Mailing Address: SIL • BP 2075 • Dakar • Senegal • Africa • This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Birthdays: Jay - May 24, Sue - August 3, Jamie - May 22, Jeremy - September 1, Jason - November 29, Jay and Sue's Anniversary - June 10

The Ministry

Jay works in the finance office for the region and teaches their children Jamie, Jeremy and Jason. Sue also teaches the children, but mainly she is trying to complete the linguistic analysis of the Konyagi language. Sue currently is working with two Konyagi men in Dakar. They have produced some literary materials, translated some health guides and are currently working on a translation Guide for literacy along with a dictionary. The Konyagi are a mainly animistic group, of about 18,000-20,000. The church has an average attendance of about 45 and needs a New Testament translation.

About Jay & Sue

Jay grew up in Kalamazoo Michigan. He received a degree in evangelism from Moody bible institute. Sue grew up in New Hampshire, and graduated from UNH with a major in Spanish and a minor in French. Sue studied linguistics at the summer institute of linguistics in TX and OK. She also studied for one year at Moody, there they met. Sue began her work in Senegal in 1985, serving there for one term. They married on June 10 1989 and returned to Senegal together in march 1991.

Recent Update

August 4, 2012

Psalm 32:10-11

10/Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds those who trust in Him.

11/Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart.

Dear Prayer Warriors,

We rejoice greatly in all that God is doing. We see His hand upon our children and upon our ministry and we thank Him for His many blessings.

Work: We are gearing up for another translation consultant check for August 6-18. We will finish checking Matthew and then James. In the meantime, Papa and I are working through Romans – fun but tough! Yesterday we spent a good while discussing how to say “condemnation”. There is no word for this in Konyagi. There is no word for guilty. There are few words for a judicial system, other than the word to judge. So we settled on “to judge that one has done wrong”. Our consultant check will give us an opportunity to try this out and see if it communicates accurately.

On the agenda: We eagerly anticipate the arrival of another exegete, Eva Sanches Silva from France, who will work on translating Old Testament portions in Konyagi. Eva arrives August 9^th. Please pray for her transition to Senegal.

We are also making plans for a song writing workshop in Guinea. This will not take place until next February but I mention it now for your prayers: it will require lots of planning and funding we do not have at the moment. The songs will be created, based on Scripture, so they can be used in worship as well as in Scripture and theater recordings. They are important to all the other things we are doing!

On a sad note: Our car is back in the shop. It died on my way to work the other day and was towed to the garage. It needs major repairs. The bad roads, dust and heat wreak havoc on our equipment, be they cars, computers, fans or even our own physical bodies. (We hear you've been experiencing some extreme temperatures this summer – well, add to that a dust storm, take away all air conditioning, and brace yourselves for 6-8 months of that and you've got Senegal.) Consequently, we are into about $3000 in repairs. Is it a coincidence that this would happen just before a consultant check when I need to go to the office every day? Two other translators were in my office yesterday, shaking their heads and recounting their own tales of equipment failure every time they were about to check Scripture. Satan doesn't like it when God's Word is put into the language of the people. Pray for God's protection over our equipment! And please pray for provision for this unexpected bill as well!

To compensate for the loss of the car I am learning to ride a scooter. This could provide a cheap means of transportation, at least until the car is fixed (although, after watching me ride in the parking lot the Center guard informed me he was not letting me off the property with it!). Please pray that God would give me wisdom as I decide whether or not this is a safe option.

Family: Jamie left for the States after her June 5^th graduation from high school. She spent the summer living with my sister in New Hampshire and working for her uncle in his sign making business. She was welcomed by family and many close friends who really did their utmost to ensure a happy and smooth transition during these first months of living more or less on her own. She was able to get her driver's license (thank you, all you brave mentors!!) and has now flown out to Colorado for a reunion with classmates. This is being followed by a reentry course for Third Culture Kids (TCK) who are returning to the States from the mission field. Our missionary kids have much to offer the world thanks to their experience growing up overseas, their understanding of other cultures, their knowing other languages, and, we always hope, their active faith in God. Their success in transition to college is crucial to making them useful tools in God's hands. For this reason we are all the more grateful for the financial gifts that were specifically given to make attending this transition course possible for Jamie. From Colorado she flies to Chicago to begin school at Moody Bible Institute.

The boys have had a fun summer of beach days and hanging out at home days. Jeremy is about to embark on a mini adventure: He leaves Saturday for Beer Sheba, a local agriculture project (and much more! http://beershebaproject.org/ ) where he will lend a hand and learn a few things along the way. He will return by public transportation on Wednesday. School starts up again on August 15^th.

Thank you to those who pray for our health! Jay continues the battle against diabetes – always a struggle. My health has been better although I've been plagued with what appears to be allergies/hay fever. My hearing is still not back to normal but it is much better than it was. In spite of our ailments we were able to celebrate our 23^rd wedding anniversary in June by dining in a very nice restaurant here in Dakar and we had five days with another family at the Baptists' beach house after that! God is good.

Thank you for your prayers. We are a week into Ramadan, the annual month of fasting for Muslims, and a time for us to pray that God would speak to them through dreams and visions. (Another potential reason for not riding a scooter in traffic! Last Ramadan I was hit three times from behind in one week! People aren't fully alert...) It's so hard to put on paper all the things that could be prayed for. We trust the Holy Spirit to guide you.

May God bless you and keep you all!

Sue for the Jenkins family

Field Address:  Jay and Sue Jenkins, SIL B.P. 2075, Dakar, Senegal.
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Skype: silmission

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