Jenkins Journal … A Journey into Missions

Check out this link to Google Maps to explore our Curridabat, Costa Rica, neighborhood from a bird’s eye view.  Now at 87.8 percent of our ongoing support commitments, it looks like we’ll make it into our new home in early December!  Here’s the link.  

Praise!  Dan has been in Costa Rica since Sunday and managed to secure a lease for a home; purchase a sofa and washing machine; and order bedroom and dining room furniture from a local carpenter.  We should be all set with a home and furnishings for our arrival in CR (we are still praying for some time this fall).  We are all eager to relocate and have observed God’s hand moving throughout our transition process.

Our family is still stateside, as we complete our support team.  With the budget changes for 2010, we now stand at 74% of our monthly support commitments (need another 24 individuals at $100/month) and 90% of our startup budget (need another $6,000 to complete it).  We are still hoping to arrive in Costa Rica this fall (or at least before the end of the year).  The next language school semester begins Jan. 10, and we need to be there before the first of the year to attend.  Please add this to your list of prayers on behalf of the Jenkins family.

Given the economy, raising support through churches has been difficult, although not impossible.  We now have three churches supporting us:  First Evangelical Free Church, Manchester, Mo., (our home church); Grace Evangelical Free Church, Kokomo, Ind.; and Heritage Church of God, Maumee, Ohio (the church that absorbed Sue’s childhood church home, Dorr Street Church of God in Toledo, Ohio).  We have an excellent chance of picking up support from Village Bible Church, Bella Vista, Ark.  They have invited us to speak to their congregation on Oct. 28.  Again, please pray over this church appointment.

We are homeschooling Emma (2nd grade) and Caleb (pre-school) for the first time this semester.  It’s going pretty well, although we will be glad to get the kids going at the Sojourn Academy upon our arrival in Costa Rica.  Emma is very social and has a high need for interaction with other children outside of our family.  (Note to parents of Emma’s friends:  she is always eager for a play date.)

Please also continue to pray for our family and our traveling safety.  During the month of October, we will be traveling extensively.  Dan is traveling from Costa Rica via bus to Nicaragua this morning with a group of +/-15 Church of God (CHOG) pastors.  They will be attending a CHOG pastors’ conference in Managua, Nicaragua, through Saturday, Oct. 17.  Dan returns to St. Louis on Sunday, Oct. 18.  The kids and I are visiting my folks in Indiana until then and will also return to St. Louis on Sunday.  We’ll be back in St. Louis until Friday, Oct. 23, at which time we’re headed to Oklahoma City, Okla., and then Bella Vista, Ark.  Please pray for our travels and for successful support raising efforts in these cities.

Our commissioning service will be held at our home church (First Evangelical Free Church, Manchester, Mo.) on Sunday, Nov. 1.  Friends and family are welcome to attend.  The first service is at 9 a.m., and the second service (identical) is at 10:30 a.m.  There will be a luncheon/reception following the 10:30 a.m. service.  Dan and I will share our testimony during both services.

What’s orange and black and quoted as saying, “nevermore”?  Why the Anderson University mascot, the Raven, of course. 

This week, our family will once again pack our bags and hit the road to reunite with fellow alumni, as we travel to Anderson, Ind., for Anderson University’s annual Homecoming celebration, Oct. 8-11.  On Saturday, Oct. 10, from 4-6 p.m., Park Place Church of God will host a reception during which Dan and I will share briefly about our plans for micro-enterprise development in Costa Rica while visiting with old friends.

As we wait patiently (well, we’re trying hard at it) on the Lord to provide the remainder of our financial needs for missions, we are taking the opportunity to spend more time with friends and family and enjoying the changing seasons.  In our attempts to complete our financial support team, we will have another busy month of travel, beginning with AU Homecoming.

On October 11, Dan will depart from Indiana for Costa Rica to do a bit of house-hunting, before leaving with a group of Church of God pastors by Ticabus for a pastor’s conference in Nicaragua.  Please pray for traveling mercies and good relations with potential partners in ministry.  He will depart from Nicaragua for St. Louis on Oct. 18.  The kids and I will remain in Indiana (and possibly Ohio) to visit family and friends while Dan’s out of the country.

We’ll all be back in St. Louis for just a few short days before packing up and heading out for “O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A, Oklahooooo … ma!”  Oct. 23-26, we’ll be reaching out to congregations and individuals in Oklahoma City.  From Oklahoma City, we’re off to Bella Vista, Arkansas.

Village Bible Church (Bella Vista, Ark.) has invited us to share our calling with their congregation on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 5:30 p.m.  We’ll join the congregation for dinner and their evening worship service.  We welcome others to participate in the evening.

Concluding our month of travels, First Evangelical Free Church (Manchester, Mo.), our home church, will celebrate our call to missions with a commissioning service (back-to-back services, actually) and a reception for friends and family.  The commissioning will take place on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 9 and 10:45 a.m. services, followed immediately by the reception.

Our goal is to be in Costa Rica this fall.  We will set our departure date when we reach 95 percent of our ongoing support commitments.  Currently, we are at 72.5 percent of our ongoing commitments and have achieved full funding of our startup budget.  Praise the Lord!  Just 24 more couples at $100/month, and we’re Costa Rica bound!  Thank you for your encouragement, support and prayers!

At least someone in this family is up-to-date on her blog content (smile). … Our second-grade daughter, Emma, has been working hard on creating interesting content for the Jenkins siblings’ blog, “Tico Times Tres.”  Check out the latest post at www.tresninos.wordpress.com to see the first chapter book from Emma’s recent writings.  Like her mother and father, Emma seems to be taking a fancy to writing.  We are so proud!

As you may have surmised from previous posts, the Jenkins family is in the midst of an epic journey.  Last weekend, we crossed over the Canadian border and headed for Toronto.  Where else would a couple of Midwesterners practice Spanish, eh?

We made it through the first week of language acquisition training and can now enunciate better than Dan Rather and produce sounds we never imagined existed in language.  What is language acquisition training?  Two words:  “phonetics” and “practice.”  An incredibly sweet and encouraging Panamanian “mujer,” who found her way to Toronto some 13 years ago, has been working with us on building upon our Spanish.  In addition, we’ve been learning lots of techniques for learning a new language.

To celebrate the completion of the first week of training and to get a bit of a break from our host city, we headed out to Niagara Falls for a quick day trip.  (Us and half of the other 1 million “additional” tourists who showed up to Toronto this weekend for “Caribana.”)  The visit to the falls was the first for Dan and our three kids, and they were appropriately awe-inspired by the majesty of God’s creation.  (The Vegas-style tourist traps, we could do without.)

Caleb's wet "noodle" in the mist of the Horseshoe Falls.

Emma, the "Maid of the Mist."

 

Niagara Falls, shadowed by Emma's beauty.

God's fingerprint. (Niagara Falls)

Heritage Church of God (with two locations, one of which Sue’s home church as a child/young adult) welcomed the Jenkins family to Toledo, Ohio, this past weekend.  We are excited to announce Heritage is now the third church to join our financial support team!

On Sunday, Dan again graced the pulpit and delivered an inspiring three-point sermon.  Sue and Emma had the pleasure of joining with the Women of the Church of God (from several congregations in Northwest Ohio) for a picnic along the scenic Maumee River.  Emma wooed the crowd with her uninhibited participation in our presentation on Costa Rica. 

Thank you to Heritage and the ladies of the WCG for a fantastic weekend of fellowship and your assistance in building our financial support team!

Dan spoke at Heritage Church of God, Maumee, Ohio, on Sunday evening.

Stand aside Emeril, you've got some competition! Alan Faust, shrimp boil master chef.

Low-country chef extraordinnaire, Alan Faust put on a fabulous shrimp boil to celebrate Dan & Sue’s call into missions.  Not only was it a wonderful time of visiting with friends, coworkers (now former), and family, the event raised over $3050 toward our start up expenses.  We are very grateful to Alan and his family for helping to make this event a huge success.  (Sue would also like to thank Alan for throwing in a few headless shrimp for my benefit — those big, black eyes just scream, “please don’t eat me!”)

Not only does he cook, he sings (and makes others join along)! The shrimp boil concluded with a little Jenkins family and Costa Rican trivia, followed by the Faust family's rendition of "God Bless America."