Teaching Pastor
Resume:
Eric L. Jenkins
Lakeland, FL *3813
PERSONAL
Born: June 25, 1960, Muncie, IN
Family: Wife – Jacquelin L. Jenkins, Married 24 years (since November 15, 1986)
• Associate of Science in Nursing, Excelsior University, 1991
• Registered Nurse, Lakeland Regional Hospital, Lakeland, FL
• Interests – hospitality, cooking, horseback riding
Children – Joshua, born November 30, 1989
Sheila Joy, born August 15, 1991
Jeremiah, born August 26, 1994
Interests: Tennis, basketball, golf, gardening
MINISTERIAL EXPERIENCE
Missionary – Appointed General status
August 1992 – Present Assemblies of God World Mission Springfield, MO
• Planted Life Church in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria in 2002. This church has grown to more than 250 Muslim-convert believers. We have turned the pastoral role over to a national pastor that we trained for several years.
• Co-planted Muslim-convert churches in Azazga, Bejaia, Mekla, and Tighzirt (Algeria) alongside national pastors.
• Founded Life Bible School (Tizi Ouzou, Algeria) in 2002 and served as its Director until 2010.
• Adjunct Professor with Global University, while serving at Life Bible School (Algeria) from 2002 to present
• Directed and preached in evangelistic campaigns that resulted in hundreds of Muslims becoming followers of Christ.
• Organized ALPHA Discipleship Program to disciple believers in Algeria
• Director of Correspondence Ministry for International Center of Ministry to Muslims in Marseille, FRANCE from 1998 to 2002.
• Professor at Assemblies of God Bible School in Bamako, Mali from 1994 to 1998.
• Co-planted church in Koumantou, Mali from 1994 to 1998
• Itineration – Preached in hundreds of churches from 1992 to present.
Associate Pastor
1986 – 1992 Open Door Fellowship Bonita Springs, FL
• Frequent preaching ministry
• Served on the Elder Leadership Team
• Vice Principal of Lee Christian School
• Teacher at Lee Christian School
• Youth Pastor
EDUCATION EXPERIENCE
Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Historical Theology
2007-2010 London School of Theology Northwood, UK
• Dissertation: The Relationship Between Grace and Free Will
Master of Arts in Intercultural Ministries
1990-1992 Assemblies of God Theological Seminary Springfield, MO
• Concentration – Islamic Studies
• Outstanding Missions Student of the Year, 1992
Bachelor of Arts
1981-1985 Southeastern University Lakeland, FL
• Major – Bible
• Major – Missions
• Honors – Missions Board President; Student Council Member; Mr. Southeastern runner-up; Outstanding Missions Student of the Year
PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY
My gifting is primarily as a teacher of God’s Word. I love to study the Scripture and find great joy in communicating so that people can understand how it applies to their daily lives. Multicultural ministry has taught me how to explain Scriptural truths to people from various cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds.
I believe in servant-oriented, loving and authentic leadership. A pastor should be a model to his congregation of love, kindness, integrity, and a multitude of other Christian virtues, but he should not pretend to be more than he is. I am a transparent leader, who honestly admits to times of struggle, doubt and weakness, as well as the faith-filled, victorious moments of Spirit-filled living.
I believe in worship. Though my wife and I are only moderately gifted musically, we are deeply committed to worship. We have seen many people set free from doubts and bondages by the presence of God in a time of worship. I love vibrant praise that is full of joy, excitement and hope. I also love worship, where believers are willing to humble themselves before the Lord and confess their need for his presence and grace. Developing anointed worship ministry would be one of my highest priorities as a pastor.
I believe faith should be lived in community. We need each other in the Body of Christ. Many Christians and seekers desperately need to know they are part of a family that loves them. This is much more than simply saying the words and hugging each other on Sunday morning. It is caring relationships where we help each other to learn how to be spiritually stronger, good parents, loving spouses, and financially responsible. I am committed to developing strong relational ministries that will encourage people to become engaged in each other’s lives. These cell ministries may happen in homes, Sunday school classes, or even a local Starbucks. They can be the lifeblood of growth for the church.
I believe in training. Pastors and teachers are called by God to “equip the saints for the work of ministry.” I have no desire to be “the star of the show.” To the contrary, throughout my years of ministry, I have poured my life into discipling men and women, whose ministries have become greater than my own. I believe this type of discipleship should happen in the local church, so that ministries are birthed in the hearts of God’s people and they come to trust in his power and faithfulness. These ministries then become a source of blessing to the local community and the world.
Finally, I believe in missions. We live in a world, where billions have never heard the Gospel. We should take seriously Christ’s command to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. We would love to lead a congregation that is passionate about being a “light” to their neighbors, their nation and their world.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Although we have not had the privilege of serving as pastors in the United States for many years, we know that our years of ministry experience have prepared us for this opportunity. We have played integral roles in helping dozens of churches experience spiritual and numerical growth in conditions that were extremely oppressive. We have discipled over a hundred men and women, who have become church planters, evangelists, worship leaders and lay leaders. We have taught believers who never knew what church was like, how to build strong churches that are shining lights into their communities. We have organized worship teams, evangelism teams, mission teams and prayer teams. We organized the first ever Assemblies of God fellowship in Algeria and presided over meetings that helped this organization to grow and become totally led by nationals. This was an especially difficult challenge because Islam does not teach values like forgiveness and reconciliation, but by God’s grace we were able to teach and model these values and build a team that was united in its vision. We have raised budgets for ourselves, a Bible School and multiple church planting projects. We have led a construction campaign that raised over $450,000 to purchase land and build a Bible School facility. We have dealt with government regulations that are probably even more complex than even the most bureaucratic states in the U. S.
In all these activities, we have enjoyed God’s rich blessing on our ministry. We have learned to love those we ministered to with all our hearts and to lay our lives down to serve them. God has honored this attitude and we believe that he will continue to honor and bless it as we begin to serve and love the local congregation where he sends us in America. We are not leaving the mission field because of any problems, burn out, or diminished faith. We believe that we fulfilled what God sent us overseas to do, especially in the nation of Algeria. Now we are so well known in the country that we are not able to get a resident visa, but we foresaw this day coming and trained nationals to replace and go beyond our ministry. Today they are doing that in an amazing way and we feel that God has released us to return to America. This will allow Jacquelin to complete her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Nursing and be able to fulfill all that God has called her to do in that area. This will also allow us to remain a part of the lives of our children (and future grandchildren), which is something we value very highly as a family.
Contact this candidate