http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/ en designcenter@josiahventure.com Copyright 2009 2009-08-14T02:42:33-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/august-lift-2009/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/august-lift-2009/#When:07:42:33Z Look … at the fields (John 4:36) We are nine months into the 2X3 campaign. Many of you have been praying faithfully with us for increased fruit. How is God answering those prayers? Remember the story of the Samaritan woman? The opportunity to reach a village was “on the way” – the disciples just needed open eyes to see the open door. As we are praying for increased fruit, God is showing us that the answer to those prayers is often closer than we think. I’ve been asking God for the opportunity to expand the JV work into three more countries during these next three years. Two weeks ago I spent several days in Dresden, former East Germany, with Joel and Ellen Hopkins. The Hopkins are both Moody Bible Institute grads, and Joel is finishing up a master’s at Wheaton. They heard about Josiah Venture from their professor (a former classmate of mine), their mentors (a former boss of mine), and a Google search (they wanted to use the name Josiah for curriculum they are writing). It looks like we were sitting at the same well! Pray for this fine couple – they would like to be on the field by the end of next year. God is calling more laborers into his harvest! JV staff have led English camps for 15 years now. With 560 of these events behind us, you might say we know how to lead an evangelistic camp. But this year our team changed the entire direction of the summer program. Recognizing that most of the students entered the camp with very little information about God, they decided to focus on the “big story” of redemption – starting all the way from Adam, through the fall, flood, sacrifices, and then on to Christ. The style changed as well, from a “camp talk” format to a simple reading of the Bible stories and then asking and answering questions. This “story of God” is having a huge impact this year and every week I hear numerous testimonies of changed lives. The camps look much the same, but this simple change is bearing great fruit. “On the way” God opened our eyes to a new way of sharing the old message. Mart Saar has known the gospel of Jesus Christ since he was a small child. Today he leads Koma, the JV national ministry in Estonia. As a team leader, Mart has been challenging his staff to regularly ask God for increased fruit. What Mart didn’t realize is that God wanted to start with him! For years he has not seen much result from personal evangelism, but in the last two months he has led four people to the Lord, including their babysitter, a 65 year old hitchhiker, and a young man named Reiner that he had only known for half an hour. In addition to this, by focusing on challenging people to repentance and faith, the fruit of their summer camps has tripled. This is good news in a secular country like Estonia, which is one of the least religious in the entire world! We believe this is just the beginning of what God wants to do in answer to your prayers. Thank you for joining us in this vision to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the next generation in Eastern Europe! Dave Patty, President, Josiah Venture Lift articles, Look 2009-08-14T01:42:33-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/looking-to-the-lord-for-solutions/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/looking-to-the-lord-for-solutions/#When:07:36:43Z Taste … and see that the Lord is good. (Ps 34:8) It is clear from the Bible that God is pleased when his servants respond in faith. Sometimes that belief is expressed by looking for solutions where there doesn’t seem to be any. Katka Vlnova is Czech, but she is spending her entire summer in Romania, leading a team of interns who are sharing the gospel through English camps. One of the events was located at a remote site high up in the mountains. They rented a bus to take the young people from the train station to the camp location, but when the bus driver saw the state of the small dirt roads he refused to continue. Tudor, the Romanian camp director, met with Katka and prayed for an answer to their dilemma. Then they began in faith to think about creative solutions. In the end they found a dump truck driver who would change his plans, and piled 30 people with luggage into the back of his truck. The group had to balance themselves in the rocking vehicle for two hours, but all arrived safe and sound at the camp. It was an adventure few of them will forget! Mike Sullivan was faced with the possibility that he might have to cancel two camps in Slovakia. Because of the economic crisis in the States, several churches backed out at the last minute, leaving them with no staff for the first session. It would have been easy to just stop these evangelistic activities. Mike believed, however, that God had another plan and begin to pray for an answer. Soon he found that several friends of JV had frequent flyer miles built up and could spend part of their vacation serving the Lord in Slovakia. Others paid for the tickets on their own. Piecing a team together of “random travelers” Mike was able to keep the camps from being canceled. The best news is that 5 put their faith in Christ! A good gardener knows that pruning is essential to maximize fruit. For God’s servants, unexpected crisis can seem like an unpleasant setback.Externally imposed limitations, however, often focus our energy into a posture of dependence and acts of faith that actually increase our fruit. Lift articles, Look 2009-08-14T01:36:43-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/fall-training-conference-exit-316-in-slovakia/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/fall-training-conference-exit-316-in-slovakia/#When:07:28:53Z Pray …for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly (2Thes 3:1) Fall Training Conference Every September our entire team gathers together for five days of inspiration and training. This year our theme is “Baton, passing the life of Christ to the next generation.” Our teaching sessions and times of discussion will focus on how to increase our effectiveness in Disciple-making. This has been a central emphasis of JV for years, but we are asking God to show us how we can be still more fruitful in this area. This conference is an important time of connection and recharging for the entire team. Pray for the speakers, that they will be powerfully used by the Lord, and for the times of fellowship and reflection, that God would lead us into greater intimacy with him. Exit 316 in Slovakia After two years of airing weekly broadcasts on national television in Czech we have a library of 80 episodes of Exit 316. This is a tremendous resource that we would like to use in a still broader way. Since neighboring Slovakia shares a very similar language, we are working to see if Slovak television would be willing to also broadcast the show. This would open the door to reach hundreds of thousands of young people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Obviously a step like this will encounter the enemy’s opposition. Pray for the negotiations which are going on this month with officials in Slovak television. Pray also for endorsements from key religious and political leaders that could open the doors for this strategic project. Most of all, pray that God would open doors for the gospel and protect the team as they stand in faith for this key opportunity. Lift articles, Pray 2009-08-14T01:28:53-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/help-young-people-find-an-exit-in-slovakia/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/help-young-people-find-an-exit-in-slovakia/#When:07:24:52Z Give …yourselves fully to the work of the Lord (I Cor 15:58) In every issue of “Lift” we will focus on a particular project within the 2X3 campaign that you can become a part of through your giving or service. The Exit 316 television broadcast is key for expanding the proclamation of the gospel among young people in Slovakia. Central to long term impact are the small group materials and training that are distributed to hundreds of churches and used by young people to start evangelistic Bible studies. If you would like to give to this project financially, click here. Lift articles, Give 2009-08-14T01:24:52-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/can-you-lose-your-fruitfulness/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/can-you-lose-your-fruitfulness/#When:07:17:30Z Remain…in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself (John 15:4) Since fruitfulness is closely connected to spiritual health, I’ve started a regular podcast to the JV team to build into their spiritual lives. In short 10 minute segments, we are covering the key passages of Scripture that relate to increasing our fruit. We consider you a part of the extended JV team, so are making it possible for you to listen in to these “family devotions” with the team. In this podcast we will look at Jeremiah 17 and discover what can turn a barren shrub into a fruitful tree. The first set of three messages uncovered the source of barrenness. In this next message we will continue in Jeremiah 17 and discover how a person can continually bear fruit. Rooted by the stream – Jeremiah 17:7-9 Click here for a link to this podcast, or go to iTunes and subscribe if you want to receive them automatically. Lift articles, Remain 2009-08-14T01:17:30-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/lift-may-2009/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/lift-may-2009/#When:17:00:15Z Look … at the fields (John 4:36) What picture comes to mind when you hear the words “Eastern Europe?” Though the entire region shares the historical backdrop of communism, each culture and country is quite unique. Poland shares a border with atheist Czech, but is one of the most religious countries in Europe. At one time, 90% of the population considered themselves members of the Catholic Church. Having a Polish Pope was a great source of pride for them.Though practically everyone believes in God, most have never read the Bible for themselves, and few understand the nature of true conversion through grace, by faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, Poland has one of the smallest percentages of Protestant evangelicals in Eastern Europe. Only .1% are part of an evangelical church – that is 1 in a 1000! Our JV Poland team has been taking the gospel forward for 15 years now, faithfully reaching young people and discipling leaders. During that time they have found that one of the best ways to reach this “lost religious generation” is to pull them out of their context for intensive weeks of camp. Several years ago they began praying for a permanent facility where they could engage in this kind of outreach year round. God led them to a recreational center owned by the largest mining company in Poland. Located on a river, and having its own private lake, the center functioned as a vacation site for company employees. However, because of the change in economic conditions, the company was willing to sell – and through a long series of miracles we were able to buy! Our Poland team called the place “H2O”, because of all the water. The most important water is the living kind – the inner spring Jesus offered to a Samaritan woman who was wondering where to worship. We’d like to see doubled fruit through the ministry in Poland during the next three years. H2O is a central part of this because of the doors it opens for evangelism. It needs to be renovated and brought up to EU standards before it can be reopened for ministry. Pray that God would provide teams and resources to bring this project to completion soon. Dave Patty, President, Josiah Venture Lift articles, Look 2009-06-01T11:00:15-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/who-is-reaching-polish-youth/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/who-is-reaching-polish-youth/#When:16:58:48Z Taste … and see that the Lord is good. (Ps 34:8) In spite of a population of 38 million people, Poland has only a handful of full time youth workers. Most youth groups are led by someone who shouldn’t have the time or space for such intensive ministry. Someone like Ania. Ania should be overwhelmed, or maybe even depressed. Her husband passed away five years ago, leaving her with three kids to raise on her own. A working mom and full-time student, she juggles the responsibility of providing for her family and caring for young children. For most people that would be more than enough. But Ania also has a deep desire that the young people in her church and community become committed followers of Christ. When she heard that Fala (the name of JV Poland’s organization) offered a school of youth leaders, she made space in her already full schedule for five weekends of study. There Ania was exposed to Christ’s life in a deeper way, and learned how he reached the lost and made disciples. Because the school of leaders focuses on equipping teams, she was able to bring several students from her church with her. In spite of her difficult circumstances, Ania is full of faith. “The School for Ministry Teams helped me realize the importance of team leadership,” she says. “In the past I always did everything on my own. I always believed it was right to equip others, but I never knew how to do it. This training gave me the confidence and skills to begin a ministry team in my youth group.” Ania takes what she learns and immediately passes it on, giving selflessly to the next generation. Because of that the youth ministry in her church is alive and transformational – and the young people she is building into are already reaching their friends. Maybe we should all be more like Ania. Lift articles, Taste 2009-06-01T10:58:48-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/summer-servants/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/summer-servants/#When:16:57:55Z Pray …for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly (2Thes 3:1) This week 70 young college students will compete in the JV “Amazing Race”. Divided into teams of 5-8 they battle their way across Eastern Europe, trying to figure out the clues that will lead them to the JV training center in Malenovice – ahead of everyone else! The race kicks off a week of training that prepares them to share the gospel to thousands of young people through English camps during the summer. The summer will be a life changing experience for them, as they fan out across Eastern Europe to love young people into the kingdom. Obviously this kind of spiritual offensive will be countered by efforts from our enemy to stop the progress of the gospel. Pray for protection for these young people, and for the spiritual preparation that will take place during these next weeks. Pray for unity on the teams, and boldness in sharing the good news. Pray that local youth groups will be effective at inviting their friends, and for the many churches in the States who will send teams for two weeks to help lead these camps. Most of all, pray for much fruit! Lift articles, Pray 2009-06-01T10:57:55-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/update-will-exit-316-be-in-schools/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/update-will-exit-316-be-in-schools/#When:16:52:42Z Pray …for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly (2Thes 3:1) In my last “Lift” I asked you to pray for negotiations that were under way with the minister of Education in the Czech Republic. Our team was working to see if Exit 316, a TV show we have aired for the last year on National TV, could be used in Ethics and Social Studies classes. Our original request that the curriculum be posted on the Minister of Education web site was not granted. At the last minute a powerful member of the board of education who is a staunch atheist blocked the process. However, the Minister of Education voiced his approval for the project, and said he would support any local initiatives from schools to use the material. He recommended we work with teachers and principals at the local level, and gave us a green light to proceed. Praise God for this support! The doors to schools are opening in an unusual way. Just this week, a team of youth speakers and a Christian band are in the tenth city of an “Exit Tour.” Over thirty high schools have canceled classes for a full day so that our team can do assemblies and lectures in classes. The assemblies allow them to fulfill requirements they have for work in “prevention”, and give us the opportunity to show how the Bible offers solutions to everyday problems. Thank you for your prayers. Lift articles, Pray 2009-06-01T10:52:42-07:00 http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/help-the-living-water-flow-in-poland/ http://www.2x3campaign.com/blog/help-the-living-water-flow-in-poland/#When:16:51:31Z Give…yourselves fully to the work of the Lord (I Cor 15:58) . In every issue of “Lift” we will focus on a particular project within the 2X3 campaign that you can become a part of through your giving or service. In Poland the H2O facility is key to the spread of the gospel, and for training a new generation of leaders. If you would like to give this month toward the H2O renovation, visit Give To H2O Lift articles, Give 2009-06-01T10:51:31-07:00