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December 7, 2022

Simplicity

Dear Friends,

What was your most memorable Christmas?

I was born in the Philippines to missionary parents, but because of my dad’s leadership role in the mission headquarters in Denver, I spent most of my childhood in Colorado. Only after graduation from high school did we head overseas again, to an assignment in Germany.

Christmas came shortly after our arrival. With little money, and all of our old life left behind across an ocean, the holidays were one big improvisation. We bought toothpicks and glued them together in various patterns to make our own tree decorations. Since there were not many presents, we wrapped up items we already owned and gave them as gifts, accompanied by humorous commentary. With no TV to watch, we pulled slips of paper out of a hat for the various nativity characters and acted out the Christmas story in our living room.

There was much laughter, lively conversations, active engagement by all, and, most significantly, simplicity. Somehow, the loss we all had just experienced highlighted the greatest gifts of Christmas—Jesus, relationships, and joy.

Crisis has a way of bringing us back to the basics. And when the world shakes with uncertainty and conflict, what can’t be shaken suddenly becomes clear. Jesus is the Savior of the world, the foundation that can’t be moved.

At a recent conference for young leaders at our training center in Poland, I talked with a gifted young politician named Veronika. For the last 10 years she has been working at the EU headquarters in Brussels, preparing laws and regulations that impact a 27-country region. I was encouraged that someone with such a vibrant faith in Jesus was influencing the future of the EU. But I was even more touched when I found out that she had trusted Christ 20 years ago when she was 16 at a JV English camp in Prague.

She went on to share how she had been discipled as a young believer and then equipped to lead Bible studies of her own as a university student. Her story was so profound, but at the same time so simple. Jesus, relationships, and joy.

As you enter a Christmas season filled with instability and questions, long to-do lists, and less resources, let the shaking move you back to what can’t be shaken. May this be a season of simplicity.

Thanks for your part in bringing young people like Veronika to the light of Jesus,

Dave Patty President

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The Right Learning for the Right Person at the Right Time

Stop and think about the times in your life when you grew the most. What were you doing? What were the circumstances? What did you feel? What were you excited about, and what were you worried about? When I look back on my own life, I notice a pattern. Growth usually happens when the challenge in front of us is outside of our comfort zone or outside of our skill level. It happens when we’re stretched. I remember learning this in a very tangible way in college. I took a class called Experiential Learning, and, throughout the semester, we worked through various team-building exercises. At the end of the course, we went to a ropes course, which culminated in a challenge known as the “Pamper Pole”—a towering 10-meter telephone pole. The challenge was to climb to the top, stand on a tiny platform, and then leap to grab a trapeze bar. My professor had seen me go through most of the challenges fairly easily. 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Home

Sajmir just wanted to belong. As the youngest son in a Muslim family of eight children, he was expected to serve everyone. Sajmir’s family was oppressed in Albania because they were dark skinned Gypsies. On top of that, during the difficult time after the revolution, his father began drinking and beating his mother. “My father never beat me,” Sajmir said, “but he never showed me love. He never hugged me or kissed me. I never saw a father figure. I was afraid of him. Also, outside in the city, people were not very close to me. I spent most of my time alone, playing soccer alone, or basketball alone.” There was only one soccer field in his village, and when Sajmir tried to join a game, the other kids would kick him out. One day, a group came toward the field and Sajmir began to back away, sure they would ask him to leave. “Will you play with us?” they asked. “You want to play with me?” Sajmir replied. For the first time in his life, someone invited him in. After the game, they invited him to church. “What is a church?” he said. Running home, he asked his parents if he could go. “Don’t go to church,” they answered sternly, “you will shame us.” But the next day was Sunday, and he snuck out when no one was looking. “When I stepped into the church, at the door, someone gave me a hug for the first time in my life,” Sajmir said. “They put me in the first row. I felt like a celebrity. Then I heard the story that someone loves you just as you are, that is, Jesus—as I was, dark skinned, rejected. But still, there is someone who died for me.” “I ran and told my family, but their response was: ’If you go one more time, we will tell your brother to beat you up.’ I went again. My brother beat me up. For three months, I was beaten every week. I was loved and accepted in church, while suffering and being beaten in my family. Then my mom said, ‘Let him go.’” Filled with joy, Sajmir fell on his knees and said, “God, I will serve you wherever you want me to.” That was 25 years ago, and today Sajmir and his family are part of our Josiah Venture team in Albania. Through youth ministry, he recently planted a church called “Mosaic,” which has grown to over 100 people. Every day, young people come after school and in the evening for tutoring, children’s meetings, youth meetings, small groups, discipleship groups, and a very lively Fusion choir. The church is open every day, from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, and there is always something happening. “Our building is a daily home for everyone; it’s a family,” says Sajmir. “I always remember what God did for me in my youth. My heart is burning to see more young people come to Christ and find that they are loved and belong.” During this Advent season, we remember how Jesus left his home to make a home for us. He was sent to find us, where we play our games alone, and to invite us into his family. He found Sajmir, and you, and me. Thanks for helping us share this good news with young people who are still without a home. Dave Patty President, Josiah Venture