CHURCH PREGNANCY

Those of us called to church planting love the image of church births. Those of us fortunate enough to have children of our own remember the emotions of birth such as anticipation, pain, joy, and hope for the future. The image of a new community formed at the point of birth thrills us.

However, us church planters sometimes forget that pregnancy comes before birth. On behalf of Christ’s Church in Rwanda I would like to officially announce that we are pregnant. Our anticipated date of arrival is March 4, 2007. We plan to name our new arrival Christ’s Church in Rwanda – Kigali. We are thrilled at this announcement and ask your prayers for our successful pregnancy and the health of our upcoming child.

We believe this is a chosen child and did not realize until our first private family announcement that her birthday caries the meaning of “March Forth.” This will be her blessing and our intention. She will march forth.

Those of you who have never witnessed church birth probably think, “Yes, the Jenkins have hit their limit with culture fatigue. It’s time to bring them home for some R and R soon, and maybe even some extra pastoral counsel.”

Let me try to explain the concept of church pregnancy. If a birth is to be legitimate it must go through certain processes. The first is just the quick glances between a man and a woman, followed by some infatuation, and those first uncomfortable conversations. A few of you remember our infatuation when we first visited Rwanda in 1999. You’ve seen us be courted by Rwanda and eventually conclude it was God’s will for us to move to Rwanda. However, we couldn’t do it alone. Marriage is a community event. In Africa, marriage is also a community process. In Rwanda there are 5 different ceremonies to unite the community in concluding this relationship is legitimate.

We’ve certainly been through some ceremonies, and though we’re not done the end is in sight. Some of you participated in the first community ones as Quail Springs chose to send us to Rwanda, and sent us off with their commissioning blessing.

Then we arrived in Rwanda, and needed to establish the legitimacy of our relationship with Rwanda. We’ve walked many government offices, had lots of cups of coffee, and invited many into our home. We’ve sought opportunities to serve and earn trust by teaching at local universities, writing in newspapers, tutoring English, and facilitating scholarships. Many of you have had unique opportunities to also establish a relationship with Rwandan leadership by hosting Ambassador Nsenga in March and President Kagame in April at OC. Kyle and Luz Beard joined us in May, and they too are seeking to earn trust through service.

A new stage was reached in our relationship on May 26 when Rwanda’s Minister of Local Government issued us a registration for Christ’s Church in Rwanda. We are now seen as legitimate. However, we’ve still got a few more ceremonies to go through with the Ministry of Justice and the Immigration Department, but the end is in sight.

Rwanda will now let us prepare for birth. We’re pregnant with a church. For those of you familiar with pregnancy, you remember the anxiety and morning sickness, counting financial costs, buying baby clothes and beds, and most of all a growing sense of anticipation. We’re experiencing it all now.

We’ve got some basic tasks to finish before March Forth. First, we need to finish our ceremonies and documentation – more letters, forms, visits, and cups of coffee. Next, we need to gather the right people – those called to share a vision for discipling future and current thought leaders in Kigali. Amanda Moore and Kyla Kiser will join us in August, and Caleb and Jenny Beck will join us early in 2007. Also, this birth is going to be complicated and expensive. The expense simply cannot be avoided if we intend for her to be healthy. Thus our family will be home from October to December to report, discover more funding, and call more to join our team. Then our little one needs a physical home. We’ll probably start renting a facility, but we can’t be a legitimate family without a place to call our own. Finally, we’re really African grandparents at heart. We won’t settle for just one birth. We intend to have many children and intend for those children to reproduce. Only children and perpetual adolescents are not an option for Rwandan family. Our preparation is not just for March Forth, but for her siblings and future children.

Please begin praying in earnest for March Forth.

Dave and Jana