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God has been good to us in helping to build our team both with North Texas and at Windermere. Jennie Parks is from our church in Frisco and good friend with the Yates. She has shown and interest in missions and has been moving towards becoming a new missionary with us in Eleuthera ever since her trip here a year ago.
Jennie has gone through the whole process of coming on board with NTM and she was slated to join us this summer into the next year as a teacher, however she is still working on raising all of her financial support and building her team. Despite her deficit in financial support she has taken her time this summer to come down for a month and live here to help us and the school and help herself in adjusting to the island, culture, and the nature of the school’s structure.
I asked Jennie to live in the boys dorm apartment while she was here and to help build it up for our new dorm parents coming in August. She did an amazing job and despite back pain and more scrubbing on hand and knees that you’d ever ask for, she has turned that little 2 story building into a palace and repainted the entire structure top to foundation.
Jennie has the ability to instantly bond with our mission teams this summer and she was an invaluable help to our summer team program; often jumping right in to help take the lead, fielding questions and needs from the teams, and overall support and team management Jennie was a blessing to all of us.
It was a little of a dilemma, and I called her an anomaly, because even though we placed her as a summer intern, her role would really be much more like an actual missionary than an intern. Even with the convoluted nature of already here on the mission field, but not quite yet, Jennie came to serve and we all enjoyed our time together with her.
On her last day with the team leaving, she walked from the beach by herself, having a moment with the Lord. I can clearly remember those moments, praying and seeking the Lord’s leading in my life, knowing that even though I was headed back to something more familiar it felt like I was leaving my home on Eleuthera and part of my heart would forever be waiting for me until I could return. We know that’s Jennie’s heart as well, and we’ll be looking forward to her at 100% again working alongside us.