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

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