January 25, 2022

Anything and Everything

At the end of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi, he says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

The Josiah Venture team has practiced this kind of prayer for five years, bringing anything and everything into the Josiah Venture Prayer Room. This hub, available online and through iPhone and Android apps, allows our team and people worldwide to join in praying for specific needs our team is experiencing.

Right now, there are requests in the Prayer Room for the salvation of specific young people and for the growth of new believers who met Jesus at camps this summer.

A teammate in Ukraine is asking for God’s provision of a new van for ministry on the eastern side of Ukraine, where war is still a daily reality. Another teammate in Romania battling cancer is asking for God’s healing and provision for his family as he endures this trial.

Our team in Latvia is praying for open doors to work with youth leaders in Russian-speaking churches, and, in Hungary, the team is praying for the development of Edge sports through soccer.

At any given time, there are over 100 current requests in the Prayer Room for JV events, countries, and ministry highways, as well as personal requests from the missionaries themselves.

Over the past five years, the Josiah Venture team has posted more than 4400 prayer requests, putting into practice Paul’s admonition to pray about everything.

What have been the results of lifting up these requests in prayer?

Before we answer this question, consider that an essential aspect of time spent in prayer is its impact on our relationship with God. When we fix our eyes on him, whether that’s in adoration, confession, thanksgiving, or making requests, we deepen our trust, love, and confidence in him. This is a vital part of the Prayer Room experience.

But God has also answered many of our requests. During the past five years, the JV team has posted more than 3800 answers to prayer. Many students have come to know Jesus, new youth ministries have begun, believers’ lives have been transformed, and needs of all kinds have been met, thanks to the Lord’s intervention through people’s prayers.

If you look at the Answered Prayer section of the Prayer Room website, there is no doubt you’ll be encouraged by what God is doing across Central and Eastern Europe as we pray for his movement in this area of the world.

Why does God tell us to bring everything and anything to him in prayer?

We get to know him as we tune into his heart and recognize our frailty and his greatness. It allows us to exercise our faith in God while, at the same time, helping us to bend our will to his. And one of the most exciting parts of prayer is partnering with him and seeing his will accomplished!

The Josiah Venture team also recognizes that no movement of God is fueled without prayer. So, it is also an act of obedience to both petition him for his work in the lives of young people and for how he wants to expand his Kingdom across this region of the world.

Join us in the Prayer Room, online or on a mobile app, to pray for his movement across Central and Eastern Europe through the Josiah Venture team!

Connie Patty

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A Thanksgiving Challenge and Promise

Philippians 4:4-7 states, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Two things stand out to me from this verse: a challenge and a promise. The Challenge: Christians are commanded to not be anxious about anything. Instead, we are to be thankful. Paul wrote this letter as he was in prison, preparing for his martyrdom. He acknowledged that his entire ministry was in the Lord’s power and he had nothing to be anxious about. Furthermore, his friends were not supposed to be anxious either. Rather, they were to thank the Lord for his provision and truth. In this situation, Paul was not instructing his friends to deny that there was hardship. He admitted that there would be pain in the future. However, with that, the Church was to devote all troubles to the Lord. How would this play out in a modern Thanksgiving Day context? Jenny Llamas was born in the Czech Republic, so she did not grow up with Thanksgiving. Landen, her American husband, did and has had so much fun introducing the holiday to her. From American football to turkey trots to sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, Landen and Jenny love getting to spend Thanksgiving either with their family or at Josiah Venture’s conference center in Malenovice, Czech with Josiah Venture missionaries. One challenge for Jenny, though, has been when people are asked to share what they are thankful for. It’s not the mental search for thankfulness that’s difficult for Jenny. Instead, it’s all the other thoughts that come to her mind too. It’s “the hard things in my life that sometimes even seem louder than the things I’m thankful for,” Jenny said. During these times, she wants to find ways to process and acknowledge times of hardship while also remaining thankful. So, how does Jenny do that when she is reminded of hard times during Thanksgiving? How does she process both pain and thankfulness? Jenny’s favorite part of Thanksgiving is the meal preparation. She has her own quiet time in the kitchen. As she experiments with all sorts of traditional American recipes, she reflects on how God has worked in her life over the past year. She recalls the exciting times of blossoming relationships with friends and the painful memories of things uncertain and hurtful. It’s in these moments that Jenny brings everything to God, both the good and the bad. That’s where the promise of Philippians comes into play. The Promise: In response to giving thanks, the Lord will surround us with his peace. When we submit to the Lord in thanksgiving, he places a spiritual shield around our hearts and minds. He takes us out of a state of fear and provides us with the ability to give thanks in all circumstances. When the meal preparation is complete and Jenny steps out to celebrate with friends, she reminds herself that God wants her to have peace. God has given her a spiritual family with whom she can process heartache and pain. He also provides her with the time to journal, writing down her thoughts as a way of acknowledging hardship and giving it to the Lord. Then, he gives her rest. “I say a quick prayer to the God who sees me,” she said. “I give myself permission to rejoice in what God has done and … take a break from the hard things knowing that God sees them and he holds them.” This Thanksgiving, I invite you to recognize the trials in your life and give them over completely to God. Replace the state of anxiety with the action of thankfulness, preparing your heart for worship as we enter into this holiday season. “The Lord is at hand.” (Phil. 4:5b)

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You’re Not Alone in the Battle

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Dear Friends, Faith has an unexpected ripple effect. In October of 1955, a 27-year-old woman named Margaret Olsen boarded a Norwegian freighter bound for the Philippines. While a grad student at Bible college, she heard a young missionary named Dick speak about his ministry to the military. Over the next couple of years, she saw him again at a few conferences and was later invited to visit him, along with her mom, for a week as his ship was delayed. He was moving to Subic Bay, Philippines, to establish a ministry to U.S. sailors stationed there after the war. After this brief time together, they continued to communicate through letters, and then a tape came in the mail with a marriage proposal. After prayer and counsel, Margaret accepted, and now she was on her way to marry him. It was a huge step of faith. Her future husband was far away, and so much was unknown. Before leaving, she had managed to gather just $150 in monthly support and donations of supplies for the new servicemen’s center Dick had opened. Standing with her dad and nephew beside the ship, she clutched a portable Singer sewing machine that provided her passage. It was an unusual ticket, but the captain of the ship had agreed to take on one more passenger if she would work her way across the ocean, mending uniforms, bedding, and flags, washing dishes, and scrubbing floors. Before this bold change of direction, she worked a steady job as a registered nurse. But when she gave her life to Christ at the age of 12, Margaret decided that following Jesus wherever he led was worth more than safety, stability, or a career. Now she headed into challenge and uncertainty, anchored only by the promises of God. Two weeks after they were married, she was learning to cook as she fed 60 hungry Sailors who gathered in their home for food and Bible study. It was more difficult than she imagined, yet her steady faith enabled her to view the challenges of long hours of work, heat, and an unfamiliar culture through the lens of God’s sovereignty and loving care. Six years later, I was born in the Philippines, the second child of Dick and Margaret Patty. Throughout my early years as a child, I was surrounded by fruitful ministry to the military. Then, our family moved to Denver as my dad became the director of the mission. In each of these places, daily examples of a life of faith filled our home. Courage, trust, thankfulness, sacrifice, and investment in the lives of others were consistently demonstrated through small acts of kindness and large steps of obedience. A year ago this month, my mom graduated to Glory at the age of 96, preceded just three years earlier by my dad. As I reflect on her passing, I think of the 27-year-old holding a sewing machine as she boarded a ship, confident in the future because she trusted in Jesus. And I realize that Josiah Venture would not exist today if it were not for that young woman’s example of faith. Many of you are also quiet heroes. What unexpected impact is rippling out of your steps of faith? Grateful for each of you, Dave Patty President, Josiah Venture