Mariusz (Max) Bartkowski is serving as pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Bydgoszcz. He is a graduate of the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw, University of marketing and management, and Warsaw Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to entering full-time ministry in 2011, Max worked as a Trade Marketing Manager at T-Mobile, Poland. He and his wife Agnes, have two children, John, and Adam. Max has served in Polish Baptist Union churches for four years. In 2015, he moved with the family to Dublin (Ireland) to support his mother-in-law who was diagnosed with cancer and was going through chemotherapy. He stayed there for one year and was trying to reach Polish emigrants in cooperation with the local church. As he was planning to come back to Poland he was praying and seeking guidance from the Lord on how they could best serve Him. Max came to the conviction that he must plant an independent, biblical church in Poland. As he had never planted a church before, he needed to seek training. God, in His provision connected him with Grace Baptist Partnership and he moved with the family to Edinburgh (Scotland) to learn from the leadership at Grace Baptist Church, Edinburgh. He was trained and sent with his family as a missionary by Grace Baptist Church, Edinburgh to Bydgoszcz in July 2017. Grace Baptist Church Bydgoszcz was constituted in November 2019.

February 2025 Update

Dear prayer partners,

Thank you for your ongoing prayers for our church and the work here in Bydgoszcz. We are thankful to the Lord for likeminded brothers from different parts of Poland who finished the Basic Training for Church Planters. We continue to build the relationship with them and their churches by visiting each other and organizing small conferences. 35 people from five different cities visited the first conference we held in Bydgoszcz. It was a blessed time of the fellowship. Please pray for the next one which will take place in Poznań on Saturday the 1st of March.

We continue our evangelistic efforts and preach the gospel week by week; we distributed a lot of brochures and the New Testaments before Christmas. The Lord opened the door for me to share the Gospel with teenage basketball players, their parents and coaches. Please pray that the Lord would convict and save sinners for His Glory as He builds His church.

We are thankful to the Lord for Arthur and Ritha, two young people who repented and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. We welcomed them with three other believers into the church on the first Sunday of 2025. Please pray for them to grow spiritually and in the service for our Lord.

Please continue to pray:

- for the ongoing growth of our church family in Bydgoszcz.

- for God to raise up elders and deacons to serve alongside me

- For the children in the church to be saved

- for the Lord’s provision for our church and the family.

May His will be done!

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!”

In Christ!

Max Bartkowski