To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, July 29.

By Andrew McChesney

Zbigniew began praying in earnest for a wife when he finished his seminary studies in Communist Poland. He felt that if he were to be a good pastor, he really needed to have a good wife.

Shortly after graduation, church leaders sent Zbigniew and a dozen other graduates to southeastern Poland to knock on doors. The southeastern region was far from Zbigniew’s home in the north. The young people were to seek to meet people’s needs while offering Christian books and giving Bible studies.

Zbigniew and his friends fanned out two by two. They painted walls. They cleaned houses. Some people couldn’t believe that they could receive free help. Every evening, the young people offered Bible studies.

One day, Zbigniew and his traveling companion, Jarek, knocked on the doors of houses in the town of Lesko. It was raining heavily. Dark clouds hid the sun, and a chill filled the air. Many people shut their doors.

After a few houses, a door opened and a woman of about 40 looked out.

“Who are you?” she said. “Why did you knock on my door?”

Zbigniew and Jarek explained that they were Christians and wanted to speak about Jesus.

“I’m getting ready to take a shower,” the woman said. “I’ll ask my husband if he wants to talk with you.”

She shut the door just like her neighbors had done. Zbigniew wondered if she would come back. But she returned after several minutes.

“My husband doesn’t feel well and doesn’t want to talk,” she said. “But I’d like to meet with you and hear more about Jesus. Can you come back?”

The young men agreed to return.

When they knocked on the door later, the woman invited them into her living room. About 10 people were seated there. They were eager to hear what the young men would say about Jesus.

Among the people in the room was a young woman named Maja. For some time, she had been reading the Bible on her own. She also had been praying for a good husband. Young men in her town smoked and drank, and she wanted a husband who was faithful to God and free from addictions. After the meeting, Maja said to the woman who had invited her, “Zbigniew will be my husband!”

A short time after the meeting, Zbigniew invited Maja to a Bible study in another city about 60 miles (100 kilometers) away. She went, and the two began to correspond by mail. The year was 1986, well before the advent of cellphones and email.

The next year, in 1987, evangelist Mark Finley held evangelistic meetings in the northern port of Gdansk, and Zbigniew invited Maja to attend. Every evening, she joined 1,200 other people to hear about Jesus in a packed movie theater. At the last meeting, Maja decided to give her heart to Jesus in baptism.

The next year, in 1987, evangelist Mark Finley held evangelistic meetings in Gdansk, a city known for worker strikes and the Solidarity trade union. Zbigniew invited Maja to attend the meetings. Every evening, she joined 1,200 other people to hear about Jesus in a packed movie theater. At the last meeting, Maja decided to give her heart to Jesus in baptism.

Today, Zbigniew and Maja have been married for 35 years and have two adult daughters, Maja and Natale. Zbigniew is not only a pastor but also a seminary teacher, church leader, and regular speaker on Hope Channel Poland. He marvels at how God answered his and Maja’s prayers to find a good spouse.

“My family came from the far north of Poland, and my wife came from the far south,” he says. “It would have been impossible to meet without divine intervention.”

He credits literature evangelism for playing a key role in their marriage.

“I always tell young students at the seminary, ‘You have to be very careful when you go door to door because you just might find a wife!” he says.

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in 2017 that helped build a television studio for Hope Channel Poland. Zbigniew is a regular speaker on Hope Channel Poland, the local affiliate of Hope Channel International.