Josiah Venture Stories

Part 2 of Fall Conference interviews!   Please enjoy getting to know these guests:   1. Diana from Ukraine , interviewed by Tadej from Slovenia 2. Lote from Latvia , interviewed by Tadej from Slovenia 3. Katka from Slovenia , interviewed by Tadej from Slovenia 4. Adina from Romania , interviewed by Tadej from Slovenia 5. Andre from Romania , interviewed by Kate from the USA 6. Nia from Bulgaria ,...

Part 1 of Fall Conference interviews! Please enjoy getting to know these guests: Valere from Montenegro/France, interviewed by Gwynne Tom from the Czech Republic, interviewed by Gwynne Adka from Slovakia, interviewed by Gwynne Kate from the USA, interviewed by Tadej from Slovenia   Amazing things happen when 400+ youth leaders from 21 countries come together to dive into God's Word! The Josiah Ven...

New teaching podcast!  🎙️ The theme of our 2024 annual Spring Conference was "EMPOWERED" - releasing the power of God in your life and ministry.⁠ Back in May, 300 2nd—and 3rd-culture missionaries gathered at Malenovice, Czech Republic, to be refreshed and encouraged. ⁠ When Jesus gave his disciples the charge to spread his good news to the entire world, he told them that they needed power from on...

New teaching podcast!  🎙️ The theme of our 2024 annual Spring Conference was "EMPOWERED" - releasing the power of God in your life and ministry.⁠ Back in May, 300 2nd—and 3rd-culture missionaries gathered at Malenovice, Czech Republic, to be refreshed and encouraged. ⁠ When Jesus gave his disciples the charge to spread his good news to the entire world, he told them that they needed power from on...

New teaching podcast!  🎙️ The theme of our 2024 annual Spring Conference was "EMPOWERED" - releasing the power of God in your life and ministry.⁠ Back in May, 300 2nd—and 3rd-culture missionaries gathered at Malenovice, Czech Republic, to be refreshed and encouraged. ⁠ When Jesus gave his disciples the charge to spread his good news to the entire world, he told them that they needed power from on...

New teaching podcast! 🎙️ The theme of our 2024 annual Spring Conference was "EMPOWERED" - releasing the power of God in your life and ministry.⁠ Back in May, 300 2nd—and 3rd-culture missionaries gathered at Malenovice, Czech Republic, to be refreshed and encouraged. ⁠ When Jesus gave his disciples the charge to spread his good news to the entire world, he told them that they needed power from on h...

New teaching podcast! 🎙️ The theme of our 2024 annual Spring Conference was "EMPOWERED" - releasing the power of God in your life and ministry.⁠ Back in May, 300 2nd—and 3rd-culture missionaries gathered at Malenovice, Czech Republic, to be refreshed and encouraged. ⁠ When Jesus gave his disciples the charge to spread his good news to the entire world, he told them that they needed power from on h...

New teaching podcast! 🎙️ The theme of our 2024 annual Spring Conference was "EMPOWERED" - releasing the power of God in your life and ministry.⁠ Back in May, 300 2nd—and 3rd-culture missionaries gathered at Malenovice, Czech Republic, to be refreshed and encouraged. ⁠ When Jesus gave his disciples the charge to spread his good news to the entire world, he told them that they needed power from on h...

In this special 100th episode of Josiah Venture Stories, host Gwynne Gardner interviews Josiah Venture alumni Lauree Austin. Originally from Boring, Oregon, Lauree now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, working as a DJ for K Love radio. During the conversation, Lauree recounts her unexpected journey from the U.S. to serve with Josiah Venture in the Czech Republic, her diverse roles and experiences, an...

Amy Moore has led and served on short-term mission teams to Slovenia for the past eight years.  She lives in Nashville, TN, where she works as the Director of Connections for Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, TN. Amy's deep love for youth ministry and her extensive experience volunteering with her church's student ministry sparked her passion for Josiah Venture's vision and mission. In this ep...

Josh Nelson grew up in Hawaii and was first connected with Josiah Venture through a trip with Moody Bible Institute. He has lived and served in the Czech Republic for 12 years and lives in Ostrava with his wife, Zuzi, and their daughter, Valentina. Josh and Zuzi serve together on the Camps team, equipping local Czech churches, mission Teams, and interns to reach out to their communities. In additi...

Julia Budd has been the International Summer Ministry Coordinator for Josiah Venture since 2021. She first came to the Czech Republic in 2013 as an intern. That summer, she saw how camps could be a powerful tool for discipleship as young people encountered Jesus for the first time and young leaders grew as disciple-makers in their local churches. Her internship, semester in Lithuania, and short-te...

Dóra Klauz, known to many as Dorka, was born and raised in Hungary. She serves in a youth group in Győr and has been a Hungarian Summer intern three times. A Formission graduate, Dorka now works part-time with the new Research Institute of Josiah Venture and manages the JVHungary Instagram account. She loves traveling and learning about new cultures and is constantly seeking new experiences and kn...

Summers are always exciting throughout the 16 Central and Eastern European countries Josiah Venture is located in as local churches prepare for camps and missions teams to arrive. Another cause for all the excitement is our summer internship program. Each summer, we invite college students and young adults who love Jesus and want to share the gospel with others to join us to help impact the next g...

Ranno Seppel has worked with Koma, Josiah Venture's partner organization in Estonia, since Fall 2017. He has been the Edge Sports Director there for four years and has been involved in soccer camps for eight years. He recently accepted the Director of Edge Sports International role, which is very exciting! He desires to equip churches and leaders to use sports as a tool in their youth ministries....

This episode is all about Sports! The first-ever EDGE GAMES International sports tournament was recently held in Rumburk, Czech Republic. 340 people from 9 Central and Eastern European countries gathered to compete in floorball, football, or soccer for all Americans listening. The EDGE SPORTS ministry currently involves 1000 young people and tends to impact teenagers more deeply than typical tradi...

Bartek Wilkosz has been a Josiah Venture missionary in Poland for three years. His first involvement with Josiah Venture was in 2014 when he participated in a camp called Growth Academy, organized by El Dorado—one of JV Poland's national projects. El Dorado's activities aim to help young people discover Christ and his calling for their lives and equip teenage leaders to serve in their local youth...

Tino Peste and his wife live and serve in Constanta, Romania. Tino met and married Cristiana while they were studying theology in their country's capital and attending the same church. After finishing their education, both felt God's calling to serve the young generation in Constanta. They have two girls, Amanda & Haria. They believe that the best way to serve the church of today is actually to se...

This episode features three individuals who are bringing the gospel to today's public square of social media and powerful online platforms. Alex Ralevic is a 16-year-old Serbian with over 40k followers on TikTok. He made his first video on a broken phone, using an orange as a stand. Janči Máhrik is a pastor in Slovakia and has a podcast in Slovak called "Zabudnuté Cesty," which translates to "Forg...

Paul Williams serves as the Vice President of Finance and operations for Josiah Venture. In this capacity, he works alongside the President and other executive team members to provide leadership, support, and strategic thinking in JV's operations. Paul lives in the Czech Republic with his wife, Molli, and their daughter Mae. They have three additional young adult children (Tate, Claire, and Grant)...

Zuzi Džubakovska decided to follow Jesus when she was 10 years old at a camp organized by Child Evangelism Fellowship. Since then, her life has been one big adventure. During her management studies, she started working in business and continued in marketing and customer success for a few years. Meanwhile, she served in her home church—Bratislava City Church—where she became a member of the worship...

Liuda Rubtsova has served at her church in Lviv for 10 years and recently joined Epokha, JV's national organization in Ukraine. She currently coordinates the work of the Communication Team in Ukraine and strives to capture and tell the stories of God's amazing work, even amidst the war.  She is one of the key youth leaders at her church, serves on the worship team, and participates on the church c...

Ben Robertson and his family have lived and served in the Czech Republic for five years now. Ben met his wife, Sarah, in 2012 while they were both serving as Josiah Venture summer interns in the Czech Republic. During that experience, they developed a deep desire to serve full-time in Czech as they witnessed young people being deeply impacted by Jesus. Ben and Sarah now live in Ústí nad Labem with...

For the month of January, we invite you to listen to the main talks from our annual 2023 fall conference. The theme was "Lifeline: First Responders and the Anxious Generation." We brought in Dr. David Van Dyke, a marriage and family therapist, and professor at Wheaton College, to speak and train us all in what it looks like to be like Jesus for people in need. Our goal was to equip youth leaders a...

For the month of January, we invite you to listen to the main talks from our annual 2023 fall conference. The theme was "Lifeline: First Responders and the Anxious Generation." We brought in Dr. David Van Dyke, a marriage and family therapist, and professor at Wheaton College, to speak and train us all in what it looks like to be like Jesus for people in need. Our goal was to equip youth leaders a...