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March 9, 2021

Igniting the Flames

Dear Friends,

What ignites the flames of revival?

In Acts chapter two, a fledgling band of Jesus followers grew rapidly as thousands responded to the preaching of Peter, and new believers were added every day. But this revival actually began weeks earlier when a small group gathered quietly for extended times of prayer in an upper room, asking for an outpouring of God’s Spirit.

In the early 1700’s, a single community of Moravian believers launched a missionary movement that spanned the globe in one generation. This passion for the lost was birthed out of a 24/7 “prayer watch” that started when their fellowship was quite small and it continued on unbroken for 100 years.

Dr. A. T. Pierson once said, “There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer.” The renowned revival scholar Dr. James Edwin Orr wrote that every movement of God can be traced back to a moment when one to ten people started to pray for revival.

One such moment for the JV team was January 1, 2017 when our online prayer room was launched (pray.josiahventure.com). Inspired by the Moravian prayer movement, the goal of this effort was to mobilize 24/7 prayer for God’s work in Central and Eastern Europe. Now, four years later, we can look back to 38,000 hours of prayer offered up by people from all over the world. This is the equivalent of 24 hours of prayer daily, 365 days a week, for four years!

Last month marked another key moment as the JV Prayer Room was released in the Apple store in an app format. Now you can enter the Prayer Room on your phone when you are waiting in line, sitting in your car, having your devotions in your favorite chair, or when you are out for a walk. The app walks you through personal connection with God in prayer then leads you into specific and up-to-date requests from JV missionaries in 16 countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

From anywhere in the world, you can join the movement of God as you hear the latest of what God is doing in our region and intercede for specific requests. What an amazing privilege!

Here is my challenge for you. If you own an Apple iPhone or iPad, could you go on right now and download this app (For you android fans, we are also working on a version for you that will be available later this year)? Search in the app store for “Josiah Venture Prayer Room.” Once you have it loaded on your phone, think about a time during the next seven days when you could spend 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or even an hour praying for the JV team and God’s movement among young people. Your prayers have lasting impact.

Thank you for helping us ignite the flames.

Dave Patty President

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