CRESTLINE — There is a new pastor in Crestline and she did not arrive in the village alone.
Samara Jenkins and her family moved to Crestline last summer when she took the position of pastor of the Crestline First United Methodist Church.
“The Red Door Church. Our congregation is about 100 people on Sundays,” said Samara, who has a total of 12 children between her husband’s six, her five and their son together.
Their family also includes two foreign exchange students, 17-year-old Falviano Mancini from Italy and Benjamin Bickhoff from Germany.
Mancini has been in the United States for six months, first living in Michigan with a host family for five months before arriving in Crestline to stay with the Jenkins family.
“This is my first time in the U.S.,” Mancini said. “I always liked watching American movies but real life is different than the movies.”
Mancini said he is enjoying his time at Crestline High School.
“I have made a lot of new friends and I am improving my English,” said Mancini who is in the process of deciding which sport he wants play this spring.
Bickhoff also said his English is improving since arriving in Crestline in September.
“I really like it here, but I miss home too,” Bickhoff said. “This is a great experience for me and I enjoy being here very much. This is a whole new daily life for me.”
Samara and her husband, Antwone, have been a host family to foreign exchange students for three years and moved their family from Ashtabula to Crestline.
“I like it,” Antwone said. “The people are very friendly.”
Jenkins knows how strong the power of prayer is.
After suffering the loss of one baby, she was faced with the possibility of losing her son after he was born stillborn, then resuscitated.
“I was very sick and so was he, they didn’t know if he would make it,” said Jenkins who was working on a degree with a goal of becoming a public information officer for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Samara prayed to God to let her keep her baby son and promised to raise him to know God’s word.
“And I told him if he needed him, to take him to heaven and I would be thankful for the short time I got to keep him,” Samara said.
Her son, Elijah, is now nine years old and attends Sacred Heart School.
“God spoke to my heart that day and I felt the calling to enter the ministry,” Samara said.
Samara said she welcomes everyone to her church, located at 202 N. Thoman St., and feels very much at home in Crestline.
“I have become involved in the community through participating on several boards, including the Harvest Festival and CAMP boards,” she said.
For more information about the church, call 419-683-2162 or visit the church’s Facebook page.