You are never too old for stories.

God must understand how important good stories are to us—since much of the truth of the Bible comes to us in narrative form. Stories help us understand the nature of God and give us insight into the character of man. Stories inspire us, encourage us, instruct us, and warn us.

Take a quick look into the lives of the Josiah Venture team and you will find hundreds of gripping stories: of our insufficiency and God’s faithfulness and of surprising miracles and journeys of faith. Some of them you know from the update letters you read. But, what if you could listen to them speaking with their own voices while you drive, walk, or work around the house?

Recently we launched a new podcast, “Josiah Venture Stories,” to help you do just that. Hosted by Gwynne Gardner, our sparky social media expert, these engaging conversations take you behind the scenes and out onto the front lines of God’s work to reach young people in Central and Eastern Europe.

Do you want to hear the story of how Josiah Venture began, or the amazing series of events that led to the birth of the prayer room? You can tune into an interview with myself as I share about the early days of this unique ministry or a conversation with my wife Connie as she tells the story of a breakthrough that mobilized five years of non-stop prayer.

Andrej and Nina from Slovenia tell about a young missionary couple who led Nina to Christ, by standing outside her high school and singing worship songs with a guitar. Nina later gave her boyfriend Andrej a Bible, and he came to faith reading it in his dorm room in Zagreb, Croatia—even though he didn’t know a single other Christian at the time.

Juljan from Albania tells the story of how God saved him from a Muslim background, and, then, how God called him to begin a ministry that is reaching hundreds of young people across Albania with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Olya from Lviv, Ukraine talks about what she has learned about making disciples as a new mom, and Shelby Flowers in the Czech Republic shares about how music can be used as a tool to build relationships with young people. My wife and I recently listened to several of these podcast stories on a long car trip, and were so blessed and encouraged. Here is the link where you can find them on your computer or phone.

Every story is better when you hear it in the voice of the main protagonist, which is what makes these podcast stories so engaging. As you listen, you will be most impacted by the main author of these stories—who is also the God of Isaac and Jacob.

Remember this when you listen: You are a part of each of these stories through your faithful gifts and prayers. Thank you.