Sheppersons in Slovakia

In October, I wrote concerning our financial situation in two areas. In the first area, (which was a $3000 shortfall in our ministry account) God has faithfully responded through many of our wonderful friends. We can’t thank them enough for their sacrificial response to this need! In one short month, we are back in the black now! We want to thank everyone who not only gave monetarily, but also those who commited to praying for this for us.

In the second area, (the falling dollar value) the dollar has continued in a free fall on the world market. We have lost another 3 whole points since I last wrote. Each point lost represents $126 off our paycheck. So, that’s around $375 lost from each paycheck each month, at the current dollar rate.

Please help us pray for this extreme decrease in the value of the dollar. It is the lowest we have ever seen it (and felt it) in the 5 years we’ve been here. Without it’s return to a higher rate, we will continue to need even more additional monthly support just to make up for these losses.

We are so thankful for one new partner who responded to our need last month. Our current need still remains for 7 new supporters at $50 per month or 3 at $100 per month, to make up for this drop in the dollar.

Please help us pray for the addition of new supporters or if God challenges you to help us in this area of need, please contact us at our e-mail zshepperson@josiahventure.com or simply send a note (with you check) expressing your willingness to be a monthly partner with us to:

Josiah Venture
PO Box 4317
Wheaton, IL 60189-4317

It’s already been 8 weeks since we found out the good news that Kim is pregnant with a new baby - due in mid June! We are very excited every time we think of another bundle of joy in our arms. The girls are excited as well, but only under the condition that it’s NOT another boy, who bites and hits. Samuel Green is already speculating on names such as Buzz or Woody (like his favorite cartoon characters).

On the downside, Kim has been more sick than with any of the other children. And she still is battling daily with sickness all day and all night. So, it has been extremely hard for her to manage her normal schedule under these conditions.

Our plans were to be in the States this summer. So we are trying to figure out what location would be best for the birth. There are downsides to both: having it in the US, while were traveling and staying in various different homes. We find ourselves asking, Where? Where would we stay? Where would we go to the doctor? And we if stay in SK (like when Samuel Green was born), then we miss out on a scheduled time to be home (which everyone needs).

Please celebrate this new life with us and pray that we would know clearly God’s plan for the birthplace and the details that accompany.

We asked you to pray for the kick off of Déčko in October. And we are excited to report that it was a real great start! There were plenty of new families with children who came over the course of the 4 Sunday series. It was a very professional program with a clear message of the truth of God’s word. (more…)

Maybe you recall that one of my (Zac) responsibilities here is the production of youth leader resource materials in the Slovak language. Over the last 3 years, we have produced hundreds of pages of written materials as well as multimedia resources on cd (called davka). In the coming 3 months, we are excited about a project that will move all our present resources to the internet. For years we have dreamed of such a move, but have always felt like the web was not yet accessable enough to the average slovak youth leader… until now!

The whole project will cost $2000. This price will include every aspect of development, from the site planning to page designs to the transferring of data. Ths is a great price for a project of this magnitude! So, we are looking for donors who would be willing to invest in this strategic project development. Or maybe you are simply looking of a worthy tax break. Whatever the case, we would ask that you consider being a strategic partner in this project. (more…)