David Bednarczyk – Bielsko-Biala

My favorite form of spending time? Staying in the world of ideas. How to change the world, and with whom? Thinking in the middle of everyday activities, but also escaping to interesting places that allow you to slow down and look at everything from a distance. Canoeing down the Vistula River, where you meet another kayaker every two days, or riding a bike in the Owl Mountains, off-season, in autumn colors…. Or, for a change, being in the very center of the world, where you can see the human courage and determination to go forward.

What moves me in particular? View of the young generation, its potential. Children, who have a lifetime ahead of them, can do everything, and yet most of them will do very little….

If we could instill in them right paradigms that would help them to look for the target large enough and the best way to achieve it. If we were to teach them how to multiply their potential at least by two and not waste it. If we instill in them a sense of responsibility for leaving a fruit, in every area that they touch. If we gave them the tools to do that, it would be great.

We have a crisis of authorities; younger generations are not looking for help from our side. They waste their chance to learn something. You can do something about it. The world needs to change. Studies show that generation Y (the millennials) are not interested in changing the world. For them the Forum of Ideas is a nonsense. How to move it? You will not be able to do it by force, but by a personal meeting, a few sentences of conversation. All they need to do is to ask the first question…. and the adventure is already beginning. It looks better with the Z generation (post-millennials). They want to change something. Y don’t want, Z don’t know how. I want to help them, inspire them, equip them, point the right path. I believe that they can change the world, but much depends on who they allow to speak.

That is why form is extremely important. It is necessary to create something that will be a part of pop culture, otherwise young people will ignore it. Film is an example of such form. Maybe we would like books to shape younger generations, but the products of Marvel or DC Comics are the ones that shape the way of thinking and the system of values of younger generations. Whether we like it or not, we must take this into account and give the content the appropriate form.

This is the background for what is the most important, the personal contact in a small group, something that Jesus showed when building up His disciples. This is an effective way – very demanding, absorbing, but after years of experience it turns out to be the most effective.

Younger generations will face a lot of suffering. The world that is coming will be merciless for the most of them. Either we help them or they will be condemned to themselves and their “stupid” mistakes. That is why it is worth fighting for, although the younger generations do not want our interference. So, personal meeting, conversation, real kindness to break through. And then encouragement, direction, warning. This will multiply their chances for the future.

Another paradigm: respect for others, no matter who they are. There seems to be a growing tendency to judge instead of understand. Just take care of yourself, of your own, and the rest doesn’t matter. It sickens me extremely when I hear the contempt for other environments like “those Catholics this, and the heathen that”. Respect is due to everyone, even unconditional love, regardless of their views. Missing a target must be called missing a target, but respect for the other person, regardless of his or her choices, is essential.

I would like to have an influence not only on those who start their lives, but also on the older generation, to which I belong more and more.

I see that the older generation lacks the willingness to understand the younger one, the vision of how to help them and the courage to pass the baton. On the other hand, they easily judge, criticize and show their annoyance and lack of trust in the younger ones. This is a great immaturity, which we need to deal with as soon as possible, otherwise the strongest stimulus for change will be for them to oppose all the values that we represent.

The form of investment of the older generation in the younger one? A school, educational model that really helps, not hinders, or even destroys. I have my own school-age children and I live in an environment full of children. How often they lose their health, their emotional balance because of the way how an education system works. To what extent does the school play its role in Poland today? When I say that in 7 per cent, I don’t think I’ll be far from the truth.

What is needed is an education system where one wants more than has to, where the motive is deep interest, not marks. It is a pity that this is not so, but we will change it. Because it has to be changed. It is possible in many places around the world, so it possible also here. The pioneers have already paved the trail (e.g. the Awakening School Project in Poland). At CECC we choose this path.

Home is the second place. Parents’ influence, creative way of spending time with children. So that what parents represent has a good influence. Because when the school destroys you and you have emptiness at home, your life lacks of good models. This firmly grasps the heart. We need a more family-friendly lifestyle. We need to increase children’s chances for a good future, so that they have a good job, earn a decent living and live with dignity. We need to change their fate.

So how do I intend to change the world? First, I will point out trust in God, on whom the most depends. “Unless the Lord builds the house… Unless the Lord guards the city…” (Psalm 127).

What next? We will do it not by mercenaries, but with friends. Our experience at CECC shows that a group of friends, determined and well equipped, is the strongest team of people, almost indestructible, with great loyalty and determination, and almost all of it pro bono. That is how we will change the world!

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Dawid Bednarczyk has been a pastor in the Baptist Church in Bielsko-Biała since 2007, dealing mainly with the young generation. He is responsible for a large group of leaders of small groups/forum circles in the Bielsko-Biala – Katowice – Krakow geographical triangle. He studied theology at the Evangelical School of Theology in Wroclaw, a bachelor’s degree in theology at the Warsaw Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married and has two children.