Are you having fun yet?!

Dear Friends,

“Are we having fun yet?”

I had to chuckle when I saw this phrase in the first line of an E-mail from my old buddy Dave Olson. We had been Jr High friends in Colorado before his family moved to Canada in 8th grade. He disappeared off of my relational horizon for almost two decades, until by chance we connected again several years ago. Though he lives thousands of miles away, my heart feels very connected to him because of our common love for work and adventure.

Dave always wished he had been called to the mission field. But instead God made him a consultant for small businesses – and gave him the gift of giving.

This is no small thing. The Bible is clear that giving is much more than just dutifully meeting needs. In 2 Cor. 9 Paul urges the believers to give so that they themselves will not miss out on blessing. He talks about God’s special provision for those who are generous, and about the joy that accompanies giving. But the truth he stresses most of all is that giving “ overflows in many expressions of thanks to God.”

I have been swept along in that overflow this past month. You see, at Christmas, Dave entrusted some of his resources in a gift to me, to pass on to members of our team who were in need. I was very thankful, and praised God! Some of his gift I gave to Jirka, who shepherds a group of our interns in western Czech. He had been praying for resources to pay his car insurance bill for the new year and the amount that I gave him (that Dave gave me) was EXACTLY what he needed. Jirka praised God. I praised God. Dave was blessed.

Chaga, who leads our team in Serbia, was unable to travel to a conference because he didn’t have money for the trip. Because of Dave he was able to go. Pavlina, who works at our training center, had some family possessions stolen from the storeroom. Because of Dave she was able to replace them. Dusan received a gift from Dave, and decided the Lord wanted him to pass it on. Those funds went through four sets of hands until they reached their final destination, blessing every one of us along the way. We all praised God!

All together, Dave’s gift directly impacted over 50 people, meeting specific needs, but even more importantly, causing each one to praise and thank God. That is quite a ripple effect! You can imagine my joy in sharing the stories with Dave, and his joy in hearing them from me.

What is truly amazing is that I could tell similar stories about each one of you! Your gift this month met a real need on our Josiah Venture team, but after that it started overflowing into blessing, thankfulness, and praise.

Are you having fun yet?!

Grateful to God - for you,

Dave Patty
President, Josiah Venture