Will you pray for our JV Kids?

Dear Friends,

This month marks a significant milestone for our family. Our oldest child, Tyler, is leaving home to start his freshman year at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Having lived in the Czech Republic since he was two years old, and attending 13 years of school in a foreign language, this will be a big transition for him. On the other hand, he is unusually equipped to adapt and engage because of the wealth of experiences God has given him as part of a missionary community.

Some people never venture into missions out of fear for their children. We believe the missionary call can be one of the greatest gifts we give our kids! When God sends a family overseas, he commissions not just the parents, but each and every member. He desires to use them all in his mission, and bless each of them in the process.

I wish you could spend some time with our JV kids. You’d be amazed at what this bi-lingual, ministry-minded group is capable of. Meagan Jackson recently won a city wide writing competition in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia – in her second language! Jacob Hash has been translating at Polish English camps since he was 7 years old.

At the same time there are unique challenges to being a “third culture kid.” They never totally fit in because of the unique mixture of cultures that form them. Often children of Christian workers experience intense spiritual attack, as Satan works to discourage their parents and force them to leave the field.

That is why I’d like to ask you to pray this month for our JV kids. In the middle of August they will spend five days together at their annual “JV Kids Camp,” in Slovenia. At the end of the month they head back into school, generally in a challenging foreign language. Pray that this shapes them to be unusually effective at furthering God’s kingdom in a global world.

We are happy that Moody is a missions-minded school. Maybe God will call Tyler back here one day.

I too was a missionary kid,

Dave Patty
President, Josiah Venture