2 January 2020 | Warsaw, Poland [Marek Rakowski]
Seventh-day Adventists in Poland joined with the World Church in celebrating 100 years of Family ministries by publishing two books on family issues intended for public distribution. It is in a way also a historical event, as for the first time in history two books on family topics have been published.
The first, Hope for modern families by Elaine and Willie Oliver, was prepared as missionary book of the year. Throughout Poland door-to-door and on the streets distribution of books is still a popular form of mission work. Local conferences and the Union willingly helped finance this publication.
In the preview to the book, Pastor Marek Rakowski, Family Life director in Poland wrote, “Research on the most important aspects of life in Poland show that the Poles list family and friends and happy relations in first place (70%)1. In this priority table, family and friends were ahead of such values as security, joy of life, health, social justice, material success or religion and tradition. The longing for a successful family life is not surprising when we look at the scale of divorces (close to half of marriages in cities, about 25% in the villages)2. When we add to this uncountable number of unhappy couples, not to mention the still embarrassing and often hidden phenomenon of domestic violence (about 400-500 women in Poland die as a result of domestic violence!)3, it is not surprising that Poles are looking for hope to happier life among the loved ones.”
Daniel Kluska, Communication and Media director was heavily involved in the promotion and distribution of the book. Kluska set up a website allowing download of the book in pdf format. He also developed a fun page on facebook including a short video promotion.
The second book is No more games, How to build a faithful and satisfying relationships. The author, Dr Gabor Mihalec, is a therapist and family educator based in Hungary. Through his work with both married and unmarried couples, he has gained invaluable knowledge about the dynamics of marriage during its various stages.
No more games provides the reader with practical help in maintaining a healthy and long-lasting relationship. It reveals the ‘hidden’ games and rules that people play – the subconscious dynamics of marriage – giving readers practical tools to improve their relationship. This includes strength to prevent infidelity at an early stage even before it openly appears in the mind. It helps protect the boundaries of the relationship, maintains the atmosphere of closeness and trust, and deals with painful events from the past that may affect the present.
Miroslaw Harasim editor of the Polish Sign of the times says, “The first reactions from the readers is very positive. In bookstores, we have observed a six-time greater interest in the book by Gabor Mihalec compared to our religious monthly magazine.”
Interview
Agneiszka Kluska interviewed Mihalec about his work and books during the 2018 European Pastors’ Council.
https://youtu.be/HE93wXqeMB8?list=PLHlTyU7ArSTJXTo-taKZ3sgmJV2ZEzFwR
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1 Statista Survey (Global Consumer Survey), badania przeprowadzone od 5 do 22 grudnia 2017 roku na 1041 reposndentach od 18 do 64 roku zycia.
2 https://www.rp.pl/Spoleczenstwo/302029849-Jak-czesto-rozowodza-sie-Polacy.html, 17.04.2019, 16:00
3 https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/w-polsce-w-wyniku-przemocy-domowej-ginie-400-500-kobiet -rocznie/joyy9hn, 17.04.2019, 16:04
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, editor; Deana Stojković, associate editor
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