a letter to you about my call

koinonia.

learning the meaning of fellowship

Found in the New Testament, the Hebrew word koinonia is used to mean fellowship. It translates as partaker, contribution, distribution, communication, communion. This word speaks to me as something I have valued not only in my faith but in every aspect of my life in these first 18 years.

I want to to extend to you koinonia in these coming months and years of my life. I hope for it to be a time not only of self growth but of community and fellowship as well. This is what it means to be in communion.

it began with a calling.

In the past few years I’ve come to understand my faith in new and closer ways, and I’ve realized that that faith is what I want to build my life on. After a lot of confusion, advice asking, and praying, I decided that prior to attending Webster University, I will take the next year of my life to pursue an international missions journey.

the commissioning

From June 17th-28th, I have the awesome opportunity to join Lover’s Lane UMC to travel to a community in Zimbabwe called Wedza. There, we will be working with an orphanage doing construction and sharing our time with the children, hosting a vacation bible school and a soccer clinic.

Through an organization called G.O.D. International, this fall I have been offered the incredible opportunity to participate in a photojournalism internship in Nashville from August to December, at which point I will then fly to New Delhi, India to live and work until May.

The internship will give me practical skills in photography and film and journalism (which is what I hope to pursue a career in), yet also teach me how God can be the focus of that and how I can apply those skills to ministry. Once in India, I will be living in an apartment outside of Delhi while learning and working with sustainable agriculture programs that have been established there.

my call to you

Zimbabwe costs $2,800, and my path with G.O.D. Int’l will be close to $10,000. Including supplies and contingencies, the total goal for this year’s journey is $15,000. So far, through savings, work, and gifts and donations, I have a total of $2,493.03. Though I feel God’s guidance through all of th is, I cannot answer this call alone. My call to you is to join me on this journey. With your help and support, we can do God’s work together. Here are five ways you can partake, contribute, and commune:

1. pray. Support is so much more than money. Accompany me on this journey daily, hourly, minute by minute through prayer and encouragement. I could never have gotten here without the guidance and prayer of those in my life.

2. hire and refer me. Need a photographer? (Check out my work here: www.jennadobyns.wixsite.com/jmdphotographyandart) Need a babysitter? Need a dog walker? Call me first! I am eager to work for this goal, and excited to do so for someone who is invested in my story.

3. purchase and display my art: On my blog, <www.jennadobyns.com>, you can easily see what I have for sale. Buy for the minimum price, or more if you feel inclined to help more. Hang it on your wall to remind you of who I am and how we’re connected.

4. donate: Either by sending a check in the mail or online through the crowdfunding project I have set up at <www.youcaring.com/jennadobynsmissionfundraiser> directly help me reach my goal. This is the fastest way I will get there.

5. share: Share my updates, my fundraiser, share my story. Help me reach my goal by inspiring others to be a part of the call.

thank you.

Your gift of time taken to read my story, as well as the support you’ve already given me by being in my life is more than I could ask for. I hope you’ll continue to walk with me in this journey.

blessings,

Jenna

417.693.0493

jenna.dobyns@sbcglobal.net