GCU-TODAY-APR2012 - page 8

P8 
April 2012
hree years ago,
Jana Johnson
awoke from a deep sleep at
her home in Colorado with God’s voice in her heart. She felt
compelled to move to China to serve Him in the distant nation.
The 49-year-old mother of five is scheduled to graduate
from GCU this spring with a bachelor’s degree in Christian
ministry, completing the degree she began years ago while
serving a Colorado-based Christian non-profit education
organization from her post in Beijing.
Johnson will begin taking master’s-level classes for a degree
in urban ministry later this year after attending spring
graduation in Phoenix, marking the end to a challenging road
to earning her degree.
“I have truly been blessed to know someone who exemplifies
what it means to be a servant leader,” said
Sunee Robinson
,
the former GCU enrollment specialist who helped Johnson
maintain her path to graduation.
Johnson lives and works in China with her husband,
Steve
,
and their 5-year-old son,
A.J.
She took a break from
wrapping up her studies to tell GCU Today Magazine about
her experience studying from the Far East.
How has GCU enable you to achieve your academic
goals through the online program?
I cannot express enough how the support I received from
GCU was so key to me finally realizing my dream of holding
a degree. From Sunee, who brought me in and stayed with
me through the whole journey, to each of my financial
advisers, my amazing and gifted professors and most
important my fellow classmates, who were vital in my learning
experience and who I was able to share so many personal
discussions with.
Explain how you are able to attend classes remotely,
from such a remote country?
We are very blessed to live in Beijing, which is a very modern
city. I am ahead of Arizona by 13-14 hours, but I have stayed
on the regular school schedule as if I were living in the U.S.
I have always felt I am ahead with my discussions and paper
deadlines, and it is a great feeling to always be ahead.
HowwillyourChristianministrydegreeimpactyourcareer?
This degree has impacted me deeply. I felt it was a dream that
I could never realize and to suddenly find myself holding it
in my hands strikes me to my very soul and brings me to my
knees in awe. Discussing things of the Father with others and
learning from their experiences while studying about other
cultures, religions and beliefs has enhanced my life in China
and has brought me to a greater understanding of how the
Father is a global, multicultural and diverse God.
Jana Johnson (with husband Steve and son A.J. at a pagoda in Beijing) has studied for her bachelor’s degree through
GCU while living in China and working for an American non-profit organization.
A world away,
an online student
completes her degree
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