Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in Poland say the launch this month of Hope Channel Poland signals the continued growth of media ministry in the central European country.

Hope Channel Poland offers 24/7 Internet television, and plans are in place to enter local cable and satellite networks in the coming months. The network broadcasts original Polish programming, as well as translated media produced by tedMEDIA Productions from the church’s Trans-European Division, headquartered in England. 

“This is a significant move for the church in Poland,” said Pawel Lazar, president of Hope Channel Poland and the church’s Polish Union Conference.

“When I started church work many years ago, we had good success with public meetings, but now we are finding that media is the best way to connect with our society, especially young people,” Lazar said.

Church officials in the country say Hope Channel Poland will help lay the groundwork for urban outreach planned for Warsaw in 2014. Currently, church leaders are designing billboards advertising Adventist television to install in major cities.

Close to 6,000 Adventists worship in 118 churches in Poland. The church also operates a college, publishing house and the Voice of Hope Media Center in Warsaw. 

Warsaw is among dozens of cities worldwide where Adventists will host coordinated evangelism efforts in the coming years as part of the Mission to the Cities initiative.