Adventist Church mourns president of Poland and other victims of plane crash

Warsaw/Poland | 13.04.2010 | APD | International

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Poland (Kościoła Adwentystów Dnia Siódmego w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) joins the Polish people and churches in mourning the victims of the 10 April plane crash in Smolensk, Russia, in which President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, numerous government and military officials, and several church representatives died. The high-rank delegation was on its way to a ceremony honouring Polish officers slain by the Soviet secret police in 1940 in and near the forest of Katyn in western Russia.

The president of the protestant Seventh-day Adventist Church adressed April 10 a special condolence message to the Polish people. "In this darkest day in the post-WWII Poland - a tragic death for the President and First Lady, Lech and Maria Kaczynski, together with 94 other passengers and crew members of the presidential aircraft - the believers and leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Republic of Poland are uniting in sorrow and prayers with the families of the victims of this national tragedy," wrote Pastor Lazar, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Poland.

"We all are unbelievably saddened. We are praying to our Almighty and Merciful God also for the leaders of our earthly Motherland, that they may have wisdom which flows from His Throne, to stand up to the highest duty in this difficult moment and lead our nation in the right direction," Lazar concluded.

This shattering news reached believers during the Sabbath church services. In several Adventist congregations, such as in Warsaw and Podkowa Lesna, from which the services were videocast via the Internet, believers in their spontaneity prayed for the families of the victims and the leaders on the country, who now stood for a difficult task to lead public service in the face of such great tragedy.

The Adventist Church in Poland has 119 local churches with 5.728 adult baptised members.

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