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?

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