Josiah Venture

Electricity

Josiah Venture | Spotlight — 2012-02-02T02:22:03-07:00

Dear Friends,

In my early days of youth ministry one of our “go to” games was a simple relay called “electricity”. Young people would sit in two lines on the floor, holding hands behind their backs. The chosen soul at the end of each line would watch a coin toss. If it was heads they squeezed the hand of the person next to them. This lucky guy would pass it on, as quickly as possible, trying to get the “electricity” to the end of the line faster than the other team.

Kids loved it – mostly because it was a legal way to hold hands with someone you didn’t even know. I was always fascinated at the speed which the signal traveled. Information could touch a whole line of people in just a few seconds – if you could just get it to the person next to you.

The gospel is like that. Often the fastest way to reach someone far away is to start with the person next to you. So when my son Caleb headed out the door on Saturday to meet a classmate whose girlfriend had just broken up with him, I called out after him – “Remember to share the gospel!”

He did. His buddy had never read the Bible, and thought Karma and prayer were all part of the same thing – thinking out loud that something spiritual might make him feel better. Caleb told him about God’s love, about Jesus and sin, about inner rebirth that comes through faith in Christ. “That’s amazing!” his friend said, asking all kinds of insightful questions.

Like so many in Eastern Europe, no one in his extended family was a believer. He was hearing the Good News for the first time.

“This is so important”, he exclaimed at the end. “Everyone in the world should know what you just told me!” And he was right.

You and I are the chosen souls at the end of the line. Let’s pass it on.

Dave Patty
President, Josiah Venture

Vaclav Havel

Josiah Venture | Spotlight — 2012-01-17T08:52:56-07:00

Dear Friends,

I’ve never seen so many candles in one place.

Vaclav Havel passed away on Sunday, December 18th, and the Czech nation collectively mourned their loss in a way I’ve never seen in this area of the world. In public squares all over the country people spontaneously left candles and notes. Havel was a symbol of freedom, a dissident playwright turned president, occupying the highest office in the country just four months after his release from prison. He was also their collective conscious, calling a people trapped in dehumanizing socialism, and later pragmatic capitalism, to a higher horizon.

“Truth and love must triumph over lies and hatred.” he repeated over and over.

Havel expressed unusual insight into the state of the human soul. Just after the revolution, in early 1990, he argued that the “present global crisis …is directly related to the spiritual condition of modern civilization. This condition is characterized by loss: the loss of metaphysical certainties, of an experience of the transcendental, or any superpersonal moral authority, and of any kind of higher horizon. It is strange, but ultimately quite logical: as soon as man began considering himself the source of the highest meaning in the world and the measure of everything, the world began to lose its human dimension and man began to lose control of it.”

Later that year someone asked him if he had experienced conversion. “Genuine conversion, as I understand it”, he replied, “would mean replacing an uncertain ‘something’ with a completely unambiguous personal God, and fully, inwardly, to accept Christ as the Son of God, along with everything that entails. And I have not taken that step.”

I don’t know if he took that step before he died – I deeply hope and pray that he did. I do know that a friend of mine gave him a special Christmas present in 2009, a signed copy of the most recent translation of the Bible into the Czech language. On the front page Sasa Flek, who has spent the last 20 years toiling over each word of this translation, wrote the following note to Havel.

“In this book, truth and love triumph over lies and hatred.”

The candles have all burned out. But we know that the triumph won by the victory of Jesus Christ still shines as the only hope for Central and Eastern Europe. Pray that we will effectively bear witness to the True Light in this dark and needy place.

Grateful for a “completely unambiguous personal God”,

Dave Patty
President, Josiah Venture

H2O Grand Opening

Josiah Venture | Spotlight — 2011-09-27T04:19:41-07:00

Dear Friends,

I just returned from a very special celebration. When the 2X3 campaign started three years ago one of our key projects was a facility called H2O in Poland. God had miraculously opened the doors to buy a 15 acre conference center in southern Poland for use as an evangelism and training center, but the entire facility would have to be gutted and rebuilt.

H2O was a special place, located within an hour’s drive of almost 5 million people and having its own small lake, two pools, basketball court and soccer field. But with the crash of the stock market, giving to capital projects slowed way down, and we had to halt construction part way through.

The team revised the plan, continued to trust God in faith and prayer, and invested over 11,000 hours of volunteer labor in the facility. They kept believing God would provide and slowly, through the generous gifts of God’s people, the resources came in.

Now H2O is ready to go, with 60 of its eventual 120 beds fully functional and much of the general renovation completed. Though it has already hosted several summer camps, Sunday, September 11th H2O was officially opened!

My heart was filled with joy as I heard various members of the Poland team share stories of God’s faithfulness. What a joy it was to see the 250 guests enjoying the renovated facility and giving thanks to God.

But even more thrilling was the knowledge that this place will be used to reach thousands of Polish young people with the good news of salvation, and train a generation of disciplemakers to advance Christ’s kingdom.

Will you take a moment to thank God with us?

Thanks for the huge part you play in this vision through your giving and prayers!

Dave Patty
President, Josiah Venture

Fusion and Kofola

Josiah Venture | News — 2011-09-27T03:50:09-07:00

Milan Szturc leads Fusion in the Czech Republic, a ministry that partners with local churches to reach out to unchurched youth through a network of evangelistic rock/gospel choirs. Milan recently had the opportunity to share Christ with a University student involved in Fusion. Here is the story – in Milan’s words.

Richard, who is 20, started attending Fusion about one year ago. A few weeks later, I invited him for coffee, and we began meeting about once a month, always with coffee or Kofola (a Czech soda that tastes a little bit like Coke). Then one day I read Richard’s Facebook status: I have been seeking something my whole life, and I still do not know what.

At the next “coffee meeting” I asked him if he could think about the possibility that what he is seeking is a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He promised he would think about it.

A few weeks later we were drinking Kofola again, and I asked him if he had thought about my question. He said yes, but much to my frustration, his answer was not what I had hoped for. However, we continued meeting, and I continued to pray for Richard.

A few months later Richard surprised me. He said, “I did not tell you the whole truth about me. Because of a specific experience in my life, I have believed in God for a long time, but I am not a Christian. I do not follow Jesus. But I didn’t tell you this because I wanted to know how you would act toward me when you saw me as an unbeliever.”

My next question was, of course, “What did you see in our response?”

Richard’s answer made me happy, “I have never met people and a community like you. I can always talk with someone about my life and ask my questions; people here are always interested in me. And now, I would like to be a Christian and follow Jesus. But first I need to read the whole Bible . . . .”

Then, I tried explaining to him that reading the Bible is a good idea but not a necessary condition for a profession of faith. But, of course, you cannot tell someone, “do not read the whole Bible”.

At the next “Kofola meeting”, Richard told me that he was almost ready to accept Jesus,
even though he had not yet read the whole Bible.

This summer, Richard was with us at our Fusion camp. He was involved in practical responsibilities during the whole week. And during the Labyrinth, an exercise that brought specific application to the week’s teaching, Richard accepted Christ!

God saved Richard and six other young people at this Fusion camp! Richard, along with the other new believers, will soon start a “Thrive” group, a Bible study developed by Josiah Venture that focuses on the fundamental elements of a relationship with God. Richard is also attending our church and growing in his faith.

From Atheist to Christ Follower

Josiah Venture | News — 2011-08-30T07:25:20-07:00

When a person is introduced to Jesus for the first time, I imagine it all just seems strange. The Bible describes the gospel as foolishness to those who do not believe. What I love about the gospel, however, is that to those are willing to ask the questions, it often becomes the only logical choice. And when the truth about Jesus starts to penetrate a person’s soul, people who were once atheist believe.

Justin and Gretchen Hall serve with Josiah Venture in Albania. They are pioneers in youth ministry in a predominately Muslim country that until recently had no Christian church. After their summer season, I had a chance to talk with them about their English camp ministry. Justin shared about a young guy named Joni who attended English camp last year, youth group all year, and English camp again this summer. Finally, Joni made a decision to follow Christ. I contacted Joni and asked him some questions about how this happened for him.

What did you think about Jesus before attending your first Josiah Venture English camp?
At first, all the things that had to do with Jesus seemed impossible to me. I didn’t use to believe that he had performed all those miracles and that he had risen from the grave. I was a bit stubborn, and I didn’t accept these things.

After your first camp, what questions did you still have?
I had a lot of questions related to Jesus and his resurrection. Since I’m raised in a non-believing family these things were new to me.

What made you decide to attend youth group for a whole year?
First of all, there were my friends and I just wanted to meet them as often as possible. The other reason is that I wanted to hear more about Jesus, so I could make the right decision.

What made you want to attend English camp again?
In the last camp, I had a lot of fun and my English improved a lot. I have been in other camps too, but this camp was a lot more organized. Another reason is that I wanted to make new friends. It was a good opportunity to get used living with other people besides your family. It was a very good experience.

What process did you go through to become a believer?
Well, I had to think a lot about my decision because becoming a believer isn’t something unimportant. The only thing that didn’t bother me was the opinion my parents would have about this decision because they didn’t mind if I became a believer.

Where there any specific people who helped you in the process of becoming a believer?
My friends at the youth group helped me a lot. They made me think clearly about Jesus, so I wouldn’t have doubts.

What do you think about Jesus now?
Now I’ve accepted him as Lord and I think he has saved a lot of people and I don’t mean just saving them by letting them spend their life with God but also saving them every day of their life.

I was talking with a dear friend recently who leads a youth group. She said that when her team plans fun and exciting events, people come, for awhile, but then attendance begins to dwindle. She then explained that when they meet and talk about Jesus, people keep coming back! I am so glad that Joni kept coming back, and I’m so glad that his friends were talking to him about Jesus, because now, he believes, and God is saving him every day of his life!

An Unlikely Story

Josiah Venture | News — 2011-08-30T07:00:09-07:00

Every camp has a student that seems impossible to reach. A student who does not seem interested in God and certainly not Jesus. At my first English camp, it was a girl who talked about witchcraft and seemed extremely withdrawn. She kept coming back every summer with more and more questions. I kept praying for her, and during her third camp, she told me she experienced Christ’s love that week. Somehow, the light of Jesus had broken through.

Recently, I chatted with Kelly Hargan, a Josiah Venture missionary in Latvia. He shared an unlikely story with me about a twelve year old girl named Agija who attended a Fusion camp in Latvia this summer.

When camp began, Agija could have been described as abrupt, aggressive, and even a bit of a bully. The youngest of five, Agija’s home life is pretty rough. Anete Jekabsone, a national JV missionary, kept praying for Agija even though she saw little change in her throughout the week.

On one of the last nights of camp, the students went through a Labyrinth that brought specific application to the week’s teaching about Christ. This year the theme was Collision. The Labrinth had six stations. One station, for example, asked students to write on a sheet of paper what they thought about themselves. After that, the students put the paper inside a balloon. On the outside of the balloon, students then wrote what they thought others thought of them. Finally, they brought their balloon to a leader, who popped it and shared from Scripture the truth about what God thinks of them. These powerful activities helped students experience the truth of Christ.

The last station of the Labyrinth gave campers a chance to put a rock into one of five bowls to show where they were in their thinking about Christ. The five bowls ranged from bowl one, “I’m not interested in Christ,” to bowl five, “I believe in Jesus, and I want to follow him.” Bowl four was, “I have more questions about following Christ.”

When Agija reached the last station of the Labyrinth, one of the leaders, Edgars, was praying for the students and felt overwhelmed that Agija was ready to make a decision. He went to get Anete. Meanwhile, Agija placed her rock in the fourth bowl.

Agija sat down with Anete to talk. Anete asked Agija what was keeping her from placing her rock in the fifth bowl. Agija explained that she had been to camp the previous year and had actually made fun of students who made decisions to follow Christ. She explained that she didn’t want to be one of the mocked students. Anete asked Agija if she could pray for her, and Agija said yes. As Anete prayed, she sensed that Agija wanted to make Jesus Lord of her life, so she prayed a prayer that Agija prayed with her. What happened next was the most significant. After praying, Agija got up and went to where the bowls were. She then picked up her rock from the fourth bowl and placed it into the fifth: “I believe in Jesus.”

After that, Agija’s countenance changed. She told camp leaders that she was their sister in Christ and invited her family the Fusion concert. No longer can she be described as the aggressive girl that she was when the camp first started.

My favorite part of this story is when the rock moved. It makes me think about all those unlikely people in my life. The power of the gospel is strong enough for the Agijas in this world and makes me want to pray harder and share more!

What is JV Doing This Summer

Josiah Venture | Spotlight — 2011-07-18T04:07:48-07:00

Dear Friends,

Earlier today I received a note on Facebook from our 21 year old son, Tyler. “Yeeeeah! God’s doing some pretty amazing things!” It was great to hear news from him because I’ve been praying for him all week. Tyler is leading a team of interns in the Czech Republic, and they are just finishing up their first camp with a church in Ostrava.

They are not the only ones I’m praying for. Our 18 year old son, Caleb, is also serving at a camp, and the JV staff are leading another 20 camps just this week. Summer is one of the most important times of evangelism for our team. In the next 6 weeks, they will lead over 85 camps and share the gospel with over 6000 young people!

Let me give you the “birds eye view” of how these camps work. In Eastern Europe, it is hard to get a lost young person into church, but they will sign up for a week of camp with Christians. Part of the draw is English. Becoming fluent in English is their ticket to the world, and the possibility of a week with native English speakers is very attractive. But the fun they have and relationships they form are also high on the list for a young person.

Each of our camps is done in partnership with a local church. This makes it possible for the local fellowship to continue to follow up on the relationships and allows us to deeply build into the lives of the local leaders in a way that brings lasting fruit. They spend May and June inviting their lost friends and putting out the word in the schools. Generally over half the campers are non-Christians.

We bring teams from the States to staff the camps. It takes almost 700 short-term workers to pull it off. Can you imagine the logistics of getting all those people prepared and to the right place?

A typical day starts in the morning with English classes. Small groups of 8-12 students meet with two or three American leaders. The young people learn English in a highly interactive environment with a lot of games and conversation. This also builds close relationships with a small group of people. Free time in the afternoon is followed by sports and then the evening program.

Even in another language, young people like to sing, and energetic songs and crowd breakers get the group going and prepared for the main evening talk. Testimonies come next and then a small group discussion back in their classes.

The result is a powerful week-long experience where young people hear and see the gospel in their language – the language of relationships. Typically 10% of the non-Christians will make a commitment to follow Christ and be in a local church one year later.

As you can imagine, this is not without a lot of hard work and intense spiritual warfare. We are trusting God for much spiritual fruit, but we need you to fight with us in prayer! Would you join us in a special way this month?

Thank you for standing with us this summer,

Dave Patty
President, Josiah Venture

A Collision with Christ

Josiah Venture | News — 2011-07-12T04:46:14-07:00

Collision: “an instance of one moving object or person striking violently against another” or “an instance of conflict between opposing ideas, interests, or factions.”

Our prayer this summer is that students would have a collision with Christ. With less than 1% of young people following Jesus, many of them have never had their lives cross paths with the living Christ. We are hoping that by coming in contact with national and American believers and hearing stories of Jesus Christ that students’ lives would collide head-on with the One Who Saves and have the course of their lives (and eternity) changed forever.

We do this by creating a highly relational environment in which students can see Jesus in the lives of their peers and other Christians. We also do this through a Christian evening program where we play games, sing fun songs with motions, and share stories from the Bible. This year we are focusing on people whose lives came in direct contact with Jesus and how he changed (or didn’t) the trajectory of their life.

Those people (and the collisions we present) are: – the adulterous woman: the grace and mercy of Christ vs. the judgment of the Pharisees – Zaccheus: Jesus knew and loved Zaccheus vs. the expectations of others that he wasn’t one to be loved – the rich young ruler: having everything vs. having Jesus – Pilate: truth (doing what’s right) vs. peer pressure – the convicts on the cross: who you are vs. who you could be – Peter: failure vs. greatness

We will also conclude the last evening with a labyrinth (spiritual stations) where students will be reminded of all the different stories they heard throughout the week and do hands on activities to help them process more what they heard, culminating in a decision point to follow Christ.

This summer we will help 93 local churches lead 89 evangelistic camps. We will have 75 churches from North America serve with us for two weeks, and we will welcome 66 North American interns that will serve with us the entire summer. We are also excited that we have partnered with 18 new North American churches and 20 new national churches.

Would you join with us in praying for the youth of Eastern Europe to encounter the living Christ in a way that will change their eternity? Pray that the collision that students have with Jesus and believers would change them forever!

When I am Weak, then I am Strong

Josiah Venture | News — 2011-07-12T04:28:06-07:00

Being a part of an intern team as the only national is awesome and hard at the same time. It’s a great opportunity to see God work in different parts of Slovakia and to see a bigger picture of the English Camp ministry. I love meeting new people whose hearts are passionate about Christ. I want to use the gifts and talents that God has given me to glorify His name, to serve other people, and to share His Son with non-believers.

When Mike Sullivan, a member of Josiah Venture in Slovakia, invited me to be a part of this year’s summer intern team, I was really excited about the opportunity, but faced some obstacles and fears along the way.

I was worried about raising support for this summer because I am a pastor’s kid who comes from a Slovak family with an average salary. And, tithing is not part of the culture in our country. I knew that if God wanted me to intern, He would provide, but I felt really small. I also thought it would be impossible to ask for money and support in Slovakia. However, as I talked to people from our church, I found they were willing to support me. I was very surprised when our youth leader decided to teach our youth group, around 50 students from the ages of 15-20 years old, about giving. At a youth meeting, he promoted my summer internship and encouraged students to bring some money the next week. We didn’t expect anything big, but I was excited for the students’ characters to grow. The next week, we past around a basket. The students gave around 70 Euros/$100. These young people were challenged to prayerfully sacrifice their money for supporting my ministry, and they accepted. I was shocked and amazed by God’s work and movement among my peers.

Knowing that God has provided all the support I needed makes my ministry easier this summer. I know that I am where I am only because God wants me to be here. I wouldn’t be able to make it all by myself.

I’m ready to see how God will change me: my attitude, character, and my life. Being an intern, for me, means being out of my comfort zone for the majority of the time. I have a packed suitcase and sleep in a different bed almost every week. Because I am around Americans every day, I speak mostly English, and am learning what it’s like to be submerged in an American culture among my culture. In addition, we do school promotions which are hard and super exhausting, but I am glad. Because when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10). I’m learning, it’s not about me, but about Him, His strength and glorifying His name.

It Feels Like Home

Josiah Venture | News — 2011-07-11T06:33:19-07:00

In November of 1995 my family of four moved from Ontario, Canada, to Poland to serve with Josiah Venture. I was only five years old. For the next nine years, my parents served at a local church mentoring the youth leaders. It was quite the adventure. I got the chance to grow up in a different culture, learn a second language, and most importantly see what it was like to live a life of focus on the gospel. I can honestly say that I absolutely loved it. I loved my town, my community, and watching my parents serve here. When I was fourteen, my family moved back to Canada. It was very difficult for me to leave a country that had been my home for so long.

As I search though my memories looking for people that stand out from my life in Poland, a large number of them were summer interns. They always seemed so cool, so busy, and so old! They got to go to camps, hang out with the big kids, and have fun all summer. Or at least that is what it looked like to my young self.

As I got older, I started to see their role a little differently. In 2004, I went to two camps with the intern team and saw all the work that went into serving for the summer. They were constantly on the move, working on their English lessons, planning the evenings, playing instruments in the worship band, translating, running games, and finding time in between all that to build relationships with the campers and stay focused on sharing God’s love with them. All that work resulted in fruit. From that point on, I wanted to be involved in work like that in the country that I grew up loving. I did get the chance to come back to Poland twice during high school. At the end of each trip, I would begin planning the next time that I would come.

This summer, almost three years later, I finally got my chance at interning. It has been a lot to take in all at once. Many things I see around me are the same, but many are different. Not only has the landscape of Poland changed, but people have changed too. Many are wearing fancier things and living in prettier homes. Despite some of these changes, there are many familiarities that I have come across. Something even as simple as going to someone’s home for dinner is a joy. It is a pleasure to eat the food, hear the humor and speak the language with the Polish people I love. All that is just the icing on the cake compared to the opportunity to make more Polish friends. It is an honor to talk with people about their thoughts, feelings, life, and faith.

I have been praying that I will know what to do with every opportunity God gives me; that we will be able to effectively help the local youth groups minister to their friends; and that I will be fully present to maximize the time I have with young Poles. This summer has been a blessing in my life as I get to slip back into a place that is so comfortable. It just feels like home.