Prayers.

In the past month, a lot has happened not only in my personal life, but with Imani as well. I have found that this week, I am getting sick and having trouble breathing. I ask that you keep me in your prayers.

I live, breath, sleep missions and everyday my thoughts are consumed on how I can help out more. How I can spread the word about Imani better. When and where I can share my story and pray that people will join our vision. This happens everyday at every hour and I am overwhelmed with a compassionate heart. We have a small team with driven hearts and all we want to do is help, but it takes strategy, it takes a full-time team, and it takes patience.

Imani Tumaini Upendo plans to launch a scholarship program in Mombasa, Kenya in May 2012. I will be taking over a group of interns to help launch this program. We will be working with single and widowed women. We hope to teach them a trade and provide them a fair wage, in the end, hoping they can leave our program equipped with a trade they have developed.

A program like this, takes lots of preparation, lots of planning and again lots of patience. This is something that I struggle with everyday, because I want people to know what we are doing now and I want people to join our vision and be a part of an organization that over the years is going to change hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

Father God, I pray for patience. I pray for guidance and clarity for this program. I pray for good health and I lift my worries to you. I pray that in the midst of school, relationships and work, that Imani will get the care and attention it deserves. I pray that funding will come in your time and by your plan. I pray for our board and the creation of that. I give this all to you Lord.

I am overwhelmed Father and I pray that you can help me take a moment to breath. I love you and all I want to do is serve you wholeheartedly. I pray that you take my dependence away from the comforts of this world and I only look to you in all I do.

Thank you for being such a gracious Father and I am blessed to be your daughter.

Amen.

The simple things.

Today at 2:30pm, Imani Tumaini Upendo team gathered in my living room. We have a lot going on and in the midst of chaos, are trying to focus back on our roots and why Imani started.

The beginning...

I took the time to reflect in my journal. I opened it to the beginning, and began to read.

My first entry of this new journal I had purchased was on April 12, 2010. I had bought it in preparation for my next trip to Mombasa, Kenya and was preparing my heart for a month long journey with Chris and Lisa Moore of Real4Christ Ministries.

This is what part of my first entry said:

"Life is not a gift from God. ETERNAL LIFE is the gift OF God. To be filled with the Lord and the energy you receive from the Lord and people will take notice that you have been with Him, so leading by example is very important. Ephesians 3:19 says, '...and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.'

I want to be wholly filled with the Lord. By letting go, the Lord will fill us completely. I need to not hang on to the old sin, doubt, guilt or shame because the Lord is forgiving. Once I give it all to Him, I will be complete with his grace and love.

The Lord is amazing and everyday He amazes me more. I wake up with a purpose. I wake up everyday to serve the Lord."

Then the next day on April 13, 2010 I wrote:

"Psalm 55:22, 'Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.'

The Lord has such a strong love for his children and many times I feel like I lose grip of how much He cares for me. Lately, I have been praying a lot and just pouring myself into scripture and devotion. I know the Lord has a purpose for me and I trust that He will always lead me to answers. I know the Lord will always provide for me.

I know I am finally ready to accept HIS calling and follow HIS will with open arms.

I am done running away from my Lord."

So, as I reflected in my journal and on the Faith-Hope-Love of Imani...

I realized it all comes back to the simple things.

The Lord is doing big things in our hearts and we can not ignore that calling. On April 13, 2010 I stated so boldly, "I am done running away from my Lord."

What are you running away from? Where are you going? Have you brought your worries to the Lord and let Him lead?

If not, He is waiting to hear from you.

In Him,

Jenny

"The simple things. [Faith-Hope-Love]"

The Lords Kiss

It is Wednesday and I found that today is not like any other day. Normally, I would wake up and crawl out of bed (or down the stairs of my loft bed) and then I would ponder what I needed to get done for the day... so, I woke up awakened before my alarm and was ready. I was ready for the day and not dragging at all. I climbed down my loft bed and turned up the switch on my wall and BOOOOM, something happened to the breaker, so my room had no light.

At first, I was upset because I could not see and was stumbling around everything in my room, but then I smiled and turned towards my window. I pulled back my black curtains and opened the blinds and the Lords smile gleamed into my room. I felt the warm sun on my face and at that moment felt a kiss on my forehead from the Lord.

I was reminded in that moment that I am a daughter of the Lord and this is His day, not mine.

Last night, I attended Breakaway, which is a BIG gathering at Texas A&M every Tuesday night to worship God and hear his message. Last night, we had the privilege of having Breakaway in Kyle Field, which always is so awesome to see about 10,000 students worshipping the Lord at our football stadium! (www.breakawayministries.org)

One thing Ben Stuart said, is that we need to pursue the Lord because once we start pursuing the Lord, focusing our time on the Lord and getting out of this mindset of "doing everything for ourself, so we can be happy". Once we set our eyes on the Lord, He will set our eyes on them and what he meant by them... is everyone else in this world. Once we step out of OUR world and focus on the Lord, the Lord will reveal His plans for us and set our eyes on people. We were made to love people. We were made to care and reach out to people.

Like the song Hosanna says, "Break my heart for what breaks yours."

This life is not about us. It is about our Lord and Savior.

So, Open your window and let the Lord kiss you on your forehead.

In Him,

Jenny Jenkins

YOU are the heartbeat of Imani!

Imani is simple, Imani is faith. In everything we do, we put faith in Jesus Christ that all in all He will provide. He is our Father and our daddy and we put our full trust in Him.

With the event, M.O.V.E quickly approaching, we have a lot to think about and ALOT to do! and guess what, we need YOU! M.O.V.E stands for MOTIVATE others, seek OPPORTUNITY to change, use your VOICE for the Lord and EXPERIENCE God’s grace.

It is your time, It is people like YOU that are the heartbeat of Imani and keep us going! So, if you have not heard we are doing the ONE DOLLAR CHALLENGE. This is a challenge to set down that soda, sacrifice eating out for one night, and start to MOVE. Think of your everyday, what do you spend a dollar on? Can you give it up for one day and instead of using that dollar for the norm, give it up by faith and donate to Imani.

It is so true when I tell you that ONE dollar creates change, it creates a movement that will never be stopped.

Be a PART of this now. The time is now for YOU to move… Will you take that challenge?

In Him,
The Imani Team

“For we our God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -Ephesians 2:10

ONE DOLLAR CHALLENGE!

Today I woke up excited! I know that is not rare in my life, I typically am very excited about many different things, but yesterday was a rough day and I thought that maybe it would continue into my Wednesday, but the Lord refreshed me with a wonderful sleep and woke me up this morning full of energy!!

Imani is well on its way to planning the M.O.V.E event, we have 16 days until the event and things are coming down to the nitty gritty planning, but WE NEED YOU!

Seriously, I can not express this enough! The Lord has blessed us with many doors opening, but He has blessed us with wonderful friends and family! So, I am giving you a dollar challenge!

All I ask is one dollar... give up a soda or candy bar for Imani (Faith!)

Let the work of the Lord shine through this challenge. ONE DOLLAR CHALLENGE! Spread the word to everyone!

You can donate here: http://imani-africa.com/?page_id=138

Just one dollar, how bad will that hurt??

Let's see how many one dollars we can raise in 16 days! We can do this!!

I love each one of you!

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Isaiah 41:10

It is TIME to be WEIRD!

Happy Sunday!

Can you believe that we are already in the second week of August? Time is flying!

I wanted to share with all of you about this book I am reading. I am reading the book "Weird" by Craig Groeschel and in this book it talks about how Jesus calls us to be Weird, not normal. One thing that really spoke to me, was he talks about putting a "don't" list together and becoming more intentional. I laughed considering the one BIG thing I learned from Kenya was to be more intentional with others, but then I asked myself; "Have I already slacked in these past couple of weeks on not only being intentional with others, but also with my creator, my Lord!" The obvious answer is that I am human and yes I have already been slacking, but then when he talked about putting the "don't" list together, this made me think. I have plenty of to DO list, but do I have a don't list? Well obviously I have never made a DONT list, that is just not in our nature to sit down and cut things out of our life. If anything, we just keep adding more and more activities (trust me, I would know! I am the QUEEN of adding activities)

So, is this healthy or is this just NORMAL to what society expects of us? Today, in this world, the busier we are, the more successful we supposedly are, but this is not true. We need to sit, breathe and relax. We need to actually sit without having a running to do list in our heads. I had a conversation with my pastor today about being intentional by being "all there" when sharing time with someone. I was making the point that it is easy to repeat something back that someone has said in a conversation without really being "all-there", so how can you become ALL-THERE for your family and most importantly how can you be ALL-THERE for the Lord, without being distracted by this world?

As challenging as this might be, I challenge you to make a DON'T list. I have started mine and it is not easy. Sacrifices are being made, but to sacrifice your time for the Lord is such a better reward then to focus your time into more activities of this world. Trust the Lord that HE knows your plan. Cutting things out of your schedule is not going to mean that your missing out on life because God has a greater plan for all of us.

Trust and live out your Faith.

One more thing for all of you. Imani Tumaini Upendo has their first event fast approaching and are still in need of funds. The event is on August 26 in College Station, TX. If you have not been to our website and read our story, I want to challenge you to do so. The Lord is doing amazing things in this ministry and I would love for all of you to be a part of it, whether that is individually or corporately. You can contact me about becoming a sponsor or also donate on the website. The Lord calls us to go among the nations and share His good news and Imani is doing just that.

I hope you are touched by our story. http://www.imani-africa.com/

Mungu Akubariki!

(God Bless you!)

Also, as you know I am still in the process of my 24 day challenge. Today is day 11, but I have decided that I will not be blogging everyday. I am picking 3 days of the week to get on facebook and my blog. I will let you know when those days are soon. I have personally chosen to do this so that I have more time for me and the Lord. I have become distracted by technology around me and want to make sure that I am staying intentional with my Savior! I love you all!

Jenny :)

24 Day Challenge: Day 7

Alright, so I said I had BIG news! Here we go!!!

Imani Tumaini Upendo is having there first BIG event on August 26 at Wolf Penn Ampitheater in College Station, TX.

The event is called M.O.V.E, which stands for MOTIVATE others, seek OPPORTUNITY for change, use your VOICE for the Lord, and EXPERIENCE God's grace. This is going to BIG and awesome! The point of this event is for outreach and awareness, so people know exactly what is going on in Africa. So, we will along with local bands, food and fun, we will also be presenting our two wonderful projects Real4Christ and Healing Faith who will be speaking at the event!

I have several things to ask you guys, since you are my wonderful supporters! One, I ask that you keep us in prayer because that is much needed! Two, if you would like to volunteer for the event (we need over 60 volunteers!!!) please go to our website and click on the volunteer page for more information!

AND third, we need sponsors to make this event happen! There is a few different cost that we need to cover and we have less than 24 days until the event! If you would like to sponsor, please click on the donate button on this page or contact me directly. You can email me at jenny@imani-africa.com or give me a call!

I hope you all our excited because God is going to shine through this event and it is going to be glorious!

In Him,

Jenny

M.O.V.E

When: August 26, 2011 (Friday)

Where: Wolf Penn Ampitheater, College Station TX

Time: 5-11 PM

What to Expect?: FUN! Local bands, food, ministry booths, guest speakers, art for the kids and so much more! Hope to see you all come out and support Imani!