Looking Back on 2019

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Looking Back on 2019

I’m hoping to have a snail mail version of this update to you before Christmas (click here to print it in color)… I may or may not actually reach that goal. But be looking for it since it will have our newly branded Avant prayer card with it!

First, Obrero Fiel News

New website features and a motivated team!

We’ve had a busy year. My team has managed to go through (one by one) almost 6,000 resources to input much of the necessary data for search engines and update any necessary images or broken links. I was having to do this myself, but with a little training and encouragement, my team pulled through and we all worked together to accomplish this huge task(almost done). Plus, we all were still handling our normal duties as well.

With this task almost behind us, the website is better positioned to attract new users, encourage new sponsors and grant-donors (as well as personal supporters) to invest in the ministry, and sets us up to offer new premium content for serious church leaders. Because the Camino Global (CAM International) name carries over 100 years of trust and sound theological teaching, Obrero Fiel is used by many who know that the content we suggest/provide is theologically sound. If you would like to or know someone who would like to contribute to this ministry, please let me know. Or click here to give online. Or scroll down below the photo gallery to see where to mail a check.

Obrero Fiel Premium Content
Obrero Fiel Premium Subscription

We soft-launched our new Premium content service in November and have started some marketing promotions for it this month(December). The cost for users to subscribe to this service is $24 per year (but there is a coupon for 50% off). This isn’t a large amount of money, but if there is a good response from our user base, this will help offset our ministry costs and work toward making the ministry partially self-sustainable. Our teaching team has been working hard to create video “kits” that can be used to teach Sunday school or small group classes. They’ve also curated premium content that rotates through the service to provide access to books and commentaries that would normally require a large purchase. You can see what the current offerings are by clicking here.

Not only do they have access to this premium content, we also gathered quick links to many resources found on our main website. Sometimes things can be hard to find when there are almost 10,000 resources to search through. These links make the most popular and useful of our resources much easier to find. There are also book reviews and website suggestions.

Jessica and Scot Jenkins
Jessica & Scot

Subscribers will also be receiving emails with devotionals, teaching tips, and resource suggestions from our teaching team.

Your prayers are appreciated as we continue to develop this new service and provide quality resources to people who are the hands and feet of Jesus to the world. Here in the states, we take so many of our resources for granted. They are not so easy to obtain in many places, and the analytics of ObreroFiel.com show that many people desire to have quality resources to use in their work for God and the Church.

Family Updates

Scot and Jessica
Winry sorting containers
Winry loves clearing the cabinet and sorting the containers.

It’s been a great year…and a hard one. It has been amazing watching our grand daughter grow. She has such a big personality for such a tiny person! She’s funny, smart and so cute! Of course, there will be more photos below!

We are now a family with four dogs! Please don’t judge. It just kind of happened. Two of our dogs are elderly, and we wanted to get young ones to enrich their last days and so the young ones could learn the house rules before they are on their own. Georgia (the spotted schnauzer) has been diagnosed with renal disease and her kidneys have a hard time processing her foods. For this reason, I’m cooking a special diet for her. I tried cooking for all of the dogs for a couple of months, but it is just too expensive, and I don’t have a pot big enough to keep from having to cook every three days! The cooking process took almost three hours to finish…so we’ve now settled (hopefully) on a good dry dog food for the other three dogs. I’ve learned a lot about how dogs process food and what is and isn’t good for dogs with kidney disease.

It’s really difficult to get a photo of all of them together. The girls all live in the house with us (therefore they go to work with me) so I can catch quick snapshots of them…especially when they are sleeping.

dogs at work sleeping
They play hard and sleep hard. This is the only time I get real work done…
3 dogs inside
Sasha (the husky) is really tiny in this photo. She’s more than double that size now.

I’m recovering well from the back surgery I had in April. I’d like to say that I no longer live in pain…and for the most part (in comparison to pre-surgery), the pain is gone. But I’ve learned there are limitations to the procedure and they say I will become accustomed to my new normal. Although I still have some discomfort, it has been a huge blessing to be able to walk without pain, do many normal activities that I couldn’t do before, and I’m beginning to want to try to be more active. Chronic pain can be so debilitating in more ways than physically. It creates a domino effect for every facet of life…emotionally and physically. Praise God for the work He does through doctors and modern technology! I’m hoping my January appointment releases me to bike riding and roller coasters! Is that asking too much?

We still love our home church family at Grace Bible Church in Dallas. The people have been so kind and inclusive. And of course, the teaching is first class. Sometimes we feel like we are in seminary during Sunday morning Bible classes.

I’ve enjoyed being on the women’s teaching team. This year, we’re working our way through Genesis. Each group of 8-15 or so ladies(over 100 total I believe) discusses the homework and then listens to a lecture given by one of the ladies on the teaching team(I covered chapter 3). We each take a turn so it isn’t so overwhelming. We really dig in deep. Not only are we learning about each book of the Bible that we go through, but our entire group of ladies is learning how to study the Bible on their own. It’s amazing being a part of such a committed group of women. You can view videos of the courses we have done here.

Quick overview of the kids

Natalie: She’s still in Corpus Christi settling in to married life and instant family of five. She is working full time, co-raising the kids with Carl, and taking a full load of course work toward her Bachelor’s degree. I’m so proud of her!

Amanda: She’s such a busy little mama. She and Casey are in Waxahachie and Winry keeps them on their toes! She teaches online English classes to kids in China through VIPKID. That makes for a very early start each day (since the students are in China), but it allows her to stay home with Winry. She is a natural teacher, and I’m glad she’s able to continue it while staying home.

Joseph: He’s in Austin, still working for Aspyr, a video game production company. He heads up the customer support department and has transformed their ticket flow to make the process much more efficient. Another bit of (not so new) news…he has a girlfriend. He doesn’t like me to share much about him, so I try to honor that… but they’ve been dating long enough that I really should mention it! Melissa is a beautiful, smart, and all-around amazing girl. She’s working on her masters degree in Chicago, so they’re doing the whole “long-distance romance”… takes after his mom I guess! They seem to be handling it well. I love seeing him so happy!

Fun photos

Click on the photos to enlarge and watch a slideshow of all the images on this post.

Giving Options

Go here to give online: Avant Giving (enter Jessica Jenkins as the missionary name, or Obrero Fiel if you want to give to the overall ministry account).

To give by check or money order, send donation to one of the addresses listed below. Please make checks payable to ‘Avant Ministries.’  Please include a note designating the missionary, ministry or project the donation is for (Jessica Jenkins, or Obrero Fiel if you want to give to the overall ministry account).

In the US:                                           In Canada:
Avant Ministries                                    Avant Ministries Canada
10000 N. Oak Trafficway                       2121 Henderson Highway
Kansas City, MO 64155                         Winnipeg MB  R2G 1P8

Be a part of the ministry!

You can pray, give a one-time monetary gift, and/or commit to monthly financial support. Your financial support will help insure the online ministry will continue.

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