February 1, 2018

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. (Psalm 62:1 NIV)

It was a great privilege to preach on this verse about 2 1/2 weeks ago (January 21). We prayed through this Psalm 62.

Early last week, Andrew Bogucki sent me a link about his late mother, Jadwiga Bogucka-Regulska. She went home to be with the Lord on December 19, 2017. It surprised me to read that Psalm 62:1 was one of her favourite verses.

Jadwiga (the “J” is pronounced like “Y”) was born November 20, 1925. She came from a Roman Catholic background.  On Aug. 12, 1944, she and her mother were arrested and taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau along with about 4,000 other women and children. At the camp, the 18-year-old was given the identification number 86356.

She was one of the 200,000 inmates who survived the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. 1.1 million people lost their lives there.

Andrew tells me that after this concentration camp experience, his mother started reading the Bible in Polish. She was loaned a Bible and took steps to eventually keep it because meant so much to her. As a result, she gave her life to Christ and became a member of the United Methodist Church in Poland.

The Rev. Andrzej Malicki, superintendent of The United Methodist Church in Poland shared this about Jadwiga at her funeral.

“She was always ready and willing to share her life stories,” Malicki said. “She never held anger against the Nazis and she forgave them all of those things they did.”

One of her favourite verses that also expressed her faith is Psalm 62, which was used in her obituary: “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.”

“Her witness touched and encouraged many people from different generations — far beyond her familiar and congregational surroundings,” Malicki said.

Thanks for sharing this story about your mother, Andrew. It is obvious that your mother made an impact on so many people in her life.

Here is the link: http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/auschwitz-survivor-united-methodist-dead-at-92

Pastor Pye