Envisioning the day...

We received a beautiful email from Friedemann Volke, the pastor of the German church we will be joining upon our arrival. He told us about a work day at their daughter-church, working to finish some rooms in the building. He says that as he looks at the rooms which are still filled with construction material and covered in dirt, he envisions us doing youth ministry training there one day. (I hope not too much of the sentiment is lost in translation.)

Together with another church, they have also begun preparations for next summer's church camps - their theme: Robin Hood (seems to focus on standing up for what is right). Currently, their camps are for a young audience: 9-12 year olds, and 12-15 year old. We join Friedemann in his hopes that we will be able to add an English camp for high school age students during the summer of 2013.

To be a part of making that happen, go to www.josiahventure.com/give/people/191 and please remember to pray for us!

To read more about Josiah Venture's youth ministry training programs in Eastern Europe, click here.
To read more about English camps, click here and consider reading some of these JV blogs about last summer's camps:
            Collision with Christ
            What is JV Doing This Summer
            An Unlikely Story

And for your personal enjoyment, here is a banner for the Leipzig church summer camp:

Are you excited?

I love this commercial because it reminds me of how excited I am about being a part of God's kingdom work. How about you? Are you the guy who can't contain his excitement or the one wondering what's wrong with him? I hope that all of us will be contagiously excited about being a part of God's plan for His people.

This commercial also expresses how absolutely psyched Joel and I are about the opportunity to go to Eastern Germany with Josiah Venture. We can't wait to be a part of what God is doing among the young people in Leipzig!

Would you continue to pray for us as we prepare to go? We are still in need of much financial support, so would you remember us in your year-end giving and your financial plans for 2012? And when you become a part of our team through prayer and/or financial support, I hope you get just as psyched about what God is doing through you in former East Germany!

Our Future Church Home

We are excited to tell you that the "EFG Jacobsstrasse" has agreed to be our church home in Germany. They were one of the churches we visited a year ago on our second vision trip around Southeastern Germany.

This congregation has been faithfully praying for us and about having us join them. Their pastor, Friedemann, passes along updates about our progress regularly and has been a very helpful resource as well as a new friend to us. The church had send Friedemann to ask us about joining around the same time as we asked him the same thing. Only God's timing is so perfect.

When we visited we were excited about the church's involvement with young people, their cooperation with other area churches (very common strength among German churches), as well as the potential of their facility and church grounds (including a small adjacent soccer field, an apartment set up for missions trip visitors, and central location of the church).

The EFG Jacobsstrasse also has a daughter-church (church plant) in nearby Schkeuditz, still without a youth group. We hope that, as our team grows, we will be able to send a team member or family to start a youth group at this church plant.

EFG stands for Evangelische Freikirchliche Gemeinde, and this denomination is a part of the German Baptist Church.

Welcome, Carrie and George!

We are very excited to announce that our close friends Carrie and George Vera are now officially a part of the JV Eastern Germany team.
A little over a year ago, God first laid on their hearts to consider joining us and Josiah Venture in former East Germany. As it became more clear to them that God was opening doors and calling them to full time mission work, they began conversations with Josiah Venture and - as you already know from a previous blog update - they were able to attend Josiah Venture's spring conference in the Czech Republic in May. They completed their application process over the summer and are now officially accepted. It happened just in time for Josiah Venture's fall orientation, which they were able to attend last week.
George and Carrie have a heart for reaching young people for Christ and have worked with youth in various settings. We believe our personalities and areas of strength will complement each other and make us a good team. George and Carrie have a 20 months old daughter and are expecting their second child in March of 2012. They are now also in the process of raising support in hopes to move to Eastern Germany by next fall.
We will keep you updated as their profile goes up on the Josiah Venture website. Would you pray for them as they prepare to move overseas and raise support? Would you prayerfully consider supporting both of our families and the Josiah Venture ministry in Eastern Germany?
Please, also pray for us as we still hope to recruit more team members even while we are still in the support raising process. Thank you for your support.

The 30/30 Sleep Talk Challenge!

So, Joel sleep talks!

This morning as Eliana and I were getting up, Joel's head pops off the pillow and he explains to us, "Also, when you think youth ministry, think ages 13-30.." He trailed off when he realized we already know this :-)


It's part of his usual explanation about the Josiah Venture ministry, going into detail on the word "youth" in Josiah Venture's vision statement: 
A movement of God among the YOUTH of Eastern Europe that finds its home in the local church and transforms society.

Now that was his first time talking in his sleep about fundraising but how often does he talk in his sleep??

Oh, if we had a dollar for every time Joel sleep talks!!

Seriously! Are you willing to give us a dollar for every night Joel sleep talks? That pretty much comes to $30 a month.

We are looking for 30 people to support the JV ministry in Eastern Germany at $30/month. Will you be one of them? 

You know, sometimes Joel talks in his sleep multiple times a night, so if you are able, consider supporting us at $60, $90, or $120 a month. Thank you for helping us get overseas!

You can give to our ministry at: https://www.josiahventure.com/give/people/191


Still got questions about our ministry?
Email us at jhopkins@josiahventure.com or ehopkins@josiahventure.com

Church Supprt

This past weekend, we had the chance to visit a church very dear to my heart: Fellowship Chapel of Bolingbrook. This is where I (Ellen) became a believer in 2000. We were invited to speak about our missions plans in Sunday School and Joel preached during the service.

Please, continue to pray for us as we visit churches we have been involved with in the past to seek support for our missions plans. This fall, while Joel and I are both working part time, we are focusing on raising support. Our hope and goal is to raise 100% by the end of the year. Are you able to help us reach our goal?

Back from English Camp

Joel and our youth group returned safely from the Czech Republic last Wednesday. Thank you for your prayers.

Our youth group helped to put on an English camp for Czech believers and unbelievers. Our group was stretched as their taught English, made new friends, and shared their faith with peers from a different culture. Every one of them loved their experience.

To find out more about how Josiah Venture English Camps work, check out Dave Patty's latest blog:
http://www.josiahventure.com/blog/what-is-jv-doing-this-summer/

Website Addition

Check out the brand new Eastern Germany tab to learn more about the area we are planning to move to. Pray for us as we get the first team together to go.
http://www.josiahventure.com/people-and-places/eastern-germany

English Camp

The Czech English camp our youth group is participating in has started today. Please, pray for them this week. Pray for opportunities, courage, unity, and maturity. Also, pray for Joel who has been asked to preach at one of the Czech churches a week from this Sunday.

Missions Trip

Joel and our high school youth group Quest left today for a two and a half week missions trip to a Josiah Venture English Camp in the Czech Republic. Please pray for safety while they are traveling, courage and opportunity for our students, and open hearts for those they are ministering to.
Also, pray for Eliana and I while we wait at home for Daddy to come back :-)

Support Letter

Our support letter will be sent soon. If we don't have your address yet, could you send it to us at ehopkins@josiahventure.com?

Divine Lessons by Eliana

Being Eliana's mother is teaching me so  much about God and His relationship with us. I have found these lessons too rich not to share. So here we go:

#1: Love Beyond Words
The first and most powerful lesson I have learned from being Eliana's mother is the incredible amount of love I have for her. All the words in the world will fail to adequately describe how I feel about her. In fact, I didn't even know I was capable of so much love. She calms me and captures me. She has me staring at her while she is sleeping, with a smile on my face. When I am away from her, I can't keep my mind off her, always concerned about her well-being.
I believe that God has given me this great love for her. Why do I think so? I cannot imagine a sinful being like myself capable of such love. But God IS love! Experiencing the love of a mother has given me a unique and new glimpse of God's love for us - not that any of us are capable of love as perfect like His!

#2: Struggles of Learning
Eliana is two months old. She is lifting her head quite well already. She gets frequent tummy time from us to help her improve that skill. Does she like it? Sometimes. But there is always a strained look on her face as she lifts up her head and tries to push herself forward with her balled fists and little feet.
It reminded me instantly of how I often perceive God's lessons: They seem like struggles, difficult times in my life, "valleys" of sorts. Sometimes I am aware of what He may want me to learn, other times I am left in the dark. Often I completely forget that He is in control and may have even orchestrated this phase in my life to teach me valuable lessons.
Enter Eliana! Her (cute) struggling facial expression is reminding me of the purpose behind our earthly struggles: a divine lesson, a gift from our Savior, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Of course there comes a time when Eliana lets out small cries and her face starts to extort into pain or sadness. Then we are quick to pick her up or turn her back around. Because we love her too much to give her more than she can handle. And we know that is true of our heavenly Father as well!

#3: Security in the Relationship
As we are teaching Eliana to self-soothe, a friend reminded us: you want her to be secure not just in your presence but in your relationship.
Immediately, I was reminded of God, how we cannot see Him and due to circumstances or illness sometimes do not feel His presence. But it is my prayer that all of us find security in our relationship with Him and what we know to be true about it: His love, His sacrifice on the cross, His plan for our lives.

With all that being said, please pray for Eliana: that we would love her truly, that she would grow in strength, and trust in our care.

More lessons to come (I'm sure)...

Team Building

We are excited to say that friends of ours are currently attending a Josiah Venture conference in Czech to get to know Josiah Venture and hopefully join us in Germany in the future. Please, pray for safety in travel and guidance during the conference.

Eliana Marie Hopkins

We are thankful to announce the birth of our daughter Eliana Marie. She was born on April 3rd at 1:14pm. She is small at 6lb 10oz and 19 3/4 inches long. She is beautiful and healthy and we are overjoyed. We appreciate your prayers as we begin this new part of our life.

We are continuing in our support raising efforts, still hoping to be ready to move to Germany by December.

Destination: Leipzig

Many of you prayed for our trip to Germany in November. God blessed our trip on so many levels: For one thing, pregnant Ellen was very comfortable and had no problem traveling all week. But first and foremost, God answered our prayers for guidance.

We visited 10 churches in Dresden, Chemnitz, and Leipzig. While every city had at least one church open to our ministry at their church, we found the most openness and potential for initial growth in Leipzig.

We spoke with several churches in Leipzig and are excited to continue those conversations as well. We will determine our starting church in the upcoming months with the help of Josiah Venture president, Dave Patty.

Thank you for praying for us as we made this important decision.

Building A Team

Before we can leave for Germany, we have to put a team of missionaries in place. That means that at the time of our departure, we are either bringing others with us or expecting their arrival in the upcoming months.

Why? Because this team will be the first group of Josiah Venture missionaries in East Germany - a journey we can’t go alone.

Josiah Venture recommends for us to find at least one other couple and one single. We pray that God would even let us gather more missionaries. We are looking for individuals passionate about Christ and youth ministry. As we start out our team, we are especially looking for model makers and trainers but also for those passionate about outreach and interested in teaching English.

It is also our responsibility to place these fellow missionaries in churches on the field. The objective of another future trip will be to get to know several church leaders in order to introduce our ministry and place missionaries in church homes.

We appreciate your prayers as we invite friends and other youth pastors to join our team. One couple has already decided to join us. As they continue in the process of getting accepted with Josiah Venture, we hope to introduce them to you soon.

East Germany’s History and Present Spiritual State

East Germany was under communist reign until 1989, the year of the fall of the Berlin wall. Under communism, people lived in religious oppression and atheism spread rapidly. In contrast to atheism in the West, where people decide to become atheists, people in East Germany as in the rest of Eastern Europe are simply born atheists. They have never heard about God. Some statistics estimate the percentage of atheism on East Germany to be over 88% - making it the most atheistic region in the world.

Communist oppression as well as the currently high unemployment rate has left many hopeless and addicted to alcohol. Christian values have declined. Racism is widespread as well as immorality. The value of marriage has been diminished; many couples simply live together and have children without getting married. With parents skipping the covenant promise of marriage, a high number of children and youth are left with unmarried parents, single parents, and/or revolving father figures.

After East and West Germany reunited, believers seized the opportunity to preach the gospel. Some evangelical churches have already been established in all of East Germany’s major cities. However, there are wide areas of the land without any evangelical presence.

Germany’s state church is also represented in both East and West Germany. State churches are either Roman Catholic or a form of Lutheran - the vast majority of these churches are nominal in their beliefs, not adhering to the basic truths of the gospel message.

Evangelical churches have found a great openness to the gospel among the youth especially. This coincides with Josiah Venture’s experience in other Central and Eastern European countries. During our time in Germany, we also found out that there is no formal youth ministry education in Germany - neither in universities, nor among churches. Hearing about Josiah Venture, the pastors and leaders we spoke to where highly interested in youth ministry training.

How Did We Get Here?

    God has been leading us towards the mission field for a long time but we are finally ready to prepare for a departure. Through many circumstances and promptings, God has made His plans for us clear.

    Ellen had always considered returning to her home country. Joel, who had considered missions even before meeting Ellen, felt drawn to Germany when learning about Martin Luther’s reformation many centuries ago. (Did you know Joel and Martin Luther share the same birthday? - Well, it’s 500 years apart.)

    During a missions trip to the Ukraine in 2006, Joel felt a strong sense that God was asking him to return to a formerly communist country but Joel felt certain it would not be Ukraine. As we continued researching Germany, we heard about the desperate need for missionaries in formerly communist East Germany.

    Meanwhile, we continued to be involved in youth ministry state-side. God impressed on Joel’s heart to continue working with this age group as it is in need of consistent care and devotion. We have seen God bless our work with youth over the years.

    Since her early years of youth ministry, Ellen has developed an interest in compiling Bible studies for young women. She noticed early on a lack of in-depth, challenging, yet youth-oriented curriculum on the bookstore shelves. After we were married, we started writing these studies together. Soon, we got excited about the idea of starting our own ministry that would concentrate on youth group material and training for youth leaders. In fact, we considered that the name of this ministry should contain the word Josiah as to remember King Josiah, who serves as an example to all young people in the Church.

    Around this time, our current church hosted a workshop held by the missions organization TEAM. After attending, we began talking about the possibility of missions once again. We decided to work towards the missions field to see if God would open doors and confirm our desire and calling. And that He did!

    A few months later, Joel spoke with one of his professors about our interest in missions, mentioning Josiah Venture. Interestingly enough, Joel’s professor works very closely with JV and JV president Dave Patty. Soon, he introduced us. As we continued to get to know this ministry, we fell in love with JV’s values, strategies, and focus. We cannot believe how much their ministry aligns with what God had already laid on our hearts.

    Two summers ago, we had the chance to visit East Germany as well as Josiah Venture’s training center in the Czech Republic. We also spend time with Dave Patty as well as other JV missionaries and missionary kids. We are pleased to say that we found all of JV’s core values and vision lived out consistently.

    We are excited that you are considering being a part of our journey to the mission field and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.