Finding God in the Amazon

A journey to the Amazon became a journey to salvation for Jenanna Cook.

At 55, the Addison IT recruiter hadn’t been to church in 36 years. As a child growing up in California, her family moved frequently for her dad’s job and never really spent much time in church. Years later, after surviving 12 elementary schools, two earthquakes, many fires and floods, and two divorces, Jenanna relocated to Dallas in 1985—searching for a new life. After the tragedy of September 11th, she tested fate, she said, and flew abroad to Rome and other places to fulfill a childhood dream.

Thirteen years after arriving in Dallas, Jenanna’s professional career was blossoming, but her personal life was in a shambles. She felt lost. And, she avoided anything to do with God. If a radio station was talking about God, she would change it. If she saw a book that spoke about God, Jesus or salvation, she avoided it. Even though she thought He was always there, she never felt He could be for her and she didn’t have a clue how to know Him. A deep depression settled in, and she didn’t care if she lived or died.

“I had not one friend – not one!” said Jenanna. “I was isolated and alone, and I thought if I died tomorrow, my only consolation would be that I would not be alive to be embarrassed when no one showed up at my funeral except for three family members.”

Then, one day in November of 2005, Jenanna walked into Prestonwood Baptist Church. Once inside the Worship Service, members warmly welcomed her; she was led to a Bible Fellowship class; and she heard about an upcoming Amazon Mission Trip.

Four months later, Jenanna boarded a plane with 14 other strangers bound for a country unknown to her, tasked with a purpose she felt way unqualified to fulfill. But she wanted to touch someone’s life.

And as she shared food and compassion with the people there, her heart began to melt. Still, as Jenanna listened to her new friends share stories about how God was impacting lives, she felt like a “fish out of water.” She didn’t know Jesus and she hadn’t read the Bible since she was 16.

“It was like being at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport for the first time—lost, late, with short term parking full and in the wrong terminal,” she said. “I was a mess. The Bible might as well have been in Hebrew.”

Jenanna prayed that the mission leader wouldn’t call on her to pray. And when she was asked to give her testimony, she almost ran away, “How could I do this? I know no Scripture.”

But after hours of searching the Bible and staring into the jungle, she decided to share how the team and its efforts had impacted her even though she still didn’t know what to do to be saved. But, God was touching her, and she realized the mission trip that was supposed to reach out and save others had saved her.

“My teammates thought they were saving people off the boat. They didn’t know they were saving someone on the boat,” she said. “The Amazon trip was a mission of salvation; and while I went for the sake of others, it became my salvation, and the difference I wanted to make was made in me!”

Upon returning home, Jenanna walked down to the front of the Worship Center—trusting Jesus as her Savior.

“God changed my heart,” she said. “It truly was a Damascus Road experience for me.”

After being baptized, Jenanna became a Prestonwood member, and even joined the choir. She bought a 66-CD set of the Bible, gave up television for seven months, and listened to and read the Bible from cover to cover.

New friends in her Bible Fellowship class, Singles ‘N Sync, have helped her grow in her Christian life. They’ve even chosen her as class Mission Coordinator, and she has since shared the Gospel in Boston and Bogota, Colombia. And this summer, she’ll be traveling to Israel on the trip led by Pastor Jack Graham.

“God led me to Prestonwood, and I thank God every day that He has led me to a place of true worship to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to a place of truth, love and faithfully sharing the Word,” Jenanna said. “When I drive up to Prestonwood each Sunday, I know this is my home this side of Heaven.”