LIGHT AND LIFE
Author GRAZYNA SIKORSKA
Publisher Wm.B.EERDMANS
ISBN 0-8028-0341-5
The author was working with Keston College in England, an organisation dedicated to studying and alerting the churches to what was taking place with their brothers and sisters in communist lands. This book is the history of a renewal movement that took place in Poland through the sixties into the eighties of the twentieth century. It was led by a priest, a gifted leader named Franciszek Blachnicki. It is clear that although this movement took place within the Roman Catholic Church it had the marks of the workings of God’s Spirit about it. I understand that it continues to be present in Poland as a movement and has spread to certain other countries as well and is usually known under the name of the Oasis Movement. The various ways God works in a historical setting should be a realm of our attention. Poland was under the Russian domination of communism. The church was repressed and sought full control of every dimension of the lives of the Poles. It insisted on forcing the Roman Catholic church in to a corner of life, only in the entirely private sphere was the church supposed to speak, it was not to address wider issues. This movement began with children’s retreats where the young altar boys were instructed in the truth of God and a refreshing began. Then it extended to teenagers and adults and thus there arose a real renewal movement, linked within the established churches. It happened that this coincided with Vatican 2 where the Roman services were instructed be held in the vernacular language instead of the old Latin. The reading of the Bible was encouraged and this led to truth being understood where it had not been in previous centuries. It seems that the movement, because Christian truth is emancipating contributed to the liberation of Poland from the communist yoke. It provided something of a spiritual thrust whereas the Solidarity movement was political. At a certain point there was a link made between Josh McDowell of Campus Crusade and this led to an emphasis that was more allied to the Evangelical gospel however, it seems that the influence of the Cardinal who then became pope also held the movement still within the doctrines associated with the Virgin Mary. That said, especially for those interested in God’s ways in renewal and revival and those particularly interested in the church in Poland, there is some encouragement here. The book is still available but mainly second hand.
