and had a privilege to stay there for one week and participate in health lectures by Dr. Agatha Thrash and her husband Calvin. However, Dr. Thrash invited also pastor Jack Sequeira who every morning and evening for seven days presented the most wonderful series of Bible studies on the book of Romans and salvation by faith in Jesus.
And I have to say honestly, that it was the most blessed time in my whole life! And in spite of the fact that I couldn't perfectly understand everything he said (as my English at that time was not very good), yet never before nor after I felt such a strong influence of Holy Spirit who seemed to tell me, 'this is the reason I have sent you here. Listen to it carefully, study it and take this truth to your country".
After the seminar and conversation with elder Sequeira I bought all the recorded audio cassettes and as soon as we came back to Living Springs I started to studying this precious message carefully along with the commentary on Romans by Anders Nygren which was recommended by pastor Sequeira. I understood the gospel much better, and accepted it with all my heart. As a result, since that time on, and in spite of my imperfections and occasional misdeeds, I've been enjoying the wonderful freedom from condemnation, eternal death, and fear. I never try to keep the law or the Sabbath in order to be saved but because Lord Jesus already saved me (and the entire world) 2000 years ago on the cross which salvation I accepted by faith and can serve Him in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

The problem, however, was to leave America - the country of milk and money -and to come back to Poland, all the more since I had a family in America who encouraged me to stay there with them. But thank God, Holy Spirit gave me enough strength to overcome the temptation and I finally submitted to what I believed was God's will.

When I came back to Poland in the autumn of the next year the communism was gone . Bill Dull wanted to establish a branch of Living Springs in Poland but he wasn't successful so finally God helped me to start my own health business in the form of herbal and health food shop. To the seminary school I somehow didn't come back to finish my studies, although I always wanted to become a minister and study theology. But in spite of that when after some time the churches all over Poland started inviting me to give health lectures, almost always I was also invited to preach, so to be honest I can say that good Lord fulfilled my desire. And whenever I was invited to preach almost always I presented the same truths I have learned from elder Sequeira focusing especially on the cross and the fact that Jesus decided to die for us for ever, the 'in Christ' motif, and salvation only by faith in Jesus. I was doing it for 15 years visiting almost all SDA churches in Poland and sometimes abroad. And then I understood much better what one writer meant stating that the health message is the right arm of the gospel, as it was the health lectures I was invited to give that gave me opportunity to share the gospel.

In 2005 I moved to the UK where through God's grace I am trying to do the same job (sharing this most wonderful truth of salvation in Christ) after graduating from the University of Liverpool with Master's degree in Public Health .

Thank you.