Dear Friends, 

A long obedience in the same direction.

These simple instructions are the challenging recipe for disciple making. In our age of immediate results, the follower of Jesus must remember that lasting transformation comes only through persevering obedience.

JV missionary Rachael Davison was visiting a camp in Czech this summer when she realized that one of the camp leaders looked somehow familiar. Probing further, she discovered that he had been in her English class at a camp in 2012. That was his fifth camp, and it took three more years before he put his faith in Christ. But today, he is faithfully serving the youth group and sharing the gospel with many others. Reaching him took a long obedience.

Last year, Korbin Miller spent a number of days in public schools, inviting young people to their summer camp. Only one, a boy named Mateusz came, but he put his faith in Christ. Keeping his faith alive as a young believer took a lot of care, but Korbin invested in him personally every week, pointing him to the Word of God and teaching him to follow Jesus. This year, Mateusz invited four of his classmates to camp. Three of them came and two put their faith in Christ. The gospel is spreading, but equipping Mateusz took a long obedience.

Petr Michalcik is a gifted Slovak leader who could be drawing a large salary in the business world. Instead he lives with his wife in a tiny apartment and works long hours to share Christ with young people in public schools through a JV ministry called “Exit Tour.” Recently, he moved back to the town he grew up in and now has the opportunity to reach the school where he attended as a child. Sometimes he meets former classmates and they can’t understand why he works such long hours with so little pay. But Petr knows that nothing of value comes without sacrifice and long obedience in the same direction.

Josiah Venture staff serve in a spiritually dark area of the world with a small evangelical church. In some of our JV countries as few as one in a thousand (0.1%) are evangelical believers. It takes perseverance and faith to advance the kingdom, but we know the pearl of great price is worth selling everything to gain.

Thanks for joining us in a long obedience,