Jenkins Update Happy Spring

Happy Spring! We have been enjoying the warmer weather here in ND! Living for so many years overseas where we had mainly two seasons--raining and dry or muddy and dusty -- I have been enjoying the seasons here in the U.S. This Spring seems especially meaningful as many are getting their COVID vaccine and we are starting to see the beginning of the end to this pandemic. Spring symbolizes hope.  After a cold dark winter, the longer days of light and warm sun bring joy. Ruth, our daughter was able to spend her Spring break with us recently. It had been a long 14 months since we had been together--the longest I had been away from any of my kids. It was a wonderful week, wedding dress shopping, wedding planning and just catching up. In a little over a week our son, Caleb, and his wife will be here for Easter. Then our other son Ethan will be here for the long weekend! I can not express to you how much having my family gather means to me. We have really enjoyed this season of having our oldest daughter Sophia and her family living close this year. Hanging out with my granddaughter Penny has been a delight! Ruth trying on my wedding dress for fun!  Dave and I have been pretty busy these days. I have been babysitting for a couple of families 3 days a week but have recently reduced it back to two days. Dave is doing a project with Global Neighbors another non-profit that is in town that works to welcome immigrants. Dave is running a leadership cohort of immigrant leaders to learn about our community, each other, and how to make change where we live. For more information check it out here https://www.bismarckglobalneighbors.org/nilp We have also been busy with our EADC ministry. We have started a new series on Facebook called What is the Church?  We are doing these live Sunday mornings at 9:00 am CT or if our granddaughter sleeps over on Saturdays we do it Sunday evening at 5:00. We are discussing what are some of the more important reasons that we as believers gather and as we move out of this COVID season what we are desiring Church to be. What did we miss the most about Church? We have had some great public discussions as well as many private discussions with people who have reached out to us. We see that this series has struck a chord. Dave has also engaged in several conversations on social media as well as many African Whatsup groups he is a part of giving information about the COVID vaccines and helping to correct misinformation that can spread over these groups. This season reminds us of ways we would partner with local medical and government in our early years in Uganda when we were fighting the Aids epidemic.  As we have had COVID and also gotten our shots we have felt safer to engage our community more. We have visited several ethnic churches on Sunday mornings. There are 6 African churches that are currently meeting here in the Bismarck/Mandan area. It has been enjoyable to meet more friends from Africa and we always enjoy singing and worshiping with our brothers and sisters. We have also been invited to eat in a few homes and have enjoyed getting to know these families better. Eating African food has been a bonus!  We are looking forward to starting to host people in our home as things open up more here. I have really missed not using my hospitality gifts. Thankful that we have had so much of our ministry online as it was easy to pivot in this past season. Off to visit an African Church in Bismarck,ND Besides serving Africans living here in our community, missional living has also called us to live incarnational with the marginalized and under-resourced. We are living in low-income apartments and many of our neighbors are native Americans. Dave has gotten to know many of our neighbors as he is out walking our dog and has had many conversations. This last week, there was a knock at our door and one of our neighbors asked if I could give him a ride to help his mother who had recently had a fire in her apt and was moving into a mobile home that had been given to her after her father had passed. I was free so I said sure. Dave was resting at the time or he would have done it. As we were driving I was asking him about how his mom was doing after the fire and how his partner and young child were doing. He mentions how helpful and kind Dave had been the night of the fire. Then he shared your husband is easy to talk to. He said he seems very genuine. I said yes Dave is the real deal. As I dropped him off in the mobile home park, I was struck that God is using us here. Not just with what we think is the focus of our ministry but also just in how we live with our neighbors. I am sad sometimes that we are not in a position to own our own home but then I think who would be a light in this apartment building?    Thank you to all that make it possible for us to serve as missionaries here! Are you wondering what to do with your tax refund or your incentive gift? Please consider either a one-time gift or becoming a monthly supporter. Give Now

2020 Year End Overview

Name of Project:  East Africa Diaspora Community    Progress of the organization (person) towards stated goals (or lack thereof): It has been remarkable that the Jenkins were able to notice a significant shift in the secondary migration of Africans into the Dakotas and relocate to be close to it.  Most people are not as aware of demographic and economic movements as the Jenkins, and how that impacts missions.  We also find it remarkable how the clustering of Africans that are in Western North Dakota are so like the Jenkins’ experience.   There is a cluster of West African from Nigeria and Cameroon where Jana was conceived and born.   The other cluster of East Africans is largely Kinyarwanda speaking with a heritage of cattle keeping in Rwanda, Congo, and Burundi.    That is a great follow-up of the relationship network the Jenkins had developed as they worked with Rwandan, Burundian, and Congolese refugees during their time in Uganda, and then served in Rwanda later. We are also pleased to see how quickly the Jenkins were able to shift plans to remain relevant during the pandemic.   With Dave’s past column writing and their radio experience plus how they have tried to use social media to stay relevant as their network scattered, they were able to shift quickly to keep disciplining relationships ongoing when face-to-face contact became minimal. Financial Health of the organization (person): This is one of our biggest concerns.   The Jenkins have been living on the poverty line for several years.   They survive by working multiple jobs.   It is tragic that such effective missionaries struggle to find adequate support.   Dave spent months this year enumerating for the census.   Jana babysat.   It made good sense for Dave to resign from the pastor job when the church would not create a Covid policy at the time North Dakota had some of the worst infection rates in the world.  Yet, it does create another financial struggle. We are a bit at loss to know what to do to turn this corner.   We see almost no missionary who brings the network and skill set that the Jenkins do to the East African Diaspora.   Yet, most local church mission committee’s policy frameworks would not support this work.   Most denominational structures would not promote the necessary unity.   The ministry is highly relational while most foundations are looking for specific items to do.   Items of praise and gratitude to God: The Jenkins lived through Covid.   Though recovery is taking time we do not see them as Covid long haulers. The Jenkins influence grew significantly on social media during the pandemic.    For instance, on Dave’s Facebook Live sermon today there was dialogue from Burma, Uganda, United States, and Rwanda.   The amount of diversity is out of the ordinary.   The dialogue came from both missionaries and church leaders.   The Jenkins’ voice is greatly respected among their peers. Items of concern for prayer and further monitoring: The Jenkins health: Dave’s spine, Jana’s diabetes, and Timothy’s cerebral palsy.   We are encouraged that Dave is running and, in the gym, again.   We are encouraged that Jana has lost weight and diabetes numbers have come down.   We are encouraged that Timothy’s left foot healed well from surgery and he is active. Any additional information to share? We are curious how the relationship will develop with other immigrant-serving non-profits in North Dakota.   We feel that EADC needs to establish good partnerships with local churches and Christian nonprofit organizations for long-term success.    We are hopeful for Dave’s short-term contract with the Global Neighbors leadership program.   We are also thankful that Dave has picked up a few opportunities to preach in Anglo churches in the last two months.   We hope he can do that more frequently. Are there additional services that your support network can provide that might interest you or help the ministry to flourish? We perceive that Dave and Jana have been greatly underutilized by the American church after their return to the United States.   It may be their gentle nature.   They also see themselves as friends and peers of Diaspora people, so they do not market their network as a project.   If you come across churches or organizations that need expertise in East Africa, disabled sports, and recovery from injuries there are few people with more fruit or expertise.   When the Jenkins are in Kampala or Kigali they are known within the top tiers of government, media, business, and education.   If the need arises within churches or organizations, you know please get in touch with the Jenkins to serve as consultants or speakers. Dave and Jana are enjoying the sunrises and sunsets of North Dakota. Thanks so much for your support of the Jenkins and their ministry to East Africans in the Dakotas and around the world.  The EADC Advisory Board  GIVE TODAY

MY FIRST AFRICAN CHRISTMAS

 

This blog was originally written on DECEMBER 21, 2010 by Dave:

Christmas with Joseph, Mary, and Jesus taking refuge in Egypt

Another Christmas full-court press is on.   Some may ask what drives me. I like people. I like Jesus. It seems pretty simple. Anytime I can host a party and tell a Jesus’ story I’m eager.

However, I many times feel like I am a living Joseph narrative. What went wrong many years ago taught me lessons that are a deep part of my being. I am a wounded healer. My first African Christmas was a disaster. The scars from that day will never leave me. Like the scars on my back that motivate me to run, the scars on my Christmas spirit motivate me to celebrate. I cannot stand the thought of someone in my community being alone and discouraged when the world celebrates the profound truth that God became flesh and dwelt among men. As a result no matter what our trauma we can find joy and peace.

I think I’ve finally hit that Joseph moment where I can say, “You tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best so that he could save all these people, as he is now doing. (Genesis 50:20-21. Contemporary English Version.)”

Let me tell the story of my first African Christmas.

Childhood photos of the Christmases of my youth look like nostalgic Americana - Snow, snow, and more snow. Toboggans, sleds, and inner-tubes rapidly sailed down the hills. Family and friends gathered beyond measure. Meals of turkey, ham, stuffing, and potatoes with grandma’s pies filled our stomachs.

I came to Uganda in 1993 with a heritage of Christmas celebration. However, my church heritage was distinctly non-liturgical. In fact, the extremists in my church heritage used the Christmas season not to proclaim Good News of God Incarnate entering the world, but as an opportunity to bash “the denominations” that through syncretism turned the pagan ritual of Christmas into a religious tradition. (I never quite bought the theological implications of these extremists, but I feared the social implications of holding them to account.  Though in Rwanda God finally gave me the courage to stand up to denominational bullies.) Thus Christmas for me was largely a secular gathering of family and friends.

As a result of the social implications of theological extremism, I had almost no spiritual friendships outside of my church heritage. Jana and I have always been people gatherers. However, our early career was a season of loneliness when we were in situations in which we could not gather from our church heritage.

I also came to Uganda heavily influenced by spiritual naivety that was nurtured by my seminary training. I assumed if I came to help people would reciprocate in kind with no ill motives. I assumed that I could be candid with supporters and they would understand. I assumed that each struggle of mine would be met by a quick answer that would make good newsletter material. I assumed that prayer was the only substance of sustenance. My first African Christmas broke my naivety. In a way, it set in-play events that stripped my innocence, left me distrustful, and only in Rwanda have allowed me to return the purity of heart I first had as I entered Africa.

Dave, Jana, and Sophia just before departure to Uganda

Our family in February 1993 sent almost all our earthly goods to Uganda. In March 1993 we moved to Uganda. In May 1993 we found a home, hired a staff, and tried to settle into life in Kampala. In May 1993 we also became embroiled in a life-defining church conflict. In June 1993 our container arrived. Our possessions would not be released to us until January 1994. Christmas 1993 broke my spirit.

However, it also set in play a series of maturing events that taught me to make many diverse friends, not take visitors’ impressions too seriously, avoid the entanglements of government and church corruption, and to celebrate in community at each possible moment.

Jana and I did our pre-departure Uganda budgeting by listening to Kenyan missionaries from the Churches of Christ. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kenya was a dirt-cheap country to live and work in. On a minimal salary, one could live well, serve fruitfully, and put money in the bank. We had never heard the term COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment). We spent over a year discovering funds assuming our future Uganda experience would be the same as other past Kenya experiences.

When we entered Uganda we faced a tremendous economic shock. Homes were renting for two to three times what we had budgeted. Uganda’s cost of living was approximately double Kenya’s. When we asked other Americans where they shopped, their reply was, “Kenya.” Uganda was just recovering from over 20 years of chaos and very few goods were locally produced. Uganda’s currency was unstable. At one point the exchange rate dropped in half. In one year’s time, we lost half our buying power when we had initially come to Uganda already underfunded. We tried explaining this to our supporters but made no progress. In fact, at one point they remarked, “All you asked for us to do is pray. Why are you now asking for more than that?”

To save money and still practice our spiritual gift of people gathering we rented a large home outside of Kampala on Lake Victoria that was horribly run down. Our rent was low and we labored for 2 years to restore the home. We used it as much as we could to serve through hospitality.

Lydia Bagira with her sons Emmy and Joel

We found our first household staff, Lydia Bagira. Lydia’s mother was a Rwandan refugee to Uganda from the chaos of 1959. Her father was a Mukiga from Western Uganda. Lydia always introduced herself as a Mukiga, but she seemed to always socialize with other Rwandans.  When we moved into our home we thought we would only be without our possessions for a few weeks. We slept on a mattress on the floor. We used Lydia’s cooking utensils and dishes to eat.

We chased getting our container cleared and made every possible mistake. We understood that the personal effects of a missionary could be brought into Uganda duty-free. However, we did not understand the social implications of Uganda’s corrupt tax gathering system. We ran into a man who noticed two skinny young white men (Greg Carr and myself) and saw an opportunity. This tax collector made us hop through hoop after hoop. We explained until we could explain no more. At one point when we were exasperated, he remarked, “If you don’t like my answer go see the Minister of Finance.” Ironically, we had one Uganda friend, Peter Ngobi who knew Uganda’s Minister of Finance, Mayanga Nkangi. Thus we in good faith with Peter’s introduction went to see Minister Nkangi. We had one meeting that seemed to go well, and then all sorts of passive-aggressive behavior began. (We years later realized how poorly we had handled both the meeting and the repercussions.) It seemed that we offended all. I now think that the tax gather was trying to work a bribe from us. On the other side, Minister Nkangi concluded we were trying to bribe him and was deeply offended. Thus our poor cultural skills made us look like a prude to the corrupt, and corrupt to those with moral integrity. Thus from June 1993 until December 1993 we waited and waited for our container to be cleared with almost no movement.

Not only did we suffer at the hands of the Uganda Revenue Authority. We suffered at the hands of a church organization called Uganda Church of Christ. This church organization had a similar history to many organizations in Uganda in the late ’80s and early ‘’90s. It had been started as a legal mechanism for missionaries from Churches of Christ to enter Uganda and to keep the churches they planted legally in the early 1970s. When Idi Amin came to power the missionaries left. In the vacuum, a corrupt system and leadership developed. When missionaries began to re-enter Uganda during the boom of the early ’90s the corrupt system went into overdrive to discredit missionaries who would eventually hold the system accountable.

In May 1993 we went to check our mail and found the first of dozens of accusatory letters generated by the Uganda Church of Christ leaders. A meeting had been called to discuss us, we had not been invited, and letters were now being circulated to our supporters. For the next 6 months, Greg and I traveled extensively in Uganda to try to explain ourselves to approximately 30 local churches. While doing this traveling we heard a continual theme. “We want to change our leadership structure. We want missionaries. We see a problem with the current leaders of the Uganda Church of Christ. Can you just pay for us to come to a central place and have a meeting? If you do, we will straighten out the Uganda Church of Christ and work with you.”

We decided to pay for the transport, housing, and meals for a group of Uganda Church of Christ leaders in early December 1993. Their instructions were for us to just introduce ourselves at the meeting, leave for two days, and then return to discover the results of the meeting.

When we returned we were shocked to be told that the Uganda Church of Christ had disfellowshipped us. They considered us “the greatest threat to the Churches of Christ worldwide.” In order to avoid this discipline, we could turn over our homes, vehicles, and finances to them. If not, we were instructed to have nothing more to do with them or face legal consequences. We could not believe it. We had served for 6 months, taught and traveled widely, and financed a meeting when we were broke only to be disfellowshipped. My identity was so tied to Churches of Christ that I did not know how to respond. It felt like a complete stripping of identity. After the disfellowshipping, they began writing letters to our supporters and any others who would listen. In the end, they even were able to get half-truths about us told in Church of Christ watchdog papers.

We had made a key mistake in that year. Older Church of Christ missionaries in Kenya had tried for years to work with this group of churches with similar results. Their counsel was to have nothing to do with them. However, we believed in “unity.” We thought with enough love and good teaching these churches could be turned around. Instead, we learned through hard knocks some only use the language of unity as a means to manipulate. These churches were religious organizations masquerading as churches. We should have had the discernment and courage to call them that. Both our youthful naivety and pride were at fault. So we suffered.

Years later I would find that some of those who disfellowshipped me in Uganda also had been also exceedingly unkind to Rwandan refugees in Uganda. A Joseph-like moment was realizing that God through this experience taught me what it was like to be harshly and inaccurately judged outside of one’s home. I pray for my Uganda persecutors. I hope someday they will find redemption. Their hearts must be much more troubled than the hearts of those who suffered under their abuse.

After we were disfellowshipped, Greg and Debra Carr returned to the USA for a few weeks to spend Christmas with their family. We were left “alone.” We had few friends. However, somehow four visitors from the developed world came in contact with us through a friend of a friend. (I won’t share their national or denominational identity to protect them, but it is different from my own.) They had done well in life. They were on a church-sponsored trip to Africa. They came to Uganda after a stop in pre-Genocide Rwanda. They were spending a few weeks in both Rwanda and Uganda.

We invited them to share an evening dinner with us. They were wise and delightful people. However, two bits of counsel from them did not set well. At the time I was too naïve to argue. It just did not feel right.

The first bit of counsel was their belief in “faith missions.” They did not believe missionaries should live on a budget, deal with COLA’s, know what to expect from supporters, etc…. Their belief was in the power of prayer. If we just prayed, God would move in hearts, people would give, and our needs would be met. We tried for years to follow this counsel, and it always seems to end in cycles of financial disaster. Prayer changes many things. However, COLA is real. No international organization has stable personnel if they do not deal with COLA.

Second, they debriefed from their Pre-Genocide Rwanda experience. According to their Rwandan counselors, Rwanda before 1959 was a feudal system ruled by arrogant and exploitive Tutsis. In 1990 the sons of these past rulers had invaded Rwanda with the intent of restoring the monarchy. Rwanda was now taking action to prevent Rwanda from falling back into a feudal state.

They discussed their political observations while we ate a meal cooked on the utensils of a Tutsi woman, Lydia Bagira. Intuitively I knew their political observations were inaccurate. However, I did not have the cultural, historical, or political tools to argue. Also, I was lonely and wanted friendships from a similar culture to my own. I’ve never quite forgiven myself for not pushing back harder on their observations from Pre-Genocide Rwanda’s politics. Five months later the world would see what these flawed prejudicial presuppositions produced. Today, I’ve probably become much more ornery in arguing against assumptions about a culture that fuels stereotypes and prejudice.

So in early December 1993, Jana and I had been disfellowshipped, dined with expatriates empathetic to future genocidaires, were in Uganda with no missionary co-workers, and had yet to receive our household goods.

Finally, after months of arguing with the Uganda Revenue Authority, we relinquished. We would pay the taxes even though we did not believe we owed any. We paid tax on personal effects. We even paid tax on Bibles. We filled out the forms. We were told to come to the warehouse on Christmas Eve, 1993 to collect our household goods.

We came to the customs bonded warehouse early in the morning. No matter how difficult 1993 had been we anticipated on Christmas Eve we would receive our goods. We would go home and unpack and unload. Camping would end. We would sit on our furniture, sleep in our bed, eat from food preserved in our refrigerator, and cooked on our stove. Our toddler, Sophia would play with her old toys. We would be whole again.

We spent the day waiting. We missed lunch. We asked questions. Where was the man with the key to open the warehouse? He was gone, but he would be back we were told. We waited some more. We asked a few more questions. Then finally the end of the day came. The guards began ushering all out of the outskirts of the warehouse. No man with a key had come. We were lonely, tired, hungry, and more discouraged than we had ever been. We left realizing that for a day people had been polite, but there was no intention of us taking our possessions home on Christmas Eve.

I had grown to have a strange habit. Because we had received so much criticism I avoided checking the mail unless I was at the top of my game. Most trips to the Post Office in 1993 found critical letters and threats. Opening the mail was traumatic.

However, a new communication tool was developing in 1993 called e-mail. We had started using it. We shared an account with Greg Carr that went to our 1 phone line in our office. The account went through a server ran by Makerere University.

We were desperate for good news. Could something encouraging come from home? We decided that surely on Christmas Eve one of our supporters in the US would choose to find a way to encourage us.

We came to our office, turned on the computer, and hit “Send / Receive.” A long message was coming in slowly. We were eager. What could it be?

Then as we opened the message our hearts were completely broken. During the season of economic down turn we had tried to communicate our need for more financial support. We learned about COLA and tried to explain it. Our supporters now interpreted the communication.

We received one of the cruelest letters we have ever received in years of ministry. Our supporters had taken some Christian courses in Financial Management. They had consulted mission leaders in Churches of Christ. They had concluded that we were mismanaging. A phrase I’ll never forget from their letter was “We can support two missionaries for what we are giving you. If you can’t live on it, send it back.”

On Christmas Day, 1993 we quickly packed and left Uganda. We drove down quiet roads to the Kenyan border. We crossed a border that is usually full of commotion in desolation. We then drove into Kitale to see older Church of Christ missionaries. We were broken. The older missionaries nurtured our spirits. A few weeks later we returned to Uganda and tried again.

In late June 1994, our support collapsed. Christmas Eve 1993 was the turning point.

In June 2005 we moved to Rwanda. Our container was released to us in November 2005. In December 2005 and January 2006 I sorted through my old files and correspondence from Uganda days. A mentor had counseled me to keep the written records. He and I hoped someday the truth of our early Uganda years would be told. Truth is healing. I decided to read through the old correspondence. I was older, and maybe a little wiser. I must have made some key mistakes that resulted in such cruelty from both the Uganda Church of Christ and from our former supporters. I read critically and found few mistakes that merited the cruelty. It was shameful for anyone to treat a young missionary with a toddler the way we had been treated.

Yet, something more moved in my heart. Without the suffering seasons in Uganda we would not have come to Rwanda prepared. It was time to move on. I shredded the documents, took them to the bottom of my new home’s yard, and burned them. I would no longer seek to be vindicated.

A few months later Christ's Church of Rwanda (CCR) was granted registration when others' dreams of church planting stood in line. I suspect a few old friends who saw me suffer in Uganda and also suffered at the hands of my Uganda accuser helped the document go through. I was thankful for the opportunity.

On my first Rwanda furlough as we returned to the USA I received a phone call from an old friend at our old supporting church that had been so cruel. We had lunch at McDonald's and I spoke at their church. My anger was gone and I felt mercy. Though I could not deny how their treatment of my family in Uganda was very poor they had given us a chance. They gave us a start. Without their start, we would not have got where we are today. Also, I realized that they too had suffered. I did not need to see them suffer anymore. I prayed God’s mercy upon them. They apologized.

Now each Christmas I walk with a wound. I know what it can be like to be alone on Christmas. I have learned we should never define friendship based upon denominational, ethnic, racial, or national heritage. I have learned what it is like to be falsely accused and judged based upon ethnicity. True community is based in Christ.

Thus I invite all in my community to celebrate beyond measure. Our lives are an absolute mess. In Jesus we find joy and hope.

I am thankful for my first African Christmas. Whatever measure of blessing and joy I can share with others through this season would never have happened if not for our disastrous Christmas of 1993.

 

Dear family and friends,   Wow! It has been a while since we sent an update. What a crazy year 2020 has been for so many of us. As much as we have been trying so hard to avoid COVID-19, as many of you may already know if you follow us on social media Dave, our son Timothy, and I had COVID-19. Thankfully, we did not have to be hospitalized and although the last few weeks are a bit of a blur of survival, we are hopefully through the worst of it. We are now just trying to get back to our baseline and our energy back. We are so thankful for all the support and care that we received. Many of you sent meals our way, and extra cash gifts to help us through this rough season. We also felt all the prayers and kind words that you sent to us!   We are so thankful for our daughter Sophia and son-in-law, Matt who cooked food for us, walked our dog, and organized a meal train for us that many of you participated in! We are thankful to have them living in North Dakota for this year before they head off to Med school next fall.

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I know this is a different kind of celebration this year. We had our smallest Thanksgiving celebration ever.  We were thankful that some of our family could gather. We held space for both grieve and joy this year.

Many of you know that besides following the East African Diaspora to the Dakotas, we were also drawn here because of a part-time teaching pastor role that Dave got. We were excited to be a part of a church where we could both use our gifts unfortunately none of us could imagine what 2020 would bring. For those of you in ministry know how hard this has been to serve in this season. It was especially hard for us as we were new to this church and did not have the bank of relationships to weather this storm. As our COVID numbers began to significantly increase in North Dakota in September and after 6 months of trying to get the church to develop some type of COVID protocol, we asked the church leaders if they could respect the local health recommendations and several adamantly refused. In addition, through this process, we began to see that we had significantly different interpretations of scriptures, and ways of seeing the world with the other staff and many of the leaders. Considering this after much prayer and counsel from others Dave resigned as teaching pastor at Revive Christian Church. We are disappointed but also feel real peace about our decision. Even though this was a part-time job it had taken a lot of bandwidth and energy that we felt was taking us away from our primary role of serving the East African Diaspora here in the Dakotas. We are still wanting to connect with churches here and hoping that Dave will be able to do some interim preaching in the area. In fact, this month he has already been asked to preach at the First Baptist Church of Bismarck as they sadly have lost their Pastor who has recently passed away with COVID-19.

With this loss of income, we really need to find some additional support to keep us viable here in North Dakota. Will you prayerfully consider giving a one-time gift or becoming a monthly supporter?

Jana and some of our new friends from Adoni Evangelical Church

Here are some highlights of the last several months:   We were thankful when the pandemic hit that much of our ministry is online, so we did not have to pivot as much as other ministries. This summer as there was a bit of a break in the pandemic we were able to have a few young people over as well as being invited into some homes and get to know the East African Community better here in the Dakotas.  Dave spoke several times at the East African church we attend Sunday afternoons-- Adoni Evangelical Church. Dave has started a Sunday morning Facebook live series “Neighboring During COVID-19 Pandemic” and many are joining in to watch and we have had several follow-up discussions.  Several of our adult kids were able to visit us in August. We had to quarantine some of the time they were here, but it was nice to have each other to quarantine with.  Matt and Sophia and our granddaughter Penny ended up moving here to Bismarck, ND for this year as they prepare for Matt to go to Med School in fall 2021. We are loving having them in the same town. This consistent time with our granddaughter is priceless!     Thanks so much for your prayers and support! We could not answer this call without you!   Jana Give Now

Jenkins Update

Wow-what a crazy time we have been in! I hope you all are all well. I know that we have all had losses, health, jobs, and even death. So sorry to any of you who have lost love ones at this time. We have been praying for all of you and for our diaspora community during this unprecedented time. We like many of you have had to pivot. Thankfully, God had been preparing us. Much of what we had been doing was online so we have been able to continue to support and teach from various platforms. As well as visiting one on one as those who have been struggling at this time. We have like many ministries and nonprofits had a significant decrease in our financial support. In the last 3 months, we have had only a fourth of what usually comes in. ( Which even our usual range was not meeting our budget goal) We are thankful that we do not have a lot of overhead at the moment as we work from home without office space etc… we do not have a large staff-- at the moment just Dave and I are working with EADC so we have not had to lay anyone off. But we are personally struggling to make ends meet. We would love for you to prayerfully consider either a one-time gift or becoming a monthly partner. Your gifts enable us to be available for counseling, online teaching, mentoring, and encouraging the East African Diaspora living here in the U.S. and beyond. We feel that God has given us unique experiences and relationships and we need to use these for His glory!  Prayer requests:   Now that restrictions are loosing up a bit we were able to have a few young East African leaders over for dinner this week to talk about gathering East African youth ( ages 16-30) They really liked the idea and thought of several friends they could invite. We plan on meeting on June 13. Please pray that God gathers those that need connection and that we can encourage unity and challenge this youth to be missionaries in their circle of influence. We are almost all settled into our new home here in ND. We just lack a few boxes in Dave’s office. Please pray that we can have time to get fully settled before the busyness of the summer rushes in. Please pray for our financial support. Hudson Taylor ( a British Protestant Christian missionary to China in the 1800s and founder of the China Inland Mission) said, “ God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.”  Two of the beautiful young women who came over for dinner last week-- Joy and Francine Thank you so much for all your prayers and support at this time. We could not do what we do without you! If you would like to give online go https://secure.egsnetwork.com/donate/C0AF312B0E28441 You can also mail a check to East Africa Diaspora Community, P.O. Box 480 Wheaton, IL 60187

Summertime News

Summertime! This may be different for everyone but usually, there are trips or vacations planned. Sometimes projects that have been put off that needs doing. There may be extra kids home from college. Hopefully, a few slow days to enjoy the summer heat.

What have we been up to this summer? So far we have been pretty busy.  At the beginning of the summer in May, we held Kwibuka 25, the 25th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. You can read about it and see more pictures on our website https://diasporaoutreachco.wixsite.com/website.

The summertime our diaspora communities come out of the Chicago winter and summer Bar-B-Q s and parties began. We have already gone to several. We have had a few smaller parties and gatherings at our home with our friends from East Africa. We have also been visiting several Ethnic churches that are meeting in and around Chicagoland. Dave and I also were blessed to attend the Initiative Retreat in Green Lake, WI. The Initiative is a group of Christians from various backgrounds who covenant together to live in an intentional initiative, practicing deep and growing friendship with God and others, that the love of Jesus might exceed all divisions.

In addition to all of these activities, we have been busy trying to catch up on administration stuff and making a smooth transition with the East Africa Diaspora Community. 

We have also enjoyed having some family time. It has been fun having both Ethan and Ruth home this summer. Caleb and Sarah live in the apt building next door so we have enjoyed weekly family dinners. Sophia and Penny have visited on week this summer already and we are looking forward to Matt, Sophia, and Penny coming in August. We enjoy our granddaughter so much. Penny just turned 1! 

One of the things that happen with those of us that are relying on other’s gifts to sustain us and our ministries is what some call the Summer Giving Slump. This has been our experience for our whole missionary career. We call it skinny summer. Usually, we try and save up or do some extra pushes for giving in the spring to cover for the summer lol. This year as we have made the transition to Faith and Learning receiving our funding it, unfortunately, has happened during the summer. It was probably not the best time to make this transition but we did not have much choice in the timing of it all. 

We first want to thank those who have made the transition and are now giving to East Africa Diaspora Community EADC our project with Faith and Learning https://faithandlearning.org/. We could not do this ministry without you, so thanks so much for your sacrificial giving!

There may be some of you that might want to partner with us but are still a bit confused as to what we are doing. We have spent 19 years of our lives overseas building relationships with East Africans, mainly in Uganda and Rwanda and now we are following those relationship lines to East Africans living in diaspora currently here in Chicagoland and beyond. Over the last 7 years that we have lived here, we have proactively built relationships with several community organizations of Ugandans, Tanzanians, Kenyans, Congolese, South Sudanese, Rwandans, and others from East Africa. We are promoting unity and encouraging these communities to collaborate together on common projects. We have also acted as pastors at large and have helped with funerals, weddings, and other individual counseling and mentoring. We also do a lot of our teaching online through FaceBook live and writings. We are in the process of putting some of these into a seminar format called Welcome to America: how to live well in Diaspora that we are planning on using in some different Diaspora communities across the U.S. and abroad. 

If you would like to give; our project is found in the World Wide section https://faithandlearning.org/projects/  under East Africa Diaspora Community: Dave & Jana Jenkins. We have also created our own website at  East African Diaspora Community website You can either go to our online giving page for EADC Giving Page, or donors can also mail checks made out to East Africa Diaspora Community to PO Box 480, Wheaton, IL  60187. 

Currently, we are only about 19% funded so we have some additional support to discover. We would love for our current supports to introduce us to like-minded individuals and/or Churches.

But most importantly we would like for you to continue joining us with your prayers. We believe this is God’s work that he has called us too and believe that He will provide!

Blessings,

Jana and Dave