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June 10, 2024

Edge Games

What makes a boy a man?

Teenage boys love action and adventure, which is often why they are missing in church. Sitting in the pew and listening quietly can be a bit too passive for young men. They gravitate toward competition and sports, preferring to build relationships in the context of activity.

This is one reason why our Edge Sports program has been so effective at reaching teenage boys with the gospel. In most schools in Central and Eastern Europe, the only sports program is an occasional gym class. There are typically no competitive sports, after-school teams, homecoming games, or regional tournaments. The only option to play sports regularly is an expensive club team or a specialized sports high school.

Our Edge ministry equips local churches to step into the gap, starting Edge Sports teams that attract teenagers from unbelieving families. Beginning with just four teams 8 years ago, there are now 101 Edge teams in local churches across the region competing in soccer, floorball, basketball, disc golf, and ultimate frisbee.

Last month, the Josiah Venture Edge staff hosted our first International Edge Games, with 340 participants from nine countries. The young people traveled long distances with their coaches to a sports complex in the Czech Republic, where they competed against each other for the Edge trophy and learned what it means to follow Jesus.

The evening programs centered around the story of the prodigal son, and coaches from Albania, Estonia, Romania, and Czech shared the story of the Father’s love in words that teenagers could understand. Over 70% of the young people there were unbelievers. They heard the good news not just in words but also through mentoring and character training from their believing coaches. Our staff from Hungary brought 11 boys, and five of them went forward with the invitation to put their faith in Christ.

Gabo is from Medigdia, a Romanian town not far from the Black Sea. Since his parents divorced, his home has been far from stable, and he almost couldn’t make the trip to Czech, because his mother headed off to another country with a new boyfriend and didn’t sign his documents. Somehow, they managed to get Gabo across the border without them, and, at Edge Games, Gabo heard about a Father who never leaves, who loves unconditionally, and waits expectantly for his children to return.

After three years of seeing the gospel lived before him through his Edge team and coach, Gabo put his faith in Jesus at Edge Games. Now he is attending church regularly and preparing to be baptized.

It takes good fathering to make a boy a man, and only one Father can fill the vacuum experienced by so many teenage boys. When that Father’s heart is modeled week after week by coaches who love them, the entire course of a life can be changed.

Thanks for helping us bring the good news to young people who need to find their way home.

Thank you,

Dave Patty
President, Josiah Venture

Dave Patty President

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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