God’s movement

Dear Friends,

I never really liked math in school. Maybe that was because numbers and equations seemed boring to me. What did math have to do with real life? To me, the most important number was the one on my watch when class was over!

Jesus didn’t seem to share my view. He knew that the shepherd had exactly 99 sheep in the fold when he headed out in search of the one. He knew there were at least 5,000 people to be fed the day he preached a marathon sermon. When numbers reflect precious lives, they become very important.

That is why I was blown away last week when our team added up the results of this summer’s evangelistic camps. All together, 357 young people made professions of faith in Jesus Christ! When compared to the total number of people attending camps, we found that 17% of the unbelievers had responded to the gospel! Praise God!

Each of these has a name and a face, and is so very precious to our Lord. Many are the first believers in their extended families, and some are actually birthing new churches. In Maribor, the second largest city in the country of Slovenia, there are only three small evangelical churches. Now 12 young people are meeting regularly for Bible Study with our staff, and forming the core of a brand new church.

In Slovakia, the Christian students at camp often talked about their small group discipleship experiences during the year. At one camp the non-Christians became so interested that they asked if they could sign up for small groups as well. Now as the fall begins, 80% of them are taking part in a small group – even though many are not yet believers.

Our Josiah Venture vision is for a movement of God among the youth of Eastern Europe. As part of our 2X3 campaign we are praying for doubled fruit. We are seeing God answer those prayers, as the fruit from this summer was more than twice that of last summer! This can only be explained by God’s supernatural movement in young people’s lives. Please join us in giving him honor and praise!

Rejoicing in God’s movement,