Many official guests were present at the naming ceremony, including Members of Parliament, the Marshal of the Province, the Mayor, and City Councillors.<\/p>\n
During the ceremony, Adventists in Krakow were also awarded the official Badge of Honour \u2013 the Ma\u0142opolska Cross \u2013 by the Marshal of the Ma\u0142opolska province. As part of the celebration of 100 years of Adventists in Krakow, a retro service was organised as well as planting of several hundred bushes in the area.<\/p>\n
To mark the occasion, there are also plans to organise an open-air Bible exhibition, called \u2018The Bible. The bestseller of all time\u2019. <\/em>Hosted at the foot of the Wawel Castle, one of the most historically and culturally important sites in Poland, Adventists also distributed 100,000 copies of the magazine The Signs of Times<\/em> in local newspapers.<\/p>\n \u201cPoland had many outstanding citizens who were not afraid of changes. They were great patriots. For example, Nicolaus Copernicus, who, apart from his amazing skills, also showed admirable courage. Micha\u0142 Belina-Czechowski displayed similar courage. He acted uncompromisingly both as a patriot, the first European missionary of the then new religious community, as well as a pioneer of abstinence movements,\u201d states Pastor Ryszard Jankowski, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Poland.<\/p>\n Micha\u0142 Belina-Czechowski was born exactly 203 years ago, on 25 September 1818, near Krakow. He was the first Seventh-day Adventist missionary to head to Europe despite his lack of official approval from the Church leadership. Previously, he was involved in patriotic activities, and the fate of Europe and Poland was very important to him.<\/p>\n \u201cDue to his actions for the benefit of the country, he was forbidden to enter Poland, which was his greatest dream. The centenary of the Krakow congregation this year became a beautiful opportunity for the symbolic return of Belina-Czechowski to Krakow,\u201d explained Pastor Marek Rakowski, Executive-secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Poland. It was Rakowski who applied to the city council, suggesting to name the square after Czechowski.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting to know your community is a great experience for me,\u201d said Ma\u0142opolskie Voivodship Marshal, Ms Iwona Gibas. \u201cI have asked the Board to award you the highest distinction of the Golden Cross rank for your 100-year service to the inhabitants of Krakow \u2013 for the good works and for spreading the lessons of a healthy lifestyle \u2013 contrary to appearances, this is also a very important educational activity that Adventists are actively undertaking,\u201d she remarked.<\/p>\n Among the guests were representatives of the public administration as well as religious associations and NGOs present in Krakow and, due to the restrictions because of the pandemic, the service was held in two parts.<\/p>\n The focal point of the celebrations was a retro service organised by the local church members as well as planting several hundred shrubs in Krakow. This was well covered in the local media including the comment from the local pastor, \u201cThe ideas of pro-ecological activity are very important to us and is also inscribed in the principles of the faith of the Adventist Church. We believe that when God gives us a place to live, He wants us to take care of it in the best possible way. It is an ethical duty for every Christian.”<\/p>\n In Krakow, especially after World War II, as the least damaged Polish city, there were numerous institutions important for the Church, such as a theological seminary and a publishing house.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter World War II, foreign officials of the Adventist Church worked with the Krakow city authorities to establish the identity of orphans and widows from the Auschwitz concentration camp, as well as donating food and clothing for them. The Adventist community was also active during martial law in the 1980s, providing residents with gifts from abroad,\u201d emphasised Mayor Majchrowski.<\/p>\n Adventists are known for their charity work in the area. In the 1980s, they organised free programmes to help quit smoking. In total there were approximately 10,000 people attending the programme, out which 80% successfully quit smoking.<\/p>\n Since the 1990s, church members have run a local branch of a public benefit organisation, providing total aid worth PLN 115 million (over USD 29 million) and in the period from 2006-2014, they handed out 118 tons of food for the Krakow Food Bank.<\/p>\n Krakow Adventists also operate on an international scale by participating in social campaigns opposing domestic violence (“End it now<\/a>“) or encouraging local leaders to enable education for all children regardless of their gender, origin or race (“Every child. Everywhere. In school<\/a>” campaign), and as part of the ADRA Polska Adventist Foundation, local followers sponsor, among others, the education of girls in Kenya and albinos in Tanzania.<\/p>\n The history of Adventist Church in the area<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1920 eight women founded the Adventist church in the area and over the years 58% of the congregation were women. Only one in four believers was born into an Adventist family, the rest (75%) converted from Catholicism.<\/p>\n Poland, which is part of the Trans-European Division, is a country with a population of 38 million with approximately 6,000 Adventists. \u201cIt is all the more miraculous for us to give the square in the second largest Polish city the name of Micha\u0142 Belina Czechowski, an Adventist,\u201d admits Pastor Rakowski, one of the organisers of the event.<\/p>\n To see more photos, please visit the Adventists in Krakow Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n The original stories which were combined in this article were first published on the Seventh-day Adventists in Krakow website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Square](\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/sitenews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/images_news-2021_Mihala_Square_1600.jpg\" "\\"Square")
<\/a>\u201cWe are glad that for over 100 years the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been cultivating Protestant religious and social customs in Krakow. Krakow is an open city, friendly to all residents, and our strength is diversity and openness,\u201d said Mayor of Krakow Jacek Majchrowski during the ceremony. \u201cWe are doing our best to ensure that people with different worldviews, representing various minorities, including religious minorities, feel well here,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<\/a>During the jubilee service, Iwona Gibas from the board of the Ma\u0142opolskie Province awarded the honorary badge of the Ma\u0142opolska Cross to Krakow representatives of the Adventist Church.<\/p>\nHe further explained, \u201cWe have been living \u2018in\u2019 and \u2018for\u2019 Krakow for 100 years. We promote healthy life and vegetarianism. After World War II, we were the precursors of abstinence movements in Poland, cultivating the heritage of one of the founders of our Church, Ellen White.”<\/p>\n
\n