2014 Annual Report

Miles & Mission 2014 ANNUAL REPORT

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

– ISAIAH 1:17 (NIV)

WHAT’S INSIDE MILES ............................................................................................................................. 4-7 From Miles to Missions ....................................................................................................... 4 Expeditions ......................................................................................................................... 5 Helping the Vulnerable in Nepal ........................................................................................ 6 Local Programs ................................................................................................................... 7 TIMELINE ........................................................................................................................ 8-9 MISSION .................................................................................................................... 10-13 Breaking the Cycle of Trafficking ..................................................................................... 10 Venture Projects ............................................................................................................... 11 Giving Hope for Dinner ..................................................................................................... 12 Feeding Program .............................................................................................................. 13 FINANCIALS ............................................................................................................... 14-15 5 Year Growth .................................................................................................................... 14 Committed to Stewardship, Income & Expense ............................................................. 15 2

From the President From the very first pedal of a bike to a meal smuggled across the Burmese border, Venture has explored what it looks like to actively respond to the Gospel.

What does it look like to ‘do something’ for vulnerable, oppressed and unreached people around the world? Our response is a nexus of miles and mission.

MILES This year the Venture community ran, hiked and biked over 100,000 miles! Every mile logged by our community translates into lives changed both here and around the world. We can give more than just money by physically sacrificing on behalf of others, we can give ourselves.

MISSION A few weeks ago I heard the story of a refugee child in Burma whose parents were lepers. He was so hungry. He had been eating dirt before Venture partners brought meals and the Gospel to his village. After hearing the story, I stopped. I let it sink in. I cried.

I remembered Jesus serving lepers in His day and asking us to do the same. There is no greater meta story than this – a God who would willingly suffer to save the very least of this world. This Gospel demands an active response.

The Venture community will continue to respond. We will help in war-torn border regions and bike across state borders. We will run safe houses and run across states. We will glorify God in college campuses, in jungle churches, in devastated villages in Nepal and in small towns across America.

It’s a beautiful story, and we are genuinely honored that you are a part of it.

RYAN SKOOG Co-Founder and President

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MILES

MIDWEST TOUR – JOHN DRAZ

PHOTO BY JEANNETTE APPOLD

FROM MILES TO MISSIONS

By John Draz, Tour Participant

A little over a year ago we were invited to attend the Venture Gala with our church. While there, we were touched and inspired by the Venture story. We decided we wanted to get more involved. At first that was just financially, but as time went on, we knew there was more.

“I felt God was calling me to participate and wanted to challenge my idea of sacrifice.”

The decision to do the bike tour was difficult.

Sure, I wanted to do it, especially knowing it was going to benefit Venture’s work in Thailand, but I also knew I had no business 4

on a bike. It had been well over a decade since I consistently was on a bike. Still, I felt God was calling me to participate and wanted to challenge my idea of sacrifice.

It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, but now all I can remember is the time I spent on the road with my new friends and the impact we made.

In January, we returned from leading a Venture trip to Thailand. Our hearts broke, but we were also inspired by the people. God spoke to us in so many cool ways and really cemented a vision of our calling. Both of us left knowing that God was calling us to bigger and better things in Thailand.

Venture Expeditions Our expeditions have been our flagship experience for the past 13 years. They give people a unique opportunity to "benefit the world and discover their soul."

Each expedition is different and can vary from biking across the country, to running across a state, to hiking mountains. Each trip is used to raise support for missions and humanitarian initiatives around the world while providing an intentional life and faith development program for participants.

KEY STATS

7 NATIONAL EXPEDITIONS

71,825 MILES LOGGED

$318,743 RAISED

149 CHURCHES INVOLVED

REFUGEE VILLAGE – JOHN DRAZ PHOTO BY AARON SMITH

COUNTRIES SERVED + CHINA + BURMA + SOUTH SUDAN

+ THAILAND + UGANDA + CONGO 5

+ PHILIPPINES + INDIA + CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

MILES

OK200 – JACOB WESTRUM, BRAD MCCLURE, AND ANDY MCCOY

PHOTO BY BARBER PHOTOGRAPHY

HELPING THE VULNERABLE IN NEPAL

By Rocky Vest, OK200 Director

When the OK200 was first conceptualized, I knew I was going to need the voice of experience and some infrastructural help.

Venture provided a wealth of wisdom, a cause to direct our efforts, a method to capture donations and a model to tell our story.

OK200 is growing beyond the initial vision and scope. Not only are we helping the most vulnerable in Nepal through Venture's partner organization, Lighthouse Nepal, but also those trafficked in our own backyard.

OK200 also raises support for Dorothy’s House, a recovery house for sex-trafficking survivors.

As our participation increases each year, so does our international and local impact.

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Venture has given encouragement and wisdom, challenging our thoughts and providing a guiding direction to our zeal.

“Venture has given encouragement and wisdom, challenging our thoughts and providing a guiding direction to our zeal.”

When we started, we just wanted to use our bikes and help others and can't believe the impact we've made. In three years of the OK200 we funded an anti-trafficking campaign in Indonesia, raised awareness in Des Moines, and raised over $50,000 for Lighthouse Nepal.

We couldn’t have done this without the direction and support of Venture Expeditions.

Venture Local Venture Local is an opportunity to be involved in your community and make a difference around the world.

Through Venture Local you can bike, hike or run in your area with your friends, your small group, or individually, to make a difference around the world, while growing in your faith. Our goal is that the Venture Community is group of people who are active year-round, year-in and year-out, in their local community on behalf of global justice issues. We desire to be a community that truly lives differently, on behalf of others who need our voice to speak up for them.

KEY STATS

10 NATIONAL CAMPAIGNS

$93,067 RAISED

406 PARTICIPANTS

CAUSES SUPPORTED

SAFE HOUSES

FOOD SECURITY

ANTI-TRAFFICKING

CLEAN WATER

EDUCATION

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2002DOLLARS RAISED

846,000 $7,800,000 MILES LOGGED

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-2015

MEALS SERVED

LIVES IMPACTED

15 04 14

15

14

13

12

11

10

09

07 10

5,000,000 93,000

PACT

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EVERY MILE MATTERS 12 08

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MISSION

GIRLS IN NEPAL

PHOTO BY KRISTA GUENIN

BREAKING THE CYCLE OF TRAFFICKING

By Paul Hurckman, Executive Director

“Thousands of Nepali minors are forced to sleep with more than fifty men per day; they are locked into rooms or cages where they are beaten, starved, drugged, burned and raped by their captors and countless men who use and abuse them," says Pastor Raju Sundas in the documentary Untouchable: Children of God. "The average age of a Nepali girl trafficked to India is 13 years old. A mere 1% of these sex slaves ever escape or get rescued.”

Lighthouse (LHFN), a partner organization of Venture, is making a significant difference with the leadership of Pastor Sundas.

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“We have 10 hostels including Miriam Child Care Centre and Half Way House (Rescue home for adult woman). Presently, there are 558 children under the supervision of 54 dedicated staff working in the hostels,” says Sundas.

LHFN takes a big picture approach to breaking the cycle of trafficking and the chains of a caste-based society.

Venture partners with LHFN to fund multiple homes which provides shelter, nourishment, medical care, education, Christian teaching and a sense of purpose and importance.

Venture Projects Venture Projects encompasses Venture’s ongoing work to meet the greatest needs throughout Southeast Asia.

Through Venture Projects we partner with local churches and organizations to facilitate Care Points focusing on education, food security and discipleship for refugees and oppressed people in Southeast Asia. Venture also partners with ministries in the region to fight human trafficking, empower oppressed people, plant churches and create sustainable futures for individuals and communities

KEY STATS

$1,035,947 RAISED

2.1 MILLION MEALS SERVED

11 MISSIONARIES SENT

10 NATIONAL PARTNERS

3 SAFEHOUSES BUILT

COUNTRIES SERVED + THAILAND + BURMA + NEPAL

+ INDONESIA + CHINA + VIETNAM

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MISSION

KIDS AT REFUGEE CAMP

PHOTO BY MATT LIEN

GIVING HOPE FOR DINNER

By Paul Hurckman, Executive Director

Thanks to the passionate investment of time, energy, sweat and finances of our partners and volunteers the impact of the Venture Refugee Feeding Program is incredible. Here are some of the stories from the field.

On the outskirts of a leper colony in Burma, a child had been eating dirt for years. Upon receiving the food provided through Venture, the child was radically changed. He is healthy, learning and has a brighter future.

In another part of the Burma, a 94-year-old grandmother cared for 12 orphans who lacked nutrition. Upon receiving meals, the children were healed from sores, tuberculosis, and various other ailments.

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"As soon as the sun rose I began walking. Today is the first time I have seen Westerners. You look good, and I think you come to help us. I never heard of Jesus before today and this is the first Bible I have ever received."

Bee Kay – Refugee, Age 61 A 61-year-old refugee grandfather hiked all day just to receive food for his grandchildren, whose parents were killed by the Burmese Army. Not only did he receive food for his family, but he also returned with the first Bible he has ever had. Now they not only have nutrition, they have truth.

Feeding Program With your help we are responding to one of the longest-standing humanitarian crisis on the border of Thailand and Burma.

The people there are broken and in need of hope, help, and the Gospel. The unanimous urgent need among our partners in this region is food. The success of our food security programs have allowed us and our partners to focus on some other needs that include displacement, discipleship, human trafficking, economic development, education and human rights.

5,000 MEALS SERVED Each Day

BURMA

THAILAND

$611,324 RAISED

7 CARE POINTS

1,350 Participate in Giving Hope for Dinner Hope for Dinner is an invitation to feed hungry kids by eating rice and beans, instead of your normal dinner, and giving the difference. Learn more at HopeForDinner.Org. 13

FINANCIALS 5 YEAR GROWTH $1,809,955

1,600,000

$1,578,003

1,200,000

$1,060,159 $931,315 800,000

$816,084

400,000

0 2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

YEAR

REVENUE

GROWTH

ADMIN

% ADMIN

2010

$816,084

34.12%

$90,796

11%

2011

$931,315

14.12%

$115,751

12%

2012

$1,060,159

13.83%

$133,947

13%

2013

$1,578,003

48.85%

$141,555

9%

2014

$1,809,955

14.70%

$178,208

10%

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Committed to Stewardship 90.2%

PROGRAM 9.8%

ADMINISTRATIVE* & FUNDRAISING

90% TO PROGRAMS

*100% of administrative expenses are covered by private donors.

INCOME & EXPENSE REVENUE & SUPPORT

$1,809,955

Contributions

$1,255,201

Special Events

$38,734

Gifts-in-Kind

$516,020

Net Assets Released from Restrictions

-

EXPENSES

$1,571,183

Program Services: Missions & Missionary Programs

$928,379

Expeditions

$464,596

Supporting Services: General & Administrative

$178,208

CHANGE IN NET ASSETS

$238,772

NET ASSETS – BEGINNING OF YEAR

$251,620

NET ASSETS – END OF YEAR

$490,392

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WITH YOUR SUPPORT

VENTURE IS SPENDING ITS

GREATEST ENERGIES

ON THE WORLD'S

GREATEST NEEDS MEALS

DISCIPLESHIP

EDUCATION

EVERYDAY ALL FOUNDED ON OUR PASSION,

COMMITMENT, OBEDIENCE & RESPONSE

TO THE GOSPEL 16

5ll EAST TRAVELERS TRAIL, BURNSVILLE, MN 55337 | VENTUREEXPEDITIONS.ORG