Get to Know Jenny, Planned Giving and Partners Manager

Name: Jenny
Role at OMF (U.S.):  Planned Giving and Partners Manager
Length of service with OMF: 2.5 years
What is your favorite:

Food: Curry
Movie: A Little Princess
Band: Tobymac
Song: “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice
Book: The Shack
Place: woodlands
Gift to receive: money, food, chocolate
Part of your job: Reading prayer letters, helping workers with Partnership Development

What are three words someone might use to describe you? Strong, positive, old-soul.
What is something few people know about you?

I have a twin brother who married someone with my name and he also has the same name as my husband. OR I played tackle football in junior high, high school and college.

What is a hobby you enjoy? How did you get into that hobby?

Running. I had a lot of energy as a kid. My dad always warms up the car before he drives off, so I used to run down the street to see how far I could get before he caught up to me.

What is a cause you’re passionate about? How did you become passionate about that cause?

Human rights, namely genocide and human trafficking. I had a teacher in high school who had us do a whole project on one of the many genocides throughout the world. In college I actually majored in International Relations, focusing on the human rights side of politics in Africa.

Briefly describe your role at OMF.

I help support our dearly loved retirees through promoting Planned Giving (proceeds from planned giving go to fund retirees). I also help workers communicate better with their partners through Partnership Development; and I especially help with prayer letters.

Why did you want to work for OMF?

I knew I wanted to be a missionary, but God called me to work with certain populations in the U.S. Anytime someone asked me who they should go on a missions trip with, or what missions looked like, I would tell them about how OMF does missions and how well they prepare you for the field (I had gone short-term with a few different organizations including OMF). When an OMF missionary told me not only was there a U.S. headquarters, but also an opening at OMF, it seemed like a perfect opportunity. I really feel God has called me to my role and blessed me to work for OMF—for whom I was already advocating.

How has your job changed the way you view missions/missionaries/etc.?

Somehow I had missed that there was even a U.S. office for OMF. In the same way, I had never taken into account that missionaries retire. We are willing to invest prayer and money in current missionaries, but then people will often end their support once a missionary retires. Missionaries give up a lot to go serve God entirely, and when they come back many of their relationships and familiarities have dissipated … so now I see that it is just as important to care for our retired missionaries. By the way (I also learned), missionaries never really retire—some of them are just reassigned to show Americans how to live missionally in their own backyard.

What is something you hope to accomplish in the next 10 years?

Go to see my friends in India, reform the laws in Colorado against human trafficking, move into supporting our retired missionaries not only financially, but all around (God willing).