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June 15, 2026

The Challenge

A well-placed challenge can radically redirect a life.

Vince was walking down the stairs from the balcony of Christ Community Church in Chicago when Larry spotted him from across the room. “Hey Vince,” Larry called out, “do you want to go on a mission trip?” An earlier presentation from the mission’s pastor had caught Vince’s attention, but no decision had been made—until that moment. “Yeah… sure” came the answer. And then Vince was headed to the Czech Republic to serve in a Josiah Venture English camp.

The week was life-changing for Vince as he shared his faith with Patrick, his newfound Czech atheist friend, who didn’t even realize he was signing up for a Christian camp.  Toward the end of the week Suzy caught him in the hall. “You should be a JV intern next summer.” “There is no way,” Vince thought. “God what are you telling me right now? OK, I’ll just go for it.”

The next summer’s 3-month internship with JV was life-changing for Vince and drove him into the Word as he had never experienced before. “I grew a lot, and sometimes read the Bible as much as 3 hours a day. When I got back home, I realized I had developed spiritual muscles I could use in any situation.” Now Vince is back in Czech for his second summer of service. Two challenges—a life changed.

Masha grew up in a Baptist Church in Ukraine with no youth group—until the JV Ukraine team led an English camp with her church. Many young people put their faith in Christ, and a vibrant youth group was launched. There were not enough leaders for the girls, so JV staff Vitali challenged Masha to lead them—at just 15 years of age.

“You can be a leader; we need you,” Vitali said. Masha believed him and something happened. “I was able to talk to girls in a way I never could before.  I could see God was working through me. “

Then, Russia invaded Ukraine and her family fled to Slovakia. Today, Masha is in university and her family is safe, but she wished she could do more to help the young people facing danger every day. A leader in Masha’s Slovak church challenged her to become a JV national intern, sent from Slovakia to serve for three months in Ukraine.

“I know that God has something I cannot even think of right now. God has exceeded our expectations and brought together a team of 14 interns to serve in Ukraine this summer. For me, it is very special to see the teenagers. My heart hurts for them, their lives, and what they are going through. But at the camp, they are joyful. There is still hope and we can bring more.”

Vince and Masha are just two of 33 Josiah Venture summer interns beginning a summer of gospel sharing across nine countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Someone challenged them,and now they are challenging others.

Thank you for making this possible through your gifts and prayers.

Dave Patty
President, Josiah Venture

Dave Patty President

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Blessing Upon Blessing: My Summer With JV

“I dance in the freedom you have given.” These are the words that describe this summer internship most clearly and deeply for me. Before summer began, I had heard many stories from past interns about how life-changing this season had been for them–a time when faith, hope, and love grew. Of course, I believed it could happen to me too, but experiencing it myself was so much more powerful and personal than I ever imagined. God gave me joy, a free spirit, and a longing heart to serve the youth of Estonia. When I was younger, I was pretty convinced that youth ministry was not the area where I saw myself serving in the future. But today, I carry a desire and longing in my heart to possibly continue in youth ministry even after this summer, because I’ve seen how deeply needed it really is. That longing was placed in my heart by God, through the JV (Josiah Venture) summer internship. So how did I even end up serving with JV this summer? When someone asks me that, I usually say, “God called me.” And that’s the truth. I joined my church last fall when I moved to Tallinn to begin university. About halfway through the year, I met a lovely woman named Brittney at a Sunday service. We talked, prayed together, and got to know each other a bit. A couple of days later, she sent me a voice message telling me about the JV internship and the opportunity to be a summer intern. It was all so new to me that I honestly didn’t know how to respond at first; I had basically never heard of JV before. Eventually, I replied that I wanted to learn more, so we arranged a time to have lunch. Our conversation helped bring clarity, but I still had doubts. We agreed that I would give her my final answer in a week. One night, I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, but I just couldn’t. I kept waking up, reading, and praying–nothing helped. At one point, God reminded me that I still hadn’t said my “yes” or “no.” Without thinking too much, I picked up my phone and messaged Brittney: “I want to be a summer intern.” Immediately after sending the message, I fell asleep. God gave me complete peace. That was my first confirmation that God was truly calling me into this summer of service and that he had something very special planned. To me, the summer and this calling felt like a door leading into the unknown. But, at the same time, I had the assurance that Jesus would be with me there. Because I knew that he holds everything in his hands and my faith rests entirely in him, nothing would be too scary. After saying “yes,” I experienced blessing upon blessing. Even before the summer began, God took care of my living situation after the internship. The whole fundraising process was completely in God’s hands. The whole summer–every camp, every moment—was full of situations where God’s hand and power were greater than anything else. We started our bigger summer adventure in the Czech Republic with the Amazing Race. I honestly had no idea what to expect from the competition at first. I still remember the anticipation as we stood there at the airport with our little Estonian flags, waiting for our summer teammates to arrive. A few minutes after the first brave arrivals, the race began, and we started laying the foundation for our team. Building this “house” wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. From the very first moment, these people already felt like family. One of my favorite sayings is that a team is only as strong as its weakest link. In our case, though, I would say that we didn’t have a weak link. Even during the Amazing Race, it became clear that each of us had our own strengths, and we complemented each other perfectly with them. I have learned so much from these four amazing young people. I can fully trust them and know that they stand firmly behind me, and vice versa. I’m grateful that I got to work alongside them this summer, serving the youth of Estonia. I wouldn’t trade them for anyone else. I thank God for these four every day. After the Amazing Race and intern training, it was time to truly start our summer mission. Two weeks after we returned to Estonia, the first youth camp began. Sports have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but the moment I found myself on the football field in that yellow camp t-shirt, I suddenly doubted all of my athletic strengths. On the first morning of the soccer camp, Katre (my fellow intern) shared a story where Jesus fed 5,000 men with just two fish and five loaves of bread. Katre shared that this camp could be a place where, in our weakness, God might grow and use us the most. I tucked that thought firmly into my heart and trusted that if God called me here, then he must have a plan! It was such a blessing to see the small things God was doing in these young boys’ lives during the camp. We had so many special conversations and heard beautiful stories. We taught the boys the camp dance, and on the last day of camp, they performed it for us. “I haven’t been this happy in a long time!” Katre shouted across the room as we laughed and watched them dance. At that camp, God started something, and I can trust him to continue the work he began in those boys’ hearts. After the soccer camp, I got to be part of and serve at the Edge Disc Golf camp. This is truly the ideal ministry sport. Walking through the beautiful forests of Estonia, God gave me several great opportunities for conversations, and I got to see how he continued to work in the hearts of the young boys from the soccer camp. The camp was filled with life-changing moments and new commitments. A few young people received their first Bible, and some took several big steps closer to God. Those moments were so special, and I feel so deeply grateful that God called me to this summer, using our team to bring these young people closer to himself. “If there were a way for this camp and this environment to last all year, I’d be so happy!” and “This was the best camp of my life” were just some of the comments we heard from the boys after the camp. But as our camp leader said, their comments weren’t because we put together a cool camp; they were because God was there, living and moving among us. The last camp of the summer was TAFT English Camp. We organized the camp together with two churches–Tallinna Kogukonnad (TaKo) and the youth of Risttee, also known as Lift. (The name comes from: TaKo + Lift = TAFT.) That camp definitely secured a special place in my heart. We spent a week surrounded by the stunning nature of Estonia–misty morning runs, breathtaking sunsets, and the only truly beautiful camp weather we had all summer. In English environments, we built towers and attractions from whatever the Estonian forest provided, played Masterchef, and gave the youth a chance to test their commercial filming skills. Together with two members from some American mission teams, I also had my first experience leading a small group during this camp. Our conversations always ran longer than planned, and I learned so much from them myself. God spoke to me deeply through that group, and those times together later led to even deeper conversations–something I’m incredibly thankful for. We wrapped up our summer adventure with an intern debrief on a beautiful Estonian island called Saaremaa. We shared stories, looked back on the summer, and took a moment to dream and listen. We imagined what might be ahead and heard what God still wanted to bring to light. 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Growth Through Support Raising

Last summer, in June 2024, I took a trip to Koper, Slovenia, to help run an English camp. It was my first time out of the States and my first experience on the mission field. Though the trip was only two and a half weeks long, it changed my life forever. It was at that camp that I first learned about Josiah Venture (JV) and their summer internship program. When I returned home, I began looking into the program. After several disappointing emails, I found out that the internship in Slovenia was no longer happening. Crushed, I started to look into other mission opportunities. That fall, I applied to (and was accepted into) a nine-month internship program in California through a different organization. I was so sure this was what God had for me. I even sent out support letters and paid the first down payment. However, one day later, I received an email from JV announcing that the Slovenia internship was, in fact, happening, and they asked if I was still interested. After a moment of shock and a lot of prayer, I knew I needed to withdraw from the California program and go back to Europe. I knew I would need to raise support, and I was nervous about the response I might get—especially since I had just sent out support letters for California. I hesitated to contact people. The fear of rejection held me back from fully trusting God with the support-raising process. I struggled to ask for help and to admit I was scared. Three months went by, and I had barely sent out ten letters. In February 2025, I had my first Zoom call with my fellow interns and our leaders. We started to open up about our fears and the challenges we faced with fundraising. Hearing my teammates share their hearts, and receiving Godly advice from our leaders, deeply encouraged me. I began to surrender my fears to the Lord and trust him with every letter and text I sent. I learned not to say people’s “no” for them; I even made some uncomfortable calls to those who had already donated to the California internship. I still wasn’t completely comfortable asking for financial help. It felt like I was asking people to give their money to me. As spring rolled around, I was drowning in anxiety. There were only a couple of months left, and I had raised only a third of the needed funds. My best friend and teammate set up a meeting for us with our pastor and his wife, who had served as missionaries in Uganda for five years. We asked them questions and answered theirs in return. They walked us through different ways to overcome the awkwardness of asking for support. Though we talked for hours over multiple occasions, I will never forget one thing our pastor said: “When you ask people to donate their money to missions, you aren’t asking them to give it to you. You’re inviting them to be a part of what God is doing.” That moment changed everything. It made so much sense. I realized I had been making it all about me and what I was doing, instead of about God and what he was doing in Slovenia. From then on, my anxiety and fear began to fade. My boldness grew. I no longer felt like I was begging people to support me; I was enthusiastically inviting them to join in what God was doing through this mission. I discovered that meeting with people in person made a huge difference when it came to asking them to give. I also learned the importance of continuing to follow up, even if someone didn’t respond the first time. Follow up, follow up, follow up. It’s the most important part of building a strong support team! It wasn’t until two weeks before the final due date that I had raised all the necessary funds.  Looking back, I wouldn’t have changed that circumstance for the world. The growth I experienced throughout the fundraising process and the community I built were invaluable. The waiting was worth far more than having been a little less stressed before my trip. I’m beyond grateful for the maturity and shift in perspective that support raising gave me—none of which I would have experienced if the Lord had not placed JV, the summer internship, and Slovenia on my heart. If you’re thinking about interning or doing missions, be prepared to grow more than you could ever imagine. Don’t skip the hard parts. They have the potential to be the most formative moments you’ll ever experience. The community you build during support raising will be the people who are praying for you while you are gone.
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Full Circle

Dear Friends, Small decisions can change the course of your entire life. When Szabi was a junior in his high school in the center of Hungary, his best friend kept pestering him with the same question: “Why don’t you come visit our youth group?” Szabi was an expert at finding excuses. “My parents won’t let me” (not true). “I have a lot of homework” (partially true). Finally, he got tired of saying “no,” and one time just said “yes.” To his surprise, the youth group was interesting, especially when Rob, the leader, paid special attention to him in a way he had never experienced before. He decided to go back, and then accepted the invitation to a JV summer English camp. After camp, Rob invited him to McDonald’s. “Do you believe the things we were talking about at camp?” he asked. Szabi nodded yes. Have you ever given your life to Jesus? “No.” “Would you like to?” “Yes.” Simple questions. Life-changing answers.     The next summer, Rob invited Szabi to do an internship with JV, and then to study the Bible in our three-year bachelor’s program. At one of the camps, he met a cute girl from Wisconsin named Maggie. They began a long-distance relationship, and, several years later, Szabi asked her a really big question: “Will you marry me?” Gratefully, for both of them, the answer was “yes.” Just a few days ago, I sat with Szabi and Maggie in a room full of interns at our training center in Malenovice, Czech Republic. They both recently joined JV staff, and Maggie is now taking responsibility for summer interns in Hungary. Sitting at the table with us was Myla, from Louisville, Kentucky, who will be serving under Maggie’s leadership. She is studying sports management at her university, but is giving up her summer to be a light for Jesus in a faraway place. When I asked Maggie what she had learned in her first summer internship, she said, “God ignited a flame in my heart during those short months. He gave me a heart for the young people of Hungary and a passion for them to know Jesus.”     Szabi looked over at her and smiled. He has a life partner because of the decision that she made. But even more than that, he has eternal life because his best friend, Rob, and other college students made small decisions that changed the course of his life. This summer, over 40 interns will be serving with us for three months, sharing the gospel with thousands of young people across Central and Eastern Europe. I wonder what will happen because Myla and 39 others said “yes” to God’s call. Thank you for making this possible through your support and prayers.