GIFTS

written by Brad Jenkins

Do you remember what it was like as a child on Christmas morning? Can you feel the excitement to open presents, to see what Santa had left during the night? Do you recall the patience required to wait for everyone to be awake and ready, and the cameras to be in place before you entered the room? I was not so good at the waiting, but the reward for the wait was always worth it! Whether it was the new bike, Mattel football, a Pistol Pete uniform (w/ kneepads), a puppy, bongo set, or even socks – it was exciting, it was a gift, and it was mine! I had made my request and had been heard.

Honestly, I’ve not gotten much better at the waiting. I have struggled with God’s timing on our return to the Dominican Republic, on His provision of the land for the new orphanage and the resources to prepare the site. I’ve struggled with waiting here while there were so many opportunities to minister in Puerto Plata like: teaching English classes, helping desperate prostitutes understand that God designed them for greatness, provide small business loans with Hope International to men and women whose dreams have been lost, disciple young people like Aranza - a 12 year old girl sold to a “gringo” man by a hopeless mother who hoped to give her a better future in prostitution, play soccer with Haitian children in refugee villages, or work alongside and encourage pastors. None of which mentions our greatest call: to rescue orphaned children and offer them a family that displays the love of Christ, which brings them the message of hope and points them toward the future God intends for them.

We are so close to returning! And today, I am reminded of Isaiah 40:31, “They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings of eagles, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint”. We have waited and continue, our strength is renewed, we are ready to soar with new perspective and opportunity, and we are ready to tirelessly run or even walk when necessary, because we know the Lord is with us.

Our wait today is to finish up our monthly support need. We thank God and our partners that our “special gift” goals have been reached and that our monthly needs are within reach. We hope to have the remaining funds ($1250/mo.) by the end of this month. This newsletter is mailed to 330 people and viewed by many others through our blog and website. If 60 people responded at $20/month we would be ready to go. We trust that God will continue to provide for His ministry to Puerto Plata. Any amount of monthly contribution makes a big difference, both to us, and those who partner with God’s ministry to “the least of these” by financial support of this ministry.

Please pray for:

• All that God has in store for Alliance 29:11 and our family in the DR
• All of our monthly support to be committed
• All the land and building financial resources to be given
• We have to be out of the missionary house in April, because of a prior commitment to another missionary family, so pray for provision for housing OR for our return to the DR! (we hope the latter)
• Safety during travel to upcoming appointments as we seek to close out those support needs
• And join us in thanking God for all He has done to reshape this vision, develop our ministry partners, for the recent Birmingham area media coverage of our ministry, and for the renewing of our family’s strength during our time in the states. And thank Him that our after the March 27^th Alliance 29:11 board meeting, our due diligence will be complete allowing us to return to the DR if our support is in.

Thank you for your continued encouragement and support. We can’t do this without you!

To give please go to:

http://web.mac.com/globeworks/dominikids.com/How_to_partner_with_us%21.html

Google Earth Image of the land we are praying for, it is eight acres in total.

Phase I – is the small yellow square on the right. This is the dominikids Hope House rescue village, to meet the immediate need of the orphans. Asking price for the land is $180K.

Phase II – is on the left. The Community Impact Center would include a microfinance bank, discipleship center, job training center & medical clinic. The Orphan Care Village would house up to 11 native foster families with children transitioned from our Rescue Village.

FEBUARY 2010 - DR assists HAITI

As I sit here in the Spirit Airlines terminal at Ft. Lauderdale, a stop in my return flight home from Puerto Plata, I am reminded of my playing days. If you have ever played a sport, you know that the worst days of practice the entire year are those just before the season starts. You and teammates have spent weeks or months going through difficult drills, sweating, bleeding, learning plays, beating on each other – tempers flaring up at times. You cannot wait to get to the first game and actually doing what it is you have prepared to do for so long.

This is exactly the feeling I have right now. It seems that for a couple of years our family has been preparing for that which God called us to. We even got to taste the season – only to seemingly have our first game rained out. Today we are trying to wait patiently on the Lord. We know that our call is like that of Jesus in Luke 4:18-19 – “He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” We have seen God do some tremendous things this fall and bring such a great team together to do ministry in the DR. We have had our planning meetings, poured through budgets, the Lord has continued to sharpen us in the area of Orphan Care and developed our model for bringing love and hope and a future to the children that will be entrusted to us and now we are ready!

The last piece to come together is the financial piece. As I write this today, we are in need of $1150/month in our family’s budget. We also need $28k to get established there as a family again – this would cover tickets, a car, and our rent until the new missions house is complete. Alliance 29:11 DR is also in need of funds for the project as a whole. We are hoping to build a village of orphan care facilities, as well as, a community impact center on a couple of plots of land totaling 9.5 acres. These pieces of land are centrally located in Puerto Plata and give us tremendous opportunity to impact the entire city. We cannot go without God placing these needs on the hearts of his people and the obedient response of those He leads to act. Until then, we continue with pre-season.

Please pray for the arrival of these funds and God’s time to come. If our family’s resources came in we could leave immediately. If we were on the ground in Puerto Plata we would be able to continue to develop church/pastor relationships, train and recruit staff, launch community ministry through ESL programs teaching English classes, Hope International bank, teen discipleship programs, work closely with CONANI and our lawyer Mateo on compliance and philosophy of orphan care, and lastly, further relationship building in the community.

Brooke and the kids have begun their second semester of home school and are off to a really good start. Brooke is enjoying it, but appreciated the break. She is trying to sharpen her elementary grammar skills and is being challenged by teaching grammar. Please pray for her patience with herself in this area. She is doing a great job, but feels like she is struggling there. The kids are really growing up and taking responsibility for schoolwork. They are proud of their accomplishments and I am proud of teacher and students.

Please continue to pray for Alliance 29:11 and our family in these areas:

· Fundraising for our family

· Fundraising for Alliance 29:11 DR – land purchase $180K

· DR staff currently in place, and staff yet to be recruited

· A durable and inexpensive vehicle for our family in the DR

Another prayer request that I want to address separately has to do with the earthquake in Haiti. CONANI, Child Protective Services in the DR has asked for our help! They are asking us for 2 things, medicine and housing for Haitian Orphans. CONANI requesting our help shows great confidence in Alliance 29:11 and we would love to help care for the onslaught of orphaned Haitian kids to be arriving in the DR. But, we do not currently have the funding to return. Can you help? Please pray for our quick return or give as God leads.

To give please go to:

http://web.mac.com/globeworks/dominikids.com/How_to_partner_with_us%21.html

When you set up your account, you can set up a reoccuring paymant or make a special gift. When you enter the amount make sure to select Jenkins Monthly or Jenkins Special Gift. Thank you for your support, we can't do this without each one of you!