January 30th, 2010 by Zac

Thanks to your generous year end gifts, we are no longer in minus figures in our ministry account at Josiah Venture! In a previous post, (see previous post) I had explained that the global financial crisis had forced some supporters to reduce their monthly giving – creating this shortfall.  So, we would like to say a word of deep thanks to all of you who gave extra or gave special gifts to Josiah Venture in December to bring us to this place. We sincerely appreciate your personal sacrifice and investment into God’s kingdom through us. It certainly made for a happy new year!

At the same time, I have to be honest and say that our debt free status may not last long. In the last year, we have only added one new monthly partner to our support family, from the ten partners (we have mentioned so often) we need to shore up our financial needs. Also, in this condition, we have NOT been able to add back  the $500 salary reduction that we imposed on ourselves last year.

So, please pray for us in this situation. We  really need God to bring those additional 9 monthly partners to us soon.

January 29th, 2010 by Zac

It’s usually the same every week. On Sunday afternoon, “Mr. Jay”, as we’ve nicknamed him, calls me (Zac) on on my cell phone to make sure we’re at home, and within 30 minutes he’s knocking on our door. All the kids run to greet him because they know what this means for them – PLAY TIME! He sword fights, plays computer games, chases, tickles, laughs and jokes. And at some point in the chaos, candy of some kind (usually chocolate) comes out from his pockets for each of our kids.

Dinner together usually follows, prepared with love by my wonderful wife. Then me and Jay find a quiet room for focused time in God’s Word and for prayer.

For some months, Jay has been coming closer and closer to our family and to God. He also is enrolled in our school for youth leaders at Kompas. So, there is always lots to talk about – from theology to Bible study to relationships to ministry.

At present, he is working in his father’s business and is asking God to show him the next steps for his life. He wants to finish his college education and serve God wherever he leads.

It is obvious that God has His hand on Jay and that he has great plans for using him here in Slovakia.

Please pray that Jay will keep growing in God’s wisdom and grace in the days ahead.

November 25th, 2009 by Kim

For the last 6 months we have faced a growing deficit in our financial support. Primarily this is due to the financial crisis in America, which has forced some of our major supporters to decrease their giving. Over these months this deficit has grown to now $5000. Josiah Venture graciously continues to pay our normal salary each month in spite of this growing debt, but the debt still accumulates on our account.

We have tried to be proactive in reducing our monthly salary by $500 per month, and this has certainly helped. But we still have to find additional supporters to replace our losses. So, we are asking God to provide us with 10 new supporters at $50 per month (or 20 at $25). This would bring us back up to sufficient support. However, we also have to repay the $5000 debt we have accumulated over these past months. (And just in case you are wondering, this debt has accumulated from our normal, fixed, monthly salary expenditures. We have not been overspending or buying anything new. It’s simply a matter of a financial support shortfall.)

If God would lead you to begin partnering with us monthly or to help in our situation any any way we would be very grateful. All gifts are tax deductible when given through Josiah Venture, which offers the following options for how to give.

* Mail your monthly check (our name attached on a note) to Josiah Venture at:
P.O. Box 4317
Wheaton, IL 60189-4317

* Create a monthly electronic bank transfer by clicking here and following the instructions.

* Use your credit card to give, by clicking the same link above.

We are grateful for you who faithfully stand behind us here in Slovakia and who have a global view of the kingdom of God.

If you have any questions, please e-mail us (zshepperson@josiahventure.com) or simply pick up the phone and call us at our US number -  864-335-9388.

October 12th, 2009 by Zac

Training Center Kompas published it’s year end report this summer while I was in America. There is a well done, online version that gives a thorough overview of what TCK is all about. Click here – TCK annual report and enjoy reading what God has done in 2008. The report is in both English and Slovak languages. (for a larger report image, right click on any report page and select “open image in new window” – then click again to enlarge).

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October 12th, 2009 by Zac

A new year in our training school for youth leaders has started! This is our largest school ever. Here are the statistics.

* 21 students (We were asking God for 20 students in connection with our 2×3 vision)
* 15 mentors and teachers

* 13 girl students, 8 boys
* 14 local churches represented
* 14 cites in Slovakia represented

Will you pray with us that this year’s students will infuse significant energy into the movement of God among the youth of Slovakia?

October 1st, 2009 by Zac

These were the best and most promising! They were a collection of 160 young leaders from 11 central European countries whom we were entrusting to pass the baton to the next generation. Some of extraordinary appearance, most common, some gregarious, most quiet, some of high school age, some of professional status. But all carefully chosen for this conference because of their gifts and passion to inspire the next generation to walk with God.

The baton represented the process inherent in Christ’s mandate for us to “go and make disciples”. It’s a process of reproducing ourselves (as reflections of Christ) in another person, who can in turn do the same. Read the rest of this entry »

October 1st, 2009 by Zac

This summer, Kompas Training Center coordinated seven English camps, and with God’s power shared His story with over 275 students; 186 of which were unbelievers. After camp, we received the following thoughts from one of the students. I believe this represents the typical pattern of how God begins to move in student’s hearts through the camp experience.

“I came to camp with no idea about Christianity (the reason I came was for the English), but after cam,p my eyes have been opened. Now I can see the option of free choice. I am not saying I am leaving from camp as the Christian, but for sure I am pondering about some stuff I would have not even considered before the camp. It is very difficult to express my thoughts in words, but the truth is that basically as a non- believer I am living just for myself and it does not bring too much satisfaction. The care I experienced at camp fascinates me, thank you. I am still pondering…” – Zilina, SK Read the rest of this entry »

May 15th, 2009 by Kim

Our JV Family

We just returned Sunday from our annual conference in Czech Republic with our extended Josiah Venture family. Here we are all pictured above, big huh? Although it is a very large, it definitely feels like “family”.  All of us are Americans, living in Eastern Europe doing youth ministry. It is a privilege for us to serve alongside these wonderful people.

This conference is something we look forward to each year as well as our kids. It renews both our Spirit and our Soul in teaching and fellowship.

This year (like every year it seems)  we said goodbye to 10 our our co-workers (and their families). It was really hard, however we recognize how richly God has blessed us in our life here. We can’t imagine any other life.

saying goodbye to Ken and Andrea

We are anticipating the arrival of new teammates to Slovakia this fall. A couple and their 5 kids are right now in the States raising support. They are  hoping to be in Slovakia by this Fall!! Praise God for these new friends and ministry partners.

May 13th, 2009 by Kim

You may remember that we have a small group which is made up from young people from last summer’s evangelistic English camp. Here is the latest about our progress.

Out of the 14 students who attended the camp, we still have regular contact with 7. We have added about 5 others to our group. I am discipling one weekly, but we have completely lost 2 who were regulars over this period of time.

From our perspective this feels both positive and negative. Our dream looked much bigger after one year, but we work with what we have in our hands.

Each Thursday, we meet from 5:30 to around 8:30pm. We eat dinner together and then spend time around God’s Word. We have worked through two series’ of material. The first was a 10 week study of basic Bible themes and the other was another 10 week series called “Starting Point”. It is a study for new believers built around the story of God from creation to Eternity.

It has been an up and down journey for sure. One week I am extremely excited about the groups growth and maturity and the next week I couldn’t be more depressed.

But overall, I am grateful that God has kept our new family intact. And our vision is to split our group into at least 3 parts in the Fall in an effort to make space for more of our friends.

Could you please pray for:

1. God to generate his life in the group and attract other to that life.

2. That His Spirit would convince each member of their need for God and His truth.

3. For our plan to divide the group in the Fall – that it will be fruitful and an exciting time of growth.

May 12th, 2009 by Kim

As you can see, we are having to start again from scratch on our Website. We were not able to recover any of the lost information and therefore have “re-created” our site. With this new installation, our picture Gallery isn’t working. I’m still working on this and hope to have it working soon. For now, we’ll try to post more photos in our posts. We’re just glad to be “back” even if it’s not fully (that’s how I feel personally most days anyway