The Team Jenkins Journey
The story of one clergy couple traveling to new and exciting places. We believe that God created this big world & we want to explore it together. For if we do, we trust that the God we serve will use us to impact this world with God's unconditional love and almighty power.
Friday, July 22, 2011
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me...
Thursday, July 21, 2011
We Have No Idea...
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
A Day of Enlightenment
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Pre-Conference Thoughts
(Old City Jerusalem)
After a rather uneventful transatlantic flight, (Thank you Lord!) Courtney and I finally made it to Israel-Palestine. We arrived shortly before noon local time and made it to our hotel seemingly before anyone else from the conference. Hence, WE SLEPT! While the flight was a great experience, travelling for 11 hours without the ability to lie down takes its toll on your body.
We slept so good in fact, that we overslept for dinner. By the time we received a call from the conference personnel, we had to rush downstairs in order to grab a few morsels. Shortly thereafter we had the opportunity to meet and receive directives from the conference staff as it pertains to our schedule over the next two weeks. We then had a chance to fellowship with the other attendees who are literally from all over the world, i.e. South Africa, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Brazil, etc.
From a few minutes before we landed up until the present moment, I have a felt a sense of awe. While the conference has not yet begun, I feel tremendously blessed to experience this part of the world first-hand. For my entire life, I, along with the rest of the Western world have heard the news reports of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet what is becoming clearer to me from my reading (prior to leaving Cleveland) and my brief personal interactions thus far, there are multiple perspectives from the Palestinian angle that I never considered… especially the Palestinian Christian perspective!
Given my heartfelt passion to better serve the interest of “the least of these,” I am looking forward to learning more about the conflict from the testimonies of dehumanization and sociopolitical oppression that so many of our Palestinian brothers and sisters have had to endure. In so doing, I believe it will enhance my outlook on serving within the culturally-rich context of the African-American community.
Thank you Lord for this great opportunity. Thank you for your travelling mercy, grace, and love. Our prayer is that you would use this time to further enrich our marriage and ministries that we may be better equipped to serve You, and Your purposes. Have your way… and we will be so careful to give You the praise. In Jesus name. Amen.
Cory C. Jenkins
Franciscan Prayer
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, hard hearts, half-truths, and superficial relationships.
May God bless you so that you may live from deep within your heart where God's Spirit dwells.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people.
May God bless you so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war.
May God bless you so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, in your neighborhood, so that you will courageously try what you don't think you can do, but, in Jesus Christ, you'll have all the strength necessary.
May God bless you fearlessly to speak out about injustice, unjust laws, corrupt politicians, unjust and cruel treatment of prisoners, and senseless wars, genocides, starvations, and poverty that are so pervasive.
May God bless you that you remember we are all called to continue God's redemptive work of love and healing in God's place, in and through God's name, in God's Spirit, continually creating and breathing new life and grace into everything and everyone we touch.
Amen.