Fall Conference has always been one of the kick-off points for the new school year in Josiah Venture (JV). It’s the primary equipping conference that brings around 400 of our JV staff and partners together to train and focus our attention on a topic that continues the movement of God among the youth of Central and Eastern Europe. In early 2020, our team assembled to begin planning that year’s conference, which would be both centered around evangelism and how to reach the next generation. Our team was excited and eager to see what God would teach us in that new year, but, as we all know, everyone’s plans that fall were radically changed.

Fast forward to 2022. After a two year pause, we are ready to return to Fall Conference with the same topic but a different emphasis. Evangelism is core to who we are as believers, but, for many of us, that flame is burning low after COVID, war, and countless uncertainties. We, and the world, are in desperate need of hope.

Our theme this year is “Messenger of Hope,” with an aim of saying that evangelism is the result of our own hope in Jesus that pours out to those around us. We want to be true to 1 Peter 3:15 and always be ready to have an answer for the hope that is in us. And that's where this conference begins—with us. We desire to take stock of our current situation and ask ourselves, “Where is my own hope in Jesus? Where are the roadblocks that may be in my own heart? What have I experienced in the last few years that may present a challenge to telling others about this hope that we possess?” It's from this place that we start this year, using it as a catalyst to engage in evangelism with fresh eyes and refreshed hearts. As we look at the world around us, we desire to see Jesus be the renewed source of our hope and, from there, share that good news with a generation that so desperately needs him.