Josiah Venture Board

Director and Chairman H. Philip Vierling is currently CEO of Kalypto Medical, a medical device company in St Paul, Minnesota. Philip is a graduate of Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee and holds a masters degree from the University of South Florida. He became involved with Josiah Venture as a participant in summer mission trips over twelve years ago. In addition to serving as a director with Josiah Venture, Philip serves on the advisory board of Covenant Seminary and as a trustee for the Foundation of Physical Therapy. Philip and his wife, Becky, have three children.

Director and Vice-Chair Scott Ardavanis is the Senior Pastor of Placerita Baptist Church in Newhall, California. Previously, Scott served as Pastor of Grace Church of DuPage in the Wheaton, Illinois area for eight years. He has also served with Dr. John MacArthur at Grace Community Church in California and as a pastor overseeing Student Ministries at The Master’s College. He is a graduate (M.Div.) of The Master’s Seminary and has served as a faculty member at both The Master’s College and Seminary training students in Biblical Exposition. Scott and his wife, Patty, have five children.

Director and President Dave Patty is one of the founders of Josiah Venture. He and his wife, Connie, became missionaries to U.S. servicemen and their families in the 1980’s, and through mission outreaches into former Communist bloc countries, became convinced that young people were ready and eager to hear the Gospel, put their faith in Christ, be discipled and trained up as young Christian leaders. Born to missionary parents (his parents founded Cadence International), Dave has been on the mission field for 25+years. He is a graduate of Multnomah School of Bible in Portland, Oregon and holds a masters degree in Educational Ministry from Wheaton College. He and his wife, Connie, live in the Czech Republic with their three children.

Director and Treasurer Frank Fernandes has been a private asset manager since 1993. Prior to this, from 1980-1993, Frank was a commodities and options trader at the Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. He is involved in several boards and committees, including Josiah Venture, English Language Institute China, Grace Foundation, Wheaton Academy, Wheaton College, HaChotam, and Grace Church. Frank is a graduate of Wheaton College, in Wheaton, Illinois. He is married and has two children.

Director Don Christensen is the Client Services Director for the Western United States for Ronald Blue & Co., LLC, a full service financial solutions firm. He is a Certified Public Accountant that provides expertise in financial planning and investment management. Along with being active in various ministries and mission projects, Don is the Chairman of the Board of the Dave Dravecky Outreach of Hope Foundation and a board member for Baseball Chapel of America. Don earned his BS in Accounting from Arizona State University in 1976 and received his Master’s degree in Christian Leadership from Western Seminary. He and his wife reside in Arizona.

Director Marko Vukosavovic was born in Montenegro and has lived and worked in the USA for the past 10 years. He holds an MBA from Eastern University (St David’s, PA) and a Bachelor Degree from the School of Economics, Belgrade University. He is currently Director of Financial Analysis for Education Dynamics LLC, based in Hoboken, NJ. During his career, Marko worked for several organizations including Geneva Global Inc (Wayne, PA) where he served as Research Team Leader for Europe, Middle East and Central Asia. During his time at Geneva Global, he was involved in research and funding of over 100 organizations around the world, including Josiah Venture. His area of expertise is business development. He led initiatives in supporting anti-human trafficking, human rights, social and children organizations in Eastern Europe. In addition, he was project management of a $2.3 million U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) grant to forty-nine Sri Lankan organizations in 2005. Marko is married and has two children.

Director Steve Hudson served in various roles as a Pastor, National Director of Student Ministries, Executive Director of National Ministries, Executive Director of Leadership Development and Senior Vice President in the Evangelical Free Church of America for over 35 years. Recently, Steve has joined Global Youth Initiative (GYI), an alliance of organizations committed to building movements of multiplication among the youth of the world. GYI has partners in 75 countries, all who focus on disciple making aligned with the message and methods of Jesus. Steve trains, coaches, networks, and resources ministry leaders around the world. He is a graduate of Northwestern College, Denver Seminary, and Bethel Seminary. Steve and his wife, Joan, live in Apple Valley, MN.