Moore, Jennifer
Jennifer Moore is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church serving as a Christian educator with The United Methodist Church in the Republic of North Macedonia. She was commissioned in May 2016.
The United Methodist Church in Macedonia officially began in 1922. Their community of 11 congregations is a testament to perseverance through harsh economic times, wars and religious oppression. After the fall of socialism in the 1990s and Macedonia gaining its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 came increased religious freedom and a desire to expand the church. As a missionary of Global Ministries, Jennifer walks alongside congregations to help them develop ministry resources, train new leaders and reach their surrounding communities for Christ.
Jennifer grew up in the Church of the Nazarene and was always active in her church. “I accepted Jesus into my heart as my Savior at a very young age,” she recounts, “and I did my best to obey him. When I was 15, I went to a youth conference called the Festival of Life. As a result of the messages I heard there, I decided to dedicate my life to God and give him full control over my present and my future.”
Drawn by God to mission work after participating in a short-term mission journey in college, Jennifer has prepared for a life of cross-cultural Christian service through her educational, volunteer and vocational endeavors. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia; a Master of Arts in intercultural studies from the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and a master’s in teaching English to speakers of other languages from Azusa Pacific University, in Azusa, California. She taught English classes to recent immigrants in the U.S. for two years; worked as an elementary schoolteacher in Virginia and Missouri for four years; spent four years teaching university students in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with English Language Institute/China; and partnered with a church-planting team in Cambodia for two years before moving to North Macedonia in 2016.
Jennifer mainly works with the Commission for Working with Children and Youth in the Macedonian district. The commission aims to bring the gospel to every child, teenager and young adult in the district by providing training, resources and spiritual support for the leaders of children’s, teen and young adult groups, as well as organizing districtwide events. Jennifer strives to model and establish good practices for running the commission and investing in the other members as they all work to serve the children, teens and young adults in their district.
Jennifer shares, “While serving in Cambodia, I became conscious of the ways cultural beliefs and societal systems play a role in societal ills, and that the church is the main way God has for combating these systems to bring his kingdom on earth. I decided I wanted to invest the rest of my life [in] building up the church and empowering leaders to bring God’s kingdom to their communities.”