Josiah Venture Stories

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...

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...

Happy New Year! For the month of January, we will be sharing the main talks from our annual 2023 fall conference. The theme was "Lifeline: First Responders and the Anxious Generation." Dave Patty kicked off the conference by talking about the anxious generation and ways we can respond.   Our goal for this conference was to equip youth leaders across the region with practical tools to respond to th...

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and thank you for tuning in to this special Christmas end-of-year episode! This will be short and sweet as host Gwynne Gardner recaps the year, remembers God's faithfulness, and gives you all a few important announcements for the year ahead. Consider this your audio Christmas newsletter from Josiah Venture! Learn more about Josiah Venture  Website:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www....

Kilian Špiess grew up in Germany, and during his childhood, he attended an Evangelical Lutheran Church where he heard about God and faith. At the age of 12, he discovered the heart of the gospel and God's love at a camp, and since then, he has desired to follow Jesus. After years of serving at camps and being discipled, Kilian explored his heart for missions during internships in Manchester and Ch...

Happy Thanksgiving from the JV family! This episode features 12 of our missionaries serving across Central and Eastern Europe ( Diana "DU" Anton - Romania, Wendi Rumbold - Slovakia, Ermal Bimaj - Albania, Katie Humerian - Ukraine, Ross Nielsen - Bulgaria, Ellie Mouchet - Poland, David Kingdon - Latvia, Sarah Ward - Czech Republic, Indrek-Eliel Tambek - Estonia, Trisha Wynn - Slovenia, Kilian Spieß...

Dan and Laura Hash are founding members of Josiah Venture and have served in Poland for 30 years. They live in Mikołów, Poland, and are blessed with a son, Jacob, and his wife, Becca, and granddaughter, Clara, who also serve in Poland with JV. In this episode, you will hear their faith journeys, how they were first connected to Josiah Venture, what life was like in Poland during those early years...

Dr. David Van Dyke, or DVD, serves as Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program and Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at Wheaton College. His areas of expertise are working with adolescents and their families and integration of Christian faith and systems thinking. He's a Fulbright Scholar in Hungary, and he's also started "With U Projects" with his wife Tara. It aims to...

This episode features one of the seven talks from our annual Spring Conference that happened back in May. The theme of this year's conference was "Missional Be-Attitudes." After three years of Covid and an ongoing war in Ukraine, you may feel a bit like a passenger on a plane that has flown through some turbulent air or a sailor on a ship that has sailed through a challenging storm.  After all the...

This episode features one of the seven talks from our annual Spring Conference that happened back in May.   The theme of this year's conference was "Missional Be-Attitudes." After three years of Covid and an ongoing war in Ukraine, you may feel a bit like a passenger on a plane that has flown through some turbulent air or a sailor on a ship that has sailed through a challenging storm.  After all t...

Jonathan Rosen began serving full-time with Josiah Venture in October 2012 after many summer internships in the Czech Republic. He and his wife, Veronika, and their daughter, Hailey, live and serve in the city of Ostrava, where they help lead their local church's high school and young adults' ministries. They also focus on encouraging and equipping youth ministry leaders throughout the city of Ost...

This episode features one of the seven talks from our annual Spring Conference that happened back in May. The theme of this year's conference was "Missional Be-Attitudes." After three years of Covid and an ongoing war in Ukraine, you may feel a bit like a passenger on a plane that has flown through some turbulent air or a sailor on a ship that has sailed through a challenging storm.  After all the...

This episode features one of the seven talks from our annual Spring Conference that happened back in May. The theme of this year's conference was "Missional Be-Attitudes." After three years of Covid and an ongoing war in Ukraine, you may feel a bit like a passenger on a plane that has flown through some turbulent air or a sailor on a ship that has sailed through a challenging storm.  After all the...

This episode features one of the seven talks from our annual Spring Conference that happened back in May. The theme of this year's conference was "Missional Be-Attitudes." After three years of Covid and an ongoing war in Ukraine, you may feel a bit like a passenger on a plane that has flown through some turbulent air or a sailor on a ship that has sailed through a challenging storm.  After all the...

This episode features one of the seven talks from our annual Spring Conference that happened back in May.   The theme of this year's conference was "Missional Be-Attitudes." After three years of Covid and an ongoing war in Ukraine, you may feel a bit like a passenger on a plane that has flown through some turbulent air or a sailor on a ship that has sailed through a challenging storm.  After all t...

This episode features one of the seven talks from our annual Spring Conference that happened back in May. The theme of this year's conference was "Missional Be-Attitudes." After three years of Covid and an ongoing war in Ukraine, you may feel a bit like a passenger on a plane that has flown through some turbulent air or a sailor on a ship that has sailed through a challenging storm.  After all the...

Liam Gaspar recently celebrated five years of service with Josiah Venture in Latvia. He first visited Latvia in 2007 and participated in his first Fusion camp in 2010. Subsequently, Liam returned to Latvia many times and now lives and serves in Liepāja, Latvia. Liam understands the hopelessness experienced by the youth of this region. His heart is to live life with them and share the good news of...

Kate Rankin is originally from Glasgow. She is currently serving as an Extended Summer Intern in Latvia, a country she first visited in 2015. Kate has since served on many missions teams and interned for the first time in 2019.  In this episode, you will hear Kate's journey of faith, how she got connected to Josiah Venture, her heart for the young people of Latvia, what the rest of her internship...

Jonathan Mullins is 21 years old and originally from California. He is currently studying Finance at California State University, Fullerton. He has served twice on Missions Teams to Estonia with his home church, Chino Valley Community Church. In this episode, Jonathan shares his faith journey and his heart for the young people of Estonia. He reflects on the highlights and challenges of Soccer Camp...

Nick Markham is currently serving as a video intern with Josiah Venture's International Communications Team for the summer. He is originally from Massachusetts and recently graduated from Gordon College with a degree in Communication Arts. In this episode, Nick shares his faith journey, how he got connected to Josiah Venture, and when he discovered his love for video. Enjoy this conversation with...

Erin Bowman is originally from Northern Ireland, and this summer, she is serving with the International Communications team in the area of social media. She currently attends Durham University in England and is studying History. She is excited that the UK is one of Josiah Venture's mobilizing countries and for her unique voice and experience to be heard. You will hear her share her faith journey,...

Josh Dietz has lived in the Czech Republic since 2017 and currently lives in Prague with his wife, Anežka, and son, Krištof. He shares about his experience with Fusion, the summer camps ministry, his faith journey, his current role as a regional worker in Prague, and more. Josh and Anežka seek to mentor and lead young leaders in the churches of Prague. Ever wonder who writes the camp talks for all...

This episode is about Fusiondary, an international music festival that gathered 700 young people from 13 different countries to a weekend festival at the end of April, with music, art, and powerful messages about a personal relationship with Jesus. Those participating were young people who are involved in 25 Fusion choirs. While at Fusiondary, I walked around with a microphone and recorded what so...