October 6, 1999
Wichita Falls girl follows family
path to volunteer missions on birthday
___By Dan Martin
___Texas Baptist Communications
___WICHITA FALLS--Jessica Jennings never had a chance.
___"She has belonged to God since before she was born," said her mom, Phyllis. "When I found out I was carrying her, I dedicated her to the Lord."
___It was a risky pregnancy, too, since Phyllis' next-youngest child was 14 and Phyllis was then in her 30s.
___"I prayed and asked God to use Jessica in whatever capacity would bring him glory," her mother added.
___On a recent Sunday night, Jessica followed in the footsteps of her maternalgrandmother--Susan Nata--and her parents as she was commissioned as a Mission Service Corps volunteer.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY (above) gather around Jessica Jennings prior to the "laying on of hands" during her commissioning. From left are Polly Pearis, Phyllis Jennings, Jessica, Pauline Bashaw and Robert Jeffress.
___It was her 18th birthday, the earliest she could be commissioned in the volunteer missions program.
___"We think she is the youngest volunteer ever," said Sam Pearis, director of the Mission Service Corps program for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. "The rules say volunteers have to be at least 18 to be commissioned, and we think this is so important because Jessica was commissioned on the very first day she was eligible."
___Several months ago, Jessica decided to celebrate her birthday by being commissioned in the program which provides volunteers to serve long- or short-term assignments in missions activities at home or abroad.
___The commissioning, during the evening service at First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls, was made even more poignant because of someone who was missing.
___Her dad, Frank, died April 11, after fruitlessly awaiting a heart/lung transplant because his lungs had been badly scarred by oil field chemicals.
___"But she had a lot of substitute Daddies," said Pearis, noting a wide array of friends, family, associates and church members who came to help her celebrate her birthday and commissioning.
___Not only was Jessica dedicated to God before being born, she has grown up with missions and service a normal part of her life.
___"I can't ever remember a time when I didn't love God, nor a time when my family didn't serve God," she said.
___The family moved from Louisiana to Texas soon after Jessica's birth. It wasn't long until Frank was injured in an oilfield accident, an injury compounded by damage to his lungs, caused by years of exposure to industrial chemicals.
___In 1982, Frank felt a special call from God. At first the family worked on Indian reservations in New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma, and some of Jessica's earliest memories are of living in a travel trailer, ministering to Navajos on the reservation in Arizona.
___She remembers her daddy "fussing" at her because she kept trading her new shoes to the Navajo children for their old, worn-out footgear.
___"I remember doing it because they needed shoes so much," she said.
JESSICA JENNINGS talks with Sam and Polly Pearis. Pearis is director of the Mission Service Corps program in Texas.
___More than a dozen years ago, the family moved to Henrietta--about 20 miles east of Wichita Falls--where they established the Clay County Missions Outreach in a spare bedroom of their small home.
___Jessica and her mom laugh about memories of Jessica--a pre-schooler--sitting on the floor, surrounded by cans of food collected by Cub Scouts on behalf of the center, which provides such items as food, clothing, school supplies and even cash to help with utilities and emergencies.
___For much of her life, she has grown up in the mission center, where helping out has simply been part of the ebb and flow of daily activities.
___Jessica was home schooled, so she was present for many of the missions activities. Even when she went to Midway School--halfway between Henrietta and Jacksboro--and later to Henrietta High School, she has been involved in the missions activities.
___She remembers accepting Jesus as her Savior when she was 8 and being baptized in the mission center because services were conducted in the old church building converted into a center/home for her family.
___She talked with her father a lot about being baptized, and he performed the ordinance.
___"He always told me he could see a change starting in me because when I came up out of the water, I was smiling," she recalled.
___Her conversion was reinforced during a Super Summer event at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.
___"We were singing, 'Break Our Hearts, Oh God,' and about 100 kids flocked out of their seats and accepted Jesus for the first time. I really knew God was there and it was something I will never forget," she said.
___Her immediate plans are to continue to work with her mom and other volunteers at the outreach center. At some point, she plans to attend Midwestern State University. She doesn't know what career she will pursue, but her mom thinks she will wind up in a full-time Christian vocation.
___This past year has been hard on the entire Jennings family, but especially on Jessica. Her maternal grandmother, who lived with them, died after a 17-day illness. Then her dad spent a lot of time in the hospital, first with a triple bypass and then with complications resulting from his lung disability.
___Frank was on the list for a heart/lung transplant, but various setbacks continued to happen, and he died April 11.
___So, the Henrietta girl who is somewhat like Samuel of the Old Testament--dedicated to God before she was born--has embarked on a life of missions.
___"I want to be able to help and inspire people to turn to God. I think it is so awesome to see a person accept Jesus into their heart and turn their life completely to him. That is what Missions Service Corps volunteers do. They help people turn their lives around and help them get on the right track," she said.
___She asked for prayer, and for Christians to "stand behind me," as she joins Mission Service Corps, where she wants to "help make a difference in someone's life."
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