MissionPoland Board Members - 2024

One of the Founding Board Members of MissionPoland went home to be with the Lord in 2007. Dr. Harold O. J. Brown of North Carolina  ( 1933-2007 ): was a Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Professor Emeritus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a consulting editor for Christianity Today and an Advisory Board member of The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. We have ministered together in Poland with his lovely wife Grace, among various evangelicals and Catholic groups. Dr. Brown has four doctorates from Harvard. Dr. Brown’s first doctorate was done mainly in Polish on the Polish reformer Jan Laski who founded the Presbyterian Church while in London and helped develop the Dutch Reformed Church in Holland. One of his ancestors was a Roman Catholic priest in the Kingdom of Poland (The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth).

Clarence J. Ostalkiewicz Sr. of Maine was also a founding board member and when home to be with the Lord in January of 2013:   Clarence served in WW2 as a gunner on a B-17 bomber aircraft and completed his B.B.A. and MBA at Northeastern University and Bentley School of Accounting & Finance in Boston, Mass. He is an author and has been on many mission trips to Poland & Russia since coming to Christ.

                                         

 Marty DeBoer of Michigan (1944 - 2021)  On December 21, 2021, founding board member Marty DeBoer was taken home to his heavenly reward after a long illness. Marty gave us our legal nonprofit status designation, which was very costly and complicated. We first met in 1969 and worked closely for several years until 1972 in our Campus Crusade for Christ ministry centered on Chicago campuses. Marty asked me to organize all Chicago schools and churches for Explo ’72 and was our treasurer for the first years of MissionPoland. We spent many blessed days together in ministry & training during those years.

Raymond Phillip Staszewski  of Tennessee (1934-2022)

Brother Ray passed away in April of 2022 and leaves behind his dear wife Christa  and two grown children. Ray knew and prayed with the founder of Tennessee Temple Schools Dr. Lee Robertson, and became the personal assistant to the next full time pastor and president of the schools and church Dr. J. Don Jennings. Pastor Jennings started the Real Life Magazine and Ray Staszewski was the assistant editor. Ray also wrote the 100 year History of the famous Highland Park Baptist Church. Both Ray and Christa were a great blessing to us as we visited the several times in Harrison, Tennessee.  

 CURRENT ACTIVE MEMBERS & OFFICERS OF MISSIONPOLAND

MissionPoland Board Members 2022  

1. Donalyn Bratton (2007) of Florida:  has been a missionary to Poland along with her husband David. The Brattons had the privilege of being the only non-Roman Catholics to teach the Bible for one year to Roman Catholics Priests in Lublin, Poland 1977-1979.  They both served on the staff of Athletes in Action with the professional sports teams in New York and New Jersey. Together they served on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ for 33 years including their ministry in Poland in the 1970's where we worked together. Donalyn's husband is a graduate of the Dallas Theological Seminary and served as an Associate Pastor at the Bethlehem Evangelical Free Church in New Jersey. Donalyn has also been well grounded in God's Word at IBS. She is the current secretary for MissionPoland and is owner of Bratton Travel. Donalyn, can be contacted at dhbratton@gmail.com  or  (phone number # 973-876-8790)

 

2. Gilbert Dekelaita (2007) of Illinois:  Gilbert serves our current treasurer for MissionPoland. Gil is a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute and is a Public School teacher for Children  with special needs. His wife Eliza is from Białystok, Poland. 

3. Pastor Emeritus Jim Henry (2007) of Florida: Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church in Orlando: Dr. Jim Henry is a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention and was the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Orlando, Florida for twenty eight years.                                    

 4.  J. Ed Komoszewski (2007) of Texas:  Ed graduated summa cum laude from Dallas Theological Seminary with a Th.M. in New Testament Studies and two major honors: The John F. Walvoord Award for outstanding work in the department of Theological Studies and The W. H. Grffith Thomas Award for graduating at the top of his class. He has taught biblical and theological studies at Northwestern College and serves as the Program Director for Converse with Scholars. Ed is the coauthor of Reinventing Jesus and Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ. He recently has had his third scholarly book published and printed.   

   

5. John Lieske (2007) of Illinois:  John is the owner of his own painting company. John is also a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute. He has had many leadership positions in His Rockford, Illinois are Evangelical Free Church. 

 

6. Anna Losiak (2007) of Florida : Anna studied Theater at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow for four years. She was a leader in the Catholic Oasis movement in Poland and her testimony has been featured on the radio program, “Unshackled ". Anna was also the chief organizer of thirty Polish Christian camps for children, teens and families in the 1990’s as well as the director of Polish Christian radio in Chicago for 6 years. Anna is the Co- Director of MissionPoland and the Coordinator of the last five  Polish Women’s Conferences in Chicago and many Polish women's seminars in Chicago since 2012 . 

 

7. Joe Losiak (2007) of Florida : Joe Studied at the Chicago City College and the Jagiellonian University in Poland as well as the Institute of Biblical Studies of Campus Crusade for Christ in California, Colorado and Vienna Austria. Joe  was a student leader and then a full time staff member of Campus Crusade for Christ for a total of eleven years. In High School he was trained by a Navigator (who was also the co-founder of AWANA) and led YFC at his High School. Joe was the elected Sunday School Director (Which was started by D.L. Moody) at Moody Church in Chicago for four years 1994-98, overseeing a teaching staff of sixty teachers.  Joe is the Executive Director of MissionPoland

 

 

8. Dr. Grant Richison (2019) of Florida: Dr. Richison graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary and Pastored several churches including the largest Baptist Church in Canada where over 500 new believers were added to God’s Kingdom every year. He was also the interim Canadian National Director of Campus Crusade for Christ and currently trains pastors and Bible teachers all over the world in speaking conference and now by Internet.  Verse by Verse Bible Exposition has over 150,000 followers in Internet studies.           

              

9. Dick Sanner (2007) of California: Dick led the first ministry team of Campus Crusade for Christ into Poland in 1976. He was the Pastor of Missions at Community Presbyterian Church in Danville, California  and serves as the Chair of the MissionPoland board. He became a Christian while in college in 1963. Shortly after graduating he began a 20 year career with his wife Linda in Campus Crusade for Christ.  For the last six years at Campus Crusade for Christ, Dick taught at The International School of Theology.  Dick helped to found the Institute of Christian Studies International and taught Bible classes to lay people for three years. He graduate from Fuller School of Missions.       

                        

10. Stewart (Stu)Urban (2007) of Minnesota:  Stu was a High School teacher in the Chicago area until he retired. He lives with his wife Zelma in Andover, Minnesota. Stu served with Joe on the Christian Education Committee and on the Executive Committee at the Moody Church in Chicago when Joe was the Director of the Moody Church Sunday School in the 1990’s.  

   

 Iwona Banasik:(2022) has led the Polish ministry at Willow Creek Church for the last several years until changes in the church caused many to leave. She is now an employee in church services at the Satellite Church in Barrington, IL of the Orchard Evangelical Free Church. Iwona has assisted Anna in her Chicago MissionPoland women conferences for the past ten years. Her husband TADEK is an Airline Mechanic at O'Hare Field and was a pastor in Poland before they came to America 30 years ago.

 

Greg Krumes: 2022 Graduated from Trinity College in Deerfield, IL and has a Masters in Religion/theology from TEDS. He also studied at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Assistant Pastor at Hope Evangelical Presbyterian Church Grayslake, IL\ .  Currently Founder Lead teaching pastor New Man Group Non Profit Mens ministry addiction Recovery Spiritual Formation.  Rockin' Keyboard player " MorningStar Christian Band 1970-74 which I was part of before I left for Poland!  Greg was with me at the airport as I left for Poland for the first time in 1974 and the musician in our band from 1971-74. Greg has been married to Carol Lynn Krumes for 35 years and they have three grown children.  Carol Lynn is a School Principal. 

 

 

MissionPoland is incorporated with 501 © 3 status, enabling it to receive tax-deductible contributions. Contributions to this vital ministry should be made out to: MissionPoland   P.O. Box 681481 Schaumburg, IL 60168  

For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory in war: and in multitude of counselors there is safety. Prov. 24:6

Key mentors, pastors, mentors, teachers, churches and missions in our lives over the past sixty years since October 31, 1962

(Richard E. Wager, Lance Latham, Craig Massey, Dave Sunde, Louis Goldberg, Harold O.J. Brown, Nelson ‘Bud’ Hinkson, Dick Sanner, Conrad Koch, Martin DeBoer, Bill Bright, Josh McDowell, Ed Komoszewski, Grant Richison, Jim Henry, Paul Cowan, Norm Geisler, Phil Hook, Joseph Dillow, Erwin Lutzer, James Kennedy, Bill Vesely, George Werwer, Greg Krumes,  Franciszek Blachnicki, Krzysztof Bednarczyk, and Zbigniew Czerwinski)

I did learn and work with many others over the years and could have listed more names, but these were the main teachers, pastors, mentors, missions, schools, and churches that stand out in my mind.

THE MAIN ORGANIZATIONS & CHURCHES THAT WE LEARNED FROM & SERVED OVER THE PAST 60 YEARS: (Awana, Navigators, Silver Birch Ranch, Youth for Christ, Slavic Gospel Association, Campus Crusade for Christ, Moody Bible Institute, Camp Moyoca, Emmaus Bible Correspondence School, CCC Institute of Biblical Studies, Polish Baptist Camp in PA and churches where I served in ministry include Emmanuel Baptist Church, Moody Church, First Baptist of Orlando and perhaps one hundred Polish churches in Poland, England, Canada, France, Ecuador and in the USA.