Hometown Clinton - Fall 2016

She enjoyed hearing everyone sing
“Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and
the National Anthem.
Jane and Jake attended
Pensacola Christian College their
first two years of college and then transferred to Missouri Southern
State University. They both enjoyed attending the Springfield Cardinals
minor league baseball games in Missouri.
The Johnstons had a short engagement. Jake proposed at the
airport in Korea before their Korean wedding. They both knew each
other was the one because they couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else
and it just felt natural to each other.
To include their different cultural roots, they had four weddings
over a nine-month period between November 18, 2006 and July 7, 2007.
They had two in Korea and two in the United States of America. In
Korea they had a small church ceremony. The following weekend, they
had a traditional Korean wedding. Their Korean wedding reception
was very large because Jane’s parents “knew the whole town.” The
wedding was only Jake’s second time to be in Korea.
Their third wedding was in Joplin, Missouri. It was their legal
ceremony where they had a pastor and witnesses. Their fourth and
final wedding was with Jake’s side of the family in Missouri and had
family members from New York and Chicago attend. Their reception
at this wedding was a mix of both Jake’s cultures. They feasted on an
American barbeque and Filipino food such as lumpia and fried rice. “It
was a good mix,” said Jake.
Because of the many moves of Jake’s family, he grew up
accustomed to a mixture of foods. He grew up eating Japanese, Korean
and Filipino food. “I ate a lot of spam,” said Jake. “My mom would make
me spam, eggs and rice for lunch while we lived in Missouri. I stuck out
because other kids in elementary school didn’t have that for lunch.
You could really smell the spam,” said Jake. In the States, Jake is seen
as Asian, but in Saipan, he is seen as American. He really has a mix of
both worlds in him.
The Johnstons moved to Clinton in 2014 so Jake could attend
Mississippi College. He took courses to prepare for medical school. In
December 2015, he received his Master of Science in Medical Sciences.
Although the Johnstons had never been to Clinton before, they
had traveled through Jackson several times when traveling from
Missouri to Florida. “We felt God was leading us here,” said Jake.
“What helped us the most was getting plugged into the church.” The
Johnstons sent an e-mail to Morrison Heights Baptist Church, telling
them of their upcoming move and that they were a family of five. Mary
Sanders responded and was very helpful. She drew out a map which
described locations of places to live
in Clinton.
Now, Jake works as a
researcher at University Medical
Center and he is applying for
medical school. Jane homeschools their 3 children: Noah (8), Raine (5)
and Samuel (4). They also have a newborn baby, Benjamin, who was
just born.
There are students from all over such as New York, California
and Oregon, that move to Clinton to enter the medical program that
Jake did. The students in this program go on to attend various schools
such as physical therapy, dental school, medical school and physician
assistant school. There are also many Koreans and the Johnstons
enjoyed having a Korean barbeque with several of the students in the
program. “We had sliced pork belly, uncured bacon and barbeque,”
said Jake.
Jake and Jane had good first impressions of Clinton. Mary Sanders
at Morrison Heights Baptist Church was very helpful and their landlord
was very friendly. “We felt welcomed,” said Jane.
“There is a big homeschooling community going on. This is a great
community for families,” said Jane. “We don’t have any family members
around, but we feel like we do with this community. We have so much
support,” said Jane. “Our families are so far away. Raising four children,
we feel like we have family through our community. Our church family
is worth us staying here. Family values are so strong here,” said Jane.
“We have grown so much through leadership in our church. We have
grown more in our walk with Christ as a family. School has become
secondary to our growing as a family. We practically lived in the
church the first summer we were here,” said Jake.
The Johnstons have really plugged into the community. They
teach four year olds on Sunday mornings in the children’s ministry
and Jane is a greeter at the welcome desk. Jane is also a member of
the Clinton Home Educators Connection. In addition to Jake being a
researcher, he also tutors a Clinton High School student. He teaches
him math and biology and helps him prepare for the ACT. He is also
pursuing the option of teaching at Belhaven as an adjunct professor.
“The opportunities here have been more than I expected and
I enjoy teaching,” said Jake. Jake would like to be a pediatrician or
something involving kids. His experience, being a father of four, will
help him in the future when working with children and parents.
Jane and Jake Johnston are a melting pot of cultures and bring
their cultural diversity to Clinton with excitement and zest. They
are thankful for all that God has brought their way and to live in the
family-friendly community that Clinton offers.
50 • Aug/Sept/Oct 2016
50 • Aug/Sept/Oct 2016 Hometown Clinton • 51