October 23rd, 2015 by Zac

We had extra responsibilities for our summer camp interns this summer since the normal intern leader was away. But it’s always fun to get to know these young, eager, mostly American brave-types. They toss their summer working possibilities for the chance to make an impact on the lives of young people in Slovakia. Along with over 100 similar interns in other Josiah Venture countries across Central Europe, they endure some grueling training and then a brutal summer schedule of back to back camps, personal discipleship, evangelism and camp follow up. They are a tough lot who typically get a taste of ministry in Central Europe that doesn’t soon diminish.

We are thankful that God motivates and mobilizes these kinds of servants that play such a critical role in our Summer camping programs. Thank you interns for your sacrifice and love for Slovak youth!! Read the rest of this entry »

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

In the upside-down kingdom of God, things are not as predictable as they might seem. Like, to live, you must die, to lead you must serve, to be rich is to be poor.

Over 700 youth leaders from all over Slovakia gathered for 4 days of intensive challenge about living upside-down.

Kim and I both had seminars and other responsibilities. And Emili participated with her youth group team and as a conference volunteer.

If you have been following the ministry here in Slovakia over the years, you know that KPM keeps growing and growing in it’s strategic influence among youth leaders across the country. It is a real honor to be a part of this influential tool in the youth ministry movement of Slovakia.

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

Our Emili turned 17 in March! She is maturing so beautifully. All of you who have known her over the years would be so proud. Proud not only that she is growing and maturing, but that she lives a strong missionary life from day to day. Recently her class teacher used her as an example of a person who genuinely lives what they believe.

She works hard in her school to cope with learning in a second language. And she struggles hard to keep a healthy balance between school and involvement in ministry. She loves her youth group and constantly volunteers there to do anything from making desserts to washing dishes. She also has a leadership role in the summer English camp. And she manages to lead a weekly discipleship group of girls that she helped lead to Christ.

Now with only two years left of High School, the college search will begin. We are proud of Emili and love to watch what God is doing with her here.

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

Dietrich Bonheoffer said, “Our community with one another exists solely in what Christ has done to BOTH of us”.

Without this starting point of genuine honesty about our own brokenness, real community in the church family will likely be shallow.

This was the topic I was recently invited to speak about at a weekend church retreat in a nearby city called Banska Bystrica.

At one point in the retreat, one new church member (we’ll call him Don) gave his testimony. He was a new believer and had previously been a part of the local mafia gang and had spent several years in prison for numerous crimes. Since he was only a recent convert, the tension in the room was palpable. How would a recently converted criminal find real community in a group of mature Christians in a church? Could it really work?

After Don’s the testimony was over, this question hung in the air. It was a moment of decision for the church family. Would they accept him as a sinner just like them, broken and needing daily grace for every next step? Or would he be looked down on as an outsider, shady criminal type needing some time to make sure he’s got this spiritual experience figured out?

Every church family, small group or ministry has to start with this fundamental principle about the nature of real community.

I haven’t heard if Don found community there in that church family. But it was a helpful time of examination for my own understanding of real community. 

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

For almost 14 years now, we have lived in rented houses in Slovakia. We just moved into our 5^th house in our town last summer. It has been an interesting journey in many ways. We are always reminiscing about when we lived here and there and remembering the details of each place.

But one thing it has not accomplished is helping us to establish home equity. We realize home equity is not essential to survival, but we have begun to wonder if it might be time to consider buying a home here. We have tried this before, but were not able to secure a bank loan here locally. Plus, houses are very expensive here (around $300,000 for a normal family sized house). So we asking you to help us pray about possible options. Here are the options as I see them.

1. By some miracle, we get a home loan here in Slovakia. (not likely)
2. Get a bank loan in the States. Also not likely since property in Slovakia is not accessible as liability to an American bank.
3. We start a house fund and start regular contributions to it over time.
4. Get a personal loan from a willing private person or organization in America. (probably the best option).

Our current owner just told us this week that he is willing to sell the house we are in currently.

So, please help us pray about this issue that we will know God’s plan. And if you have any other ideas, please don’t hesitate to tell us.

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

If you are interested in all that went on at Training Center Kompas last year, you can find it here. This is the annual ministry report we  do each year to highlight and celebrate how the movement of God is growing. It’s also great if you want a general overview of what Kompas is about. It’s an electronic document that is easy to flip through page by page. So, when you have time, celebrate with us what God did in 2014!

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

Fellowship Greenville church in Greenville South Carolina has been a faithful partner of ours since the first day God called us to Slovakia and even before. We are so thankful to this church family who has encouraged us year after year through every twist and turn of our journey.

Last month (May) the missions pastor, Todd DeVaney – Outreach Pastor at FG, paid us a visit. He wanted to see God’s work here first hand and formulate a vision for our future partnership. We thank Fellowship Greenville for sending Todd to us. It was an encouraging time together and we are excited to see what God has planned in our ongoing partnership.

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

We believe the local church is the primary means God has established to reach and grow Jesus followers. So, here at Kompas, we spend a lot of time training church youth ministry teams. This past April, 9 local church teams came together to concentrate on Summer English Camp training. Summer camps are so important in Evangelism in Europe.

Last Summer, over 600 students made decisions to follow Jesus across Central Europe! So, please pray for these teams as they plan and prepare for camps this summer.

March 10th, 2015 by Zac

This report will really encourage you!

At the end of 2014, Josiah Venture took a look back at the past year and also forward to see what lies ahead. This is a compilation of statistics from all of the 14 Josiah Venture countries in Central Europe. Click the picture below to open the readable version.

March 10th, 2015 by Zac

No, we weren’t sure it would work, or help or create some kind of a problem. We are not experts in this field of gypsy ministry. But we knew there was a need and we thought we could help.

In the end we gave Christmas gift boxes into the hands of 32 Roma kids. Stunned is probably the best word I can use to describe the responses. For me it’s a word that captures the surprise, confusion, reluctance and joy all at the same time. They were certainly surprised at our faces at their door the day before Christmas. They were confused about why we would be bringing them such a big gift. They (and their parents) were a bit reluctant to accept the gift, not knowing if it signaled some kind of commitment to our group. But for certain, there was joy at the beautiful coats, shoes, gloves, scarves and toys packed inside each box.

It’s hard to say what kind of lasting impact our efforts made. It’s especially hard to say for sure in these contexts. But one thing is for sure. It filled our hearts with joy to know that we gave our energy, money, time and love to someone else beside ourselves. And that we were obedient to God’s challenge to defend the cause of the poor and needy (Jer 22:16)

For all those of you who helped us buy the gifts with your special donations, we hope the pictures here fill your hearts with joy.