Encourager Church Spotlight

Oakmont Baptist, Greenville

By Jimmie Hughes, director of Missions at Oakmont Baptist

Oakmont Baptist Church has a history of missional engagement. Members were led to Ukraine for Oakmont’s first international medical mission trip in September 1996.

Oakmonters have traveled to many states and several countries to be God’s hands and feet and to live out the church’s core value of: being missional by using our church resources as a hub of ministry in our community and world to be the loving presence of Christ in meeting the physical, relational and spiritual needs of people.

In 2008, Oakmont members Eric and Julie Maas were called to serve as CBF Field Personnel in Belize. For 10 years, Oakmont served as their Encourager Church, supported them financially and sent 17 mission teams to help until the Maas family returned to the States in 2018.

During this period, Oakmont’s missional engagement exploded largely due to our Encourager Church relationship with the Maas family.

Oakmonters rediscovered the importance of our vision statement, “Connecting Lives with Christ as the Center Through Reaching, Growing and Going,” in a personal way.

Oakmont’s Mission Team sought another missionary to support and encourage through missional engagement, prayer, materials and financial resources. The Team prayed for a ministry that needed the types of gifts and talents that Oakmonters possessed.

Oakmont had many members who were experienced in serving on medical teams, educational and backyard-Bible School-type teams with children, and construction teams.

Jenny Jenkins in Grand Goave, Haiti fit the bill perfectly! And, as a bonus, she has ties to eastern North Carolina, having lived in Elizabeth City for 20 years. Oakmont has been supporting Jenny financially and by sending care packages and emails for over two years.

Jenny has served in Haiti for 12 years providing medical care and helping to set up mobile medical clinics, supporting the local schools, and hosting construction teams to build homes, a mission team house and storage shed, and new construction on a medical clinic soon.

We decided to become an “official” Encourager Church this year when Jenny visited us on March 26-27. Members of our Mission Team welcomed her Saturday evening at a local barbeque restaurant, since she enjoys soaking up local flavor when visiting churches.

We were honored that Rev. Ellen Sechrest, manager of Global Missions Engagement for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, was able to join us and present Oakmont with a plaque signifying our Encourager Church relationship with Jenny.

We have a bulletin board in a high-traffic area to remind Oakmonters about Jenny’s work and Bible bookmarks with specific prayer requests from her. We plan to have her prayer requests and updates from her work in our weekly newsletter so that we can pray for her regularly.

When it is safe to do so, we plan to send teams to assist with her medical, educational and construction needs. We are grateful for this opportunity to support Jenny as she serves as God’s hands and feet in Haiti and to partner with her in service.