Josiah Venture Stories

Shelby Flowers is the Director of Fusion International and is passionate about helping young people use their gifts and talents for the Kingdom.  She first traveled to the Czech Republic in 2010 to serve at a Fusion camp with a short-term team. She quickly realized that her relationship with Czech would never be "short-term." The way music works as a tool to build relationships and connect people...

Rob Chestnut loves the hero's journey: Frodo and the ring, Luke becoming a Jedi, Harry Potter, the Avengers, etc. In this episode, he shares all about his journey of faith, his identity as a Josiah Venture missionary, what he is doing now with the Training Team, and his love for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Rob and his wife Audrey served with Josiah Venture from 2011-2016, working with the Eng...

Surprise! We have a special bonus episode of the "Josiah Venture Stories" podcast for you! This episode was recorded at the annual Josiah Venture Kids Camp that happened in August and features 6 JVK of various ages. Enjoy hearing the young JV voices of Gage, Kinsley, Caden, Tanash, Caleb, and Isabelle. They talk about what they love about being a JVK and what they enjoy about JVK camp. They share...

Joe Brooks is an American missionary living in Latvia. He went on his first Josiah Venture mission trip to Latvia as a high school student back in 2001. Later, he came back three more times as a JV summer intern. These summer trips had a profound effect on his faith and changed the direction of his life. Consequently, after graduating from BIOLA in 2007, he decided to move to Latvia. Once there, h...

Hannah Hartman is a JVK alumnus and third culture kid! She just started her second year of college in Massachusetts at Gordon College. She is the oldest of four and moved to the Czech Republic with her family when she was nine years old. She has navigated learning a new language, attending school in her second language, and successfully graduating.  In this episode you will hear her talk about the...

Do you know what a TCK is? Claire Patty grew up in the Czech Republic with her family as a TCK, Third Culture Kid, and from a young age was impacted by being raised in a cross-cultural setting and seeing the gospel transform lives. After graduating from a Czech national school, she moved to Chicago to begin her studies in Children's ministry at Moody Bible Institute. During her years at Moody, God...

Noah Ellenwood was only two years old when his family moved to the Czech Republic. He grew up as a JVK, a Josiah Venture Kid, more commonly known as a Third Culture Kid. He and his wife, Jill, were called to join the movement of God in Montenegro and moved there in January of 2020, yes, right before the pandemic hit. Noah is now the team leader there, and they are pioneering the way as they are th...

Ion Matei is from Moldova, a small but beautiful country. He is a soccer coach and trainer and is developing a Josiah Venture Edge Sports evangelistic soccer league. Currently, he is the only Josiah Venture Missionary in Moldova. He became a believer at the age of 22 and joined a local church, where he found fellowship and community. He aspires to empower young people to make disciples and to conn...

Dave Patty is the founder and president of Josiah Venture. He and his wife, Connie, have lived in the Czech Republic for 28 years. He is an incredible visionary, the author of the book "Father God", an inspiring speaker, and a faithful servant of the Lord. He is a man of deep conviction and passion and has seen the Lord work in awesome ways. In this episode, he shares his favorite movie, the books...

Lyubov Zheleva is an amazing woman of God and an inspiration as she serves as a youth leader in her local church in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. She has served as a JV intern and is now on staff as the Summer Ministry Director in her country. She has a heart and passion to see young leaders reach their potential in Christ and is already a witness of how the movement of God is transforming Bulgaria. In t...

Get ready for a fun interview with the one and only Chris Loux! He is originally from "the diamond of the South" - Arkansas, but has lived and served in Lviv, Ukraine, for the past five years. He has served as an intern multiple times, has led teams of interns, and now serves as the summer camps director for the team in Ukraine. He is also one of the most hilarious people and amazing story tellers...

Rachael Davison is originally from Northern Ireland, but has called the Czech Republic home for the past eight years. She first heard about Josiah Venture from her youth pastor and came out on four short-term mission teams before serving as a summer intern leader in 2012. She now works on the JV International Team as the International Summer Ministry Director, so she knows all there is to know abo...

Urh Kolar is a national missionary in his hometown of Celje, Slovenia. He was first introduced to Josiah Venture, camps, and Jesus in 2013. He has gone from unbeliever to on fire for Jesus. His testimony and the way the Lord has transformed his life is truly remarkable. He has been on staff for 3 years and is currently the Director of the Communications team in Slovenia and is highly involved in h...

Connie Patty is the wife of Dave Patty, the founder and President of Josiah Venture. She has lived in the Czech Republic for 27 years and has a deep passion for the Lord and is an incredible prayer warrior. She launched the Josiah Venture online Prayer Room 5 years ago, and now there is even a prayer room app that you can download right on your phone. Enjoy this wonderful conversation with Connie...

For the first-ever Josiah Venture Stories podcast, Mel Ellenwood, Vice President of Josiah Venture and missionary of 23 years, talks about how God called him and his family to the mission field. He shares about his experience with summer camps ministry, making disciples, and how to make the local church thrive. He also shares the Vision and Mission of Josiah Venture and our five Core Values.   Vis...