Dear Friends, 

There are plenty of reasons to say “no.”

Runaway inflation is taking the world by storm, after an unprecedented global pandemic, while we watch a brutal war unfold in Ukraine. In these conditions, most people would batten the hatches and minimize their risks.

Forty-one college students are doing just the opposite. In early January, they signed up for a Josiah Venture (JV) summer internship and raised their financial support in the thick of growing uncertainty. This month, they gathered at our training center in Czech for a week of intensive preparation and are now fanning out across 12 countries to lead summer evangelistic camps for thousands of young people.

It takes special courage to press forward when most are holding back. Each one of these young people has that precious persevering faith.

Madie came to Europe as a high school student in 2017 and 2018 on a short-term team from Wisconsin with her youth leaders, Ben and Sarah. In the years since then, Ben and Sarah have become full-time staff with JV in Czech; Madie is now giving her entire summer to join them in ministry.

Aďka studies at a university in Bratislava and has been deeply impacted by the leadership training programs that JV leads in her home country of Slovakia. When she heard about the needs in the post-communist eastern region of Germany, she raised support to serve young people there as part of a team of five summer interns leading camps and outreach activities.

Szabi disciples young people in his youth group in Győr, Hungary and just finished his second year as a student of theology. After seeing young lives changed in his local youth ministry, he decided to invest in other churches and youth groups in Hungary this summer so that many others could hear the good news.

Young Europeans outnumber Americans on our intern team this year, with 26 coming from central and eastern Europe and just 17 from the United States. In addition, our Ukraine team is working hard on our next phase of response to the war in Ukraine. Their goal is to reach several thousand Ukrainian teenagers and children through summer camps, both in the western part of Ukraine and in seven surrounding countries where refugees have fled.

The conditions in this region continue to be turbulent and unpredictable and the needs are unprecedented. Yet, in our “Help Ukraine” response, as well as in the 73 outreach camps the JV team will lead this summer, we know that our Lord responds to persevering faith.

Thank you for saying “yes” with us.