To America and Back Again!

I have not taken time to blog since I returned from my trip to America. It seems that trying to catch up on 6 weeks’ worth of work can be quite a daunting task. I feel I have not stopped since the moment I landed back in Auckland.

My trip home was beyond any expectation I could have ever had. To spend quality time with my family is exactly what I needed! There is nothing like the hug of a mother and siblings! This is something I have only come to know the true value of since moving to New Zealand. If there is anything I have learned in this calling the Kiwiland it is that my family is a precious gift. Not only did I get time with my family, but my best friend Nikki! Only God orchestrate my calling allowing me to see my best friend more in two years than the previous ten! I love that He takes care me to the very smallest of detail.

Upon my return I definitely had hesitations. In no way did I want to leave my family so soon especially knowing just how long a year is apart from them! The entire journey home (the unbelievably and ridiculously long journey) I was holding back the tears as I kept imagining those last few moments in the airport over and over in my mind. Never in a million years would I have thought this calling would be so hard.

However, the moment came when I arrived at the Auckland airport to friendly smiles and loving embraces of those God has placed in my life on the other side of the world. I immediately felt like I was in my second home and ready for the journey ahead of me. I was ready to pick up right where I left off!

South Primal (A.K.A Soufies)

 The following day I was overwhelmed with the love of my Soufies (the term for youth in South Primal) who excitedly awaited my return. I was reunited with my babies! Such beautiful, talented, and passionate youth that continually blow me away with their capacity for love and generosity.  Never, in all my years of ministry, have I seen youth come so far so quickly.

Just in the last 4 weeks South Primal (C3 South Centre’s youth ministry) has seen over 40 salvations! That’s just the tip of the iceberg! Every week my heart is moved as I watch our youth come expectant for God to move in their lives. From the moment our services start they are fully engaged! The room fills up with laughter and joy as we dance together, worship together, and seek the Lord together. Each week they enter into worship without having to be encouraged. As soon as we begin to walk up to the mic they begin to spread throughout the room to find a space that they can get focused on God and get lost in His presence. And to top it all off, they have servant hearts like no other! Always asking and longing to get involved and do an incredible job at making every week run smoothly and efficiently.

2014 C3 LEADERSHIP COLLEGE

Upon my return I was officially placed over C3 Leadership College. We currently have 14 incredible students being trained in youth and young adult ministries. Each one of them brings a different but incredible dynamic to ministry. Four of these are youth that have come out of South Primal. We have hopes to plant two new South Primal campuses in Papakura and Pukekohe. We have kids wanting to come that we do not have the ability to transport so we are going to them! My heart leaps with joy every time I think about the future of South Primal. There are many visions God has laid on my heart and we are slowly seeing them unfold.

2014 UNDEFEATED TOUR

We are in the middle of our UNDEFEATED Tour. We have been in six high schools over the last week, and going to the South Island next week to go into another four for our Christchurch tour. It has been incredible to watch the response of the schools as we bring a message of hope and purpose using creative arts to present a relevant message to the youth of NZ. After losing one of my South Primal youth to suicide 5 months ago I have become more passionate this tour than. The youth of NZ are desperate for a since of purpose and hope, but also a since that someone cares and someone wants them. We are allowed to promote Primal Youth (each C3 Church in NZ has a Primal that runs as its youth ministry), and do a large evangelistic service at the end of the tours to lead these youth to Christ! We are doing our best to make a stand against the astronomical rate of suicide that this country faces.

Our Boy George Maoate RIP

God has also blessed me with the honor and privilege of speaking in many different place including Everywomans Conference, Impact Youth Conference in Tauranga, and even being one of the presenters in the high schools for the Undefeated Tour. The more I do ministry the more I understand the honor that God is trusting me with His children. It is not something I take lightly. I, at times, still can't believe that He has chosen to use me to do His work.  

To sum it all up, we are VERY busy building God’s kingdom here in NZ! I love being surrounded by people that have a heart to GO! While we may not do everything right we are certainly doing everything within our ability to make a difference throughout the nation of New Zealand.

Please to continue to keep me and the team in your prayers. We have many battles that we are up against. I am continually grateful all that support me through this journey of following the call of God on my life. You are responsible for helping to build God's kingdom on the other side of the world!  

Home Sweet Home!

Operation Help Get Jessie Home!!!

Hello family and friends! As always, I pray that you are doing well, and that you are enjoying the season of life God has you in. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such incredible people all over the world!

For the past year and a half I have been working with C3 Church in Auckland, NZ. Here is a quick update on what God has been doing on this side of the world:

            

             South Primal: I have been pastoring a group called South Primal in South Auckland. This is usually known as an underprivileged area in which the youth are raised in much more difficult environments. Many are from foster homes, involved in gangs, raising themselves as well as their siblings, and almost all have been abused or sexually abused in some way. Since I have been here we have seen one youth after another come to know Christ and start making steps to having More To Life. As a church we have grown out of our building and will be moving to a new building in only 6 weeks! So exciting to see His kingdom increasing! I could spend pages just writing about the many testimonies we have seen, but in attempts to keep this short I will encourage you to continue following my blog: http://jessie-vs-nz.blogspot.co.nz/. Not only do we help them spiritually, but also provide food packages, daily hygienic needs, help them to get the driver’s license, help with studies, provide training to develop their talents (musical instruments, dance, spoken word, song writing, etc) and any other area in their lives possible.

2.       

              C3 Leadership College: I also serve as the C3 Leadership College Program Director. This is dedicated to training up young adults for ministry. They are trained teaching as well as practical application. The students travel the country with our Undefeated Tour (see www.undefeated.co.nz  for more information) going to high schools as well as going to the streets to reach teenagers that face depression and to combat the high level of suicide seen throughout the entire country.  Many of these students step out to plant youth ministries, and over the years there have been many that have become pastors that are still maintaining ministries around NZ. Our goal is to empower them to fulfill the purpose and call God has placed on their lives and set them up for success in pursuing that call.

I remember the day I was called to NZ at the age of eight as if it were yesterday! Now that I am actually living that call it almost feels as if I am living in a dream land. While it is a gorgeous country full of incredible people it does not mean that the transition to another country has been easy. Every day I find myself missing my family and friends that played such a crucial role in my life for so many years. No one can ever take the place of family in your heart no matter where you are in the world. Some months are easier than others. The moments I see youth make a decision for Christ, get baptized and get set free make my heart overwhelmed with joy! However, there are times that I would love nothing more than just to spend one evening with loved ones, and being in a country with the things that are “normal” to me.

I miss my family and doing my best to raise money to get home and see them! I would like to extend an opportunity to help continue supporting the work God is doing in NZ, but also to help me come home! It costs $2500 every time I want to come home to see friends and family. It has now been a year and I desperately want and need to come home to the support and love of those surrounding me in America. My goal is to get home for June to help with our Giant VBS (nothing beats seeing thousands of kids come to know Jesus)! If you are led to join me by financially supporting this mission, it will allow helping ministries in the States as well as having time with all of you! To make it as easy as possible I have included information on how to give into this ministry. I would greatly appreciate any level of support you are able to offer.

Ways to contribute financially:

All donations should be made payable to the Knoxville Christian Center designated to Jessie Jenkins’ New Zealand missions trip. You will be eligible to receive tax credit with any donation given.

To pay by check:

Checks must be made payable to the Knoxville Christian Center designated to Jessie Jenkins’ New Zealand mission’s trip.

Mail to:

Knoxville Christian Center

P.O. Box 50490

Knoxville, TN 37950

To pay by credit:

Contact the Knoxville Christian Center office and have credit card number available. Or fill out the form provided below.  Information can be taken over the phone @ 865-690-0855.

To pay cash:

Cash may be designated to Jessie Jenkins’ New Zealand mission’s trip and mailed or brought to the Knoxville Christian Center office.

Mail to:

Knoxville Christian Center

P.O. Box 50490

Knoxville, TN 37950

1 Year Down...At Least Two More To Go!

It has been some time since I have last written, and I pray that everything is going well for you. Just because I am on the other side of the world does not mean that I do not think of you often. I miss all my family and friends so much! I love NZ but there is nothing like the people that supported me through all the ups and downs, and you are a part of me being able to follow God’s plan and call on my life.

It is pretty hard to believe that I have been in NZ for over a year. My time here has flown by, and honestly it feels as if I just got here a couple months ago. As I look back I am in awe of all that God has done. It is as if He has carefully directed every step of my journey putting me in the right place at the right time.

I am slowly becoming more comfortable living in a new country. I don’t know how to explain the feeling of being in a place that is different from everything I have ever known, and miles away from all friends and family. However, God has allowed me to develop relationships with truly incredible people that have encouraged and challenged me in my walk with the Lord. I believe in just a years’ time I have made lifelong friendships, and partners of ministry. And I am excited to report that I received my religious work visa and will be allowed to continue to do ministry over the next couple of years!

When I first walked into South Primal at the beginning of January 2013 I remember asking myself, “What have I gotten myself into?” Going from around 200 youth to around 20 was quite an adjustment. The youth would walk in and out of the service, there was a lack passion, and an overwhelming need to be “cool.” I knew that I had a lot of work ahead of me in order to see this become a thriving ministry. In one of the first meetings God gave me a vision of the youth running out of the building saying, “I’m free! I’m free!” They all had smiles on their face and were full of joy and hope. At that time it seemed like an impossible dream. Countless hours of prayer, discipleship, and hard work were to come.

Here it is over a year later and I can say that the vision He put in my heart has already begun to happen. Just last week one of the youth said, “I love South Primal because it is the one place that I can go and smile and be happy. I love seeing everyone else happy and jumping around having fun.” Another said, “I just loving begin around happy people! Primal is my favorite part of the week!”  Each week 50-60 youth come in smiling, laughing, dancing, playing, and simply having a few hours to be the kid that they are. They engage in our silly activities designed to get them out of their comfort zone as well as out of their “I am too cool for this” mentality. I can only imagine the joy it brings Jesus to see His kids enjoying the life He has given them! They are finally catching onto our theme, “More To Life!”

There is a hunger and passion to grow closer in God every week. They are always ready to worship, and listen with attentiveness to the message spoken at each service. We are currently on a series call Identity in which we are teaching them who they are in Christ! It has been incredible! On average we see around 5-7 kids make commitments for Christ every service! Several never having known who this “Jesus” was at all!

Recently I have been working with a group of girls from a part of town called Otara. The first time I met them I knew it was going to be a journey. I found out quickly that these 15 year olds had already spent a lot of time on the streets involved in prostitution, and that their favorite activity was to smoke pot.  Involved in gangs they were very cautious as to who picked them up, and the places we hung out together.  We are still very much on a journey with these girls, but they have given their lives to the Lord and come to services almost twice a week! Instead of giving me an untrusting glare they quickly come to have a loving embrace with a smile on their face.

We have also been doing work with kids from Dingwall foster home. These kids obviously come in with a lot of hurt and brokenness. Recently two young boys started attending that are honestly some of the most talent kids I have ever seen! I was driving them home one night and I asked them how things with their parents were going since they were only supposed to be at Dingwall for a short amount of time. Looking down at the floor they began to tell me how their father told them he did not want them to come home because they were old enough to be men that take care of themselves. These kid are only 15. My heart broke and I had to hold back the tears that began to well up in my eyes.  One Thursday night one of the boys ran up to me with excitement saying, “Ps Jessie! Ps Jessie! I felt Him! I had an encounter with God!” With a huge smile on his face he began to talk to me about his excitement for the things God has in store for him, and how much he loves his South Primal family!

That is exactly what we have become…a family. We laugh together, pray together, worship together, support each other…we are doing life together! The more we become a family the more we are able to impact and disciple those that come from broken homes and those that are literally fatherless. The more we become a family the less they desire to be in gangs that give them a sense of family. There are people they can rely on, lean on, and it is a place they can be loved on.  Recently a pastor that visited said, “I have never seen kids so passionate and on fire for God. They are so expectant for God to move in their lives!”

Over the past few months we have launched 5 new connect groups, baptized over 13 kids for the first time, and took around  40 of them to camp Getaway! We have only scratched the surface in this first year, and I am thrilled to see what God has in store for 2014! I know there are many challenges ahead of us, but after having a year like this I know God only has greater things than ever.

I would love to have you partner with me in seeing more of these kids come to know Christ! Our goal is not to only lead to them Christ, but also begin of journey of discipleship that teachings them the things of God as well as the practical things of life. We are helping them find jobs, finish school, get counseling, provide food and other life necessities and even get their driver’s license. We are spiritual parents to say the least! You can help this ministry to continue by offering your spiritually and financial support.

Prayer support is absolutely vital in any ministry, but especially with the youth I am working with in South Auckland. Their culture is highly spiritual and practice worshipping many gods. Many have been involved in witch craft, and other spiritual rituals. It is very common for them to have encounters with demonic spirits which makes it crucial for us to not only pray for the youth but ourselves as we enter into these areas of ministry.

 Beyond your prayers, if you are led to join me by financially supporting this mission, I will allow me to continue the work has called me to do. In addition by contributing you will be directly responsible for spreading the gospel in New Zealand! I need to raise money to be able to remain in the country over the next year.  I will have to be creative to raise this money, and I want to extend an invitation to you to participate. To make it as easy as possible, I have included information below that explains the process for giving for this ministry. This is a journey that God has called me to, and I would greatly appreciate any level of support you are able to offer.

Your support has already affected a few hundred lives in NZ, and would not have been able to do it without you! I am truly grateful to have you in my life. I would love to hear what God is going in your life as well and know that I am praying for you on this side of the world. If you would like to know about how God called me to New Zealand and keep up with my upcoming missions trip, please visit my blog at http://jessie-vs-nz.blogspot.com/.

Ways to contribute financially:

All donations should be made payable to the Knoxville Christian Center designated to Jessie Jenkins’ New Zealand missions trip. You will be eligible to receive tax credit with any donation given.

To pay by check:

Checks must be made payable to the Knoxville Christian Center designated to Jessie Jenkins’ New Zealand missions trip.

Mail to:

Knoxville Christian Center

P.O. Box 50490

Knoxville, TN 37950

To pay by credit:

Contact the Knoxville Christian Center office and have credit card number available. Or fill out the form provided below.  Information can be taken over the phone @ 865-690-0855.

To pay cash:

Cash may be designated to Jessie Jenkins’ New Zealand missions trip and mailed or brought to the Knoxville Christian Center office.

Mail to:

Knoxville Christian Center

P.O. Box 50490

Knoxville, TN 37950