Jenny Age 17

Jenny Story Age 17 – Beth A.

During the almost three years of not having a Dad, Jenny and her family had done much more work than they used to. Of course they had not quit missing Daddy, though. During that time Mother had had to get a job, and with the help of some of their church family they had made “ends meet”. Gordon already loved to cook, so he had done that to help out while Jenny took care of the housework after school.
With the wedding of Mother and Don Douglas behind them, Jenny and her family continued to grow in love and appreciation of each other and the Lord. The wedding had taken place in February. It had been kind of hard to get used to having a dad, but they all were loving it.
The Johnson kids had finished a whole school year of homeschooling, and Gordon had graduated. He planned on going to Bible School in the fall. After that he wanted to learn plumbing from his new Dad.
That summer Gordon got a job at the local grocery store. Jenny sometimes cleaned houses and babysat for people. Dad’s plumbing business was doing well. Sometimes Jenny and her friends gathered at the park to play volleyball in the volleyball court. She enjoyed spending time with them, but more than that she loved being with her family and once again having a dad.
Mother and Jenny also directed VBS at their church with the help of some of the other teenagers. After VBS was over, they had an afternoon Bible Club once a week. The church had a Betty LukensÓ flannel graph set which they used for the stories. Several of the kids always had the memory verses memorized and said “Hi!” to Mother or Jenny when they saw them around town.
The whole family planned to go to the Peaceful Valley Holiness Youth Camp in Colorado in late July. Jenny had been keeping up a correspondence with Erin Seymore, and was anxious to see her again.
As a ten year old, Jordon really loved to read. He read books over and over again, and was faithful to read his Bible every day. Jenny was delighted as she saw steady spiritual progress in his life. He had been working on his attitudes, trying to please the Lord.
Seven year old Grace spent her days playing dolls, coloring, riding her bike, doing school, and helping Jenny with dishes.
One July day, while Jenny was ironing she thought about her life: She could remember when both Jordon and Grace were born. They were both so big now. “I guess I have grown a lot too.” Jenny reminded herself with a smile. “It was so much fun when we went to Uncle Dwight and Aunt Holly’s and went camping and caving with them. That was a long time ago. We sang songs around the fire that night, and daddy played his guitar. Our favorite wintertime tradition always was to sing around the fire in the fireplace with Daddy playing his guitar. Oh, thank you, Jesus, for the precious memories I have of my Daddy. When I was twelve and Daddy was getting ready to go to Iraq, I asked You to save me. I am so thankful for all You have helped me through and the way You’ve taught me to depend on You. Was it just last summer I went to Ukraine, and look how much has happened since then! I miss Ukraine; I’d love to go back someday!”
Jenny realized right then that she had finished the ironing. As Jenny was taking the ironed clothes to each of her siblings’ rooms, she thought, “I am glad I will get to see Erin at camp next week. She has been a good friend to me this past year. She’d be wonderful to have as a sister-in-law… Hey, I wonder if Gordon would be interested?”
Just then Gordon came out of his room and Jenny’s face turned red. “What’s up?” he asked.
“Not much. I’m done ironing for our trip,” Jen said.
“Then why is your face so red?” Gordon asked curiously. “I just had a thought,” she hesitated, “and then it surprised me when you came out of your room.”
“Was your thought about me?” he teased. “By the way, thanks for ironing for us.”
“Do you want me to teach you how to iron before you go to school?” Jenny asked, relieved that the subject was changed.
“I suppose so, but let’s wait ‘til after camp; since you’ve already finished it today,” he said with a wink.
Copyright GGN

Jenny Age 22

Jenny Story Age 22 - Crystal L.

Jenny Johnson waved goodbye to her family, then hurried to join the line waiting to go through security. She could hardly contain her excitement. She was going as
a missionary to Ukraine! She had been preparing for four years, learning the language, studying the customs, and going on deputation. Now, on a snowy day in November,
she was going to Ukraine!

As Jenny left security, she heard an announcement over the loudspeaker: “Due to icy conditions on the runways, all flights must be delayed. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Oh no!” thought Jenny in dismay. “What will I do now? I guess I’ll just have to wait.”
Three hours passed. Finally, Jenny heard an announcement saying that it was safe to fly. “Thank You, Lord,” breathed Jenny as she rose and hurried to find her plane.

Jenny’s flight to New York City, New York, was uneventful, but on the way to Paris, France, she got into a conversation with her seatmate, a young woman named Rachel. She was a Catholic. She had gone from religion to religion, trying to find true happiness, but so far her search was unsuccessful. Jenny witnessed to her about God, and when they had to part in Paris, Jenny gave Rachel her own Bible, which Rachel promised to read every day.

Jenny got safely to Ukraine and soon was settled in. She eventually got her own little house to live in. She stayed busy helping with Sunday School, youth meetings, and Kid’s Club.
Then she heard about the gypsies, who lived in remote mountain villages, and she began to feel a burden in her heart for them. She prayed much about it, and finally felt led to start a ministry with them. So, along with another missionary, a doctor, she moved to a gypsy village. At first the gypsies were frightened and suspicious but gradually the missionaries earned their trust. Soon there were several Christians, so they built a
church. Soon there was a school, too. The two missionaries were delighted.

Then, to complete Jenny’s happiness, she got a letter from Rachel, saying that she was a Christian! How happy Jenny was!

The End



Jenny Story Age 22 - Crystal L.

"Fire!" The cry jerked Jenny from her sound sleep. An orange glow filled her bedroom where she lived in northern Ukraine. In an instant Jenny had leapt from her bed and was at the window. The church was on fire! The church, that the villagers had built with their own hands and taken so much pride in, was burning! Jenny was soon dressed and outside. Already the other missionaries, Doctors Maria and Donald Stanton, as well as most of the villagers, had formed a bucket brigade from the nearest village well, trying frantically to save the building. But their efforts only slowed the fire a little bit. The church continued to burn.
"You'd better move your things out of your house before it burns! It looks like the fire is going to jump to your house!" One of the villagers shouted to Jenny.
"We should probably move our things, too. Our house is next, and we don't seem to be making much headway against the fire," said Mr. Stanton. So the three missionaries went to work moving their belongings out of harm's way. A few men came to help move furniture. Only Jenny's bed and a few armloads of things had been moved out when the fire jumped to her house. Desperately, the villagers began to help the Stantons move most of their things out, but soon the fire was licking at their house. In helpless dismay, the missionaries watched their homes burn to the ground. To add to their horror, the wind changed, and the fire began to make its way to the new clinic behind the missionaries' homes! The villagers redoubled their efforts. Already several people had been treated there at the clinic. It must not burn! They doused the clinic with bucket after bucket of water. The fires had abated quite a bit by the time they turned toward the clinic, and the villager's heroic efforts paid off. Only the front of the clinic suffered fire damage.
Dawn was breaking as the last flames died away. The scene that the people looked upon was dismal. The missionaries' houses were heaps of smoldering coals and ashes. The church was a pile of charred wood and rubble. Only a few half-burned studs still stood. The front of the clinic was a blackened mess.
Some of the non-Christian villagers were angry. "Who was responsible for this?" they shouted.
"It was probably Nicolai Volodovichi!" One angry villager vented his frustration on the troublemaker of the town. "He's been threatening to burn down the church."
"Yes, he has," agreed another.
“There he is now. Grab him!" exclaimed someone else. The man tried to run away, but the others caught him and dragged him to the center of the village. Two rough, angry men tied him to a post. The others started picking up sticks and stones to throw.
But Donald Stanton stopped them. "Stop!" he shouted. He stood in front of Nikolai, barring their way. The men dropped their sticks and stones. They did not want to hurt this kind, good man who had worked so hard to bring them the gospel.
“You must not hurt him," said Mr. Stanton. "He may not have done it." He turned to Nikolai and asked kindly, "Do you know who burned the church?"
Nikolai stared at Mr. Stanton for a long moment. Finally, he muttered huskily, "I did.”
"God still loves you, and because He does, so do we," said Mr. Stanton.
The man stared at Mr. Stanton again. Then he broke down and began to weep. "I'm tired of living like this. I want to follow Jesus. Will you tell me how?"
Mr. Stanton untied the man and started talking to him about how he could tell God he was sorry for his sins. Nikolai knelt in front of all the other villagers and repented and gave his heart to Jesus. Soon others began crying and asking God for forgiveness for their sins. Thirteen converts were made that day.
When supporters in the United States heard about the fire, they sent generous contributions to repair the clinic and rebuild the church and the missionaries' houses. All of their belongings were also replaced.
The first service held in the new church was a thanksgiving service, thanking God for His mercies. Five people were converted that day.
God had given many blessings. The villagers and the missionaries were truly grateful.

The End

Jenny Age 23

Jenny Story Age 23 - Crystal L.

Jenny stared wearily at the hospital ceiling as a feeling of despair engulfed her. "Why, Lord?" she thought, sighing. "Why so many setbacks all of a sudden?" She was startled to hear her roommate, an older American lady named Ruth, ask, "Is something wrong?"

Jenny was silent for a moment. Suddenly she found herself pouring out her heart. "I work with a missionary couple, both doctors. We minister to the gypsies. Recently we went to a new village where everyone was aloof and a little suspicious, but we hoped to win them over soon. But when we refused to give money to a man, afraid he would just use it for vodka, rumors started to spread, and the gypsies chased us out. On the way down the mountain, our car slipped on ice and rolled. We don't have money to pay the hospital bills or buy a new vehicle. We were planning to attend a missionary conference here in Kiev. We really looked forward to it because we feel pretty isolated up in the mountains. Now we're going to miss it. I feel so discouraged!"

"God has a purpose in everything He allows to happen," Ruth said. "We can't always understand his purpose, but in Romans we are told that 'All things work together for good to them that love God.' Maybe he wants to use you here."

"Perhaps so," Jenny murmured. But she wondered how.

While she was in the hospital recovering from her concussion and broken wrist, Jenny found herself with plenty of time to rest, write a newsletter, and catch up on correspondence with family and friends. Then one morning, a nurse asked, "Did you hear about the fire last night?"

"No," Jenny and Ruth answered.

"A hotel here in Kiev burned to the ground," said the nurse. " Twelve people died and many more were injured. One of those killed was a missionary who was attending a missionary conference, and some other missionaries were badly burned." She shook her head. "That was awful."

After the nurse left, Ruth and Jenny sat in stunned silence. When Jenny found her voice, she exclaimed, "Those missionaries killed and burned might have included me if we hadn't crashed! And the missionaries who were burned will have to stay in the hospital much longer than the Stantons and I will have to."

Ruth nodded. "God knows what He's doing, doesn't He?"

"Oh, yes," Jenny said. "I'm going to thank Him right now, and I'm going to pray for the people who were burned and the families of those who were killed."

The next day Jenny and the Stantons were all discharged from the hospital. Their supporters, who had heard of the accident, had promised enough money for the missionaries to pay their hospital bills and put a down payment on a good used car, as theirs had been totaled. The night before the missionaries left Kiev, Marie Stanton knocked on the door of Jenny's hotel room. "Guess what? The organizer of the missionary conference stopped by and gave us CDs of all the workshops and services at the Ukrainian missionary conference!"

"How kind!" Jenny cried. I'm glad for Christian brothers and sisters like him and everyone who is sending money to help us. God has blessed us so much."

"Yes," Marie agreed fervently. "Praise His name!"

A couple days later, as the missionaries neared the village where they had been so angrily chased out, Jenny felt a knot of worry tightening in her stomach. "Lord," she prayed, "I agreed to come back and try again, but I'm nervous and worried. Help us to trust you, and please open the eyes of these dear villagers. Thank You." As she finished praying, Jenny felt peace wash over her soul. She relaxed and smiled.

"Here we are," said Donald Stanton. They watched as the villagers who saw them scattered in all directions.

"Are they afraid of us?" Jenny wondered aloud.

"They may be gathering a mob to chase us out again," Marie said, apprehension in her voice.

"Now, now, Marie, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Donald reassured her. "God is with us."

Before long, the gypsies who had scattered had apparently been busy collecting others and soon there was a large crowd gathered around the car. Evidently they were all curious about why the people they had chased out had come back. Donald saw this as a chance to talk about God, so he began to preach to the villagers. Before it was all over, a grandmother, a young man, and two young girls had accepted Jesus as their Savior, and several others were showing great interest in the Christian faith.

Jenny and the Stantons stayed in that village for several weeks, leading more people to Christ, teaching the new Christians more about God, and helping start a church. When they left to go back to the village where they lived, they promised to come back every two months. They left with praise in their hearts. They had proved God's promise to be true: "All things work together for good to those who love God."

The End

Jenny - Age Unknown

In this group of stories Jenny is not a specified age. (They aren't in order necessarily.)


Jenny Story – Merilee B.

Jenny was sitting in her room wondering what to do. She felt very bored, when suddenly an intruding “ring”, “ring”, “ring” interrupted her wondering.
“Hello! Johnson’s residence,” Jenny answered. “Hello, this is Mrs. Frantis, the preschoolers’ Sunday School teacher. I have heard from Mrs. Emerson about how responsible you are. I am going to be out of town. I wondered if you could teach my class this Sunday?”
Jenny could hardly believe her ears. She finally got out a weak “Yes,” and hung up the receiver. She was too excited to contain herself. She flipped through her Bible and decided that an object lesson on Jonah would be good.
When Sunday finally came, she had already prepared three hours the day before, but she still wasn’t sure she was ready. But in spite of her fears, everything went well. The kids just laughed when she accidentally spilled water on her little brother Jordon.
The next day she got a phone call from Mrs. Frantis. She had heard from some of the children’s parents how well Jenny had done. She had decided to turn the class over to Jenny. When she hung up the phone Jenny was so happy, but she realized what a big responsibility she had. She was determined to do her best to be a good teacher and influence for the Lord.
Copyright GGN


Jenny Story – Mary M.

Jenny’s mother told her to go to the store after she came home from school, so Jenny went. While Jenny was at the store some children were being unkind to Jenny. So she told them about Jesus and invited them to her Sunday School class.
So the next Sunday those children came to Jenny’s Sunday School class. After the class Jenny asked if there was anyone who would like to ask Jesus to save them. Those children who were unkind to Jenny at the store prayed and got saved.
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Jenny Story (Before her father's death) – Stephanie K.

“Jenny,” called her Mom. “Your friends are here.” Jenny went down stairs so fast she lost her balance and had to jump the last four steps.
“Hi, Ruthie, Ida,” exclaimed Jenny.
“Hi, Jenny,” said Ida. “Do you want to open your presents?”
“Why not?” said Jenny. Ruthie came forward and placed a package in Jenny’s lap. Soon all of the presents had been opened. Jenny got money, a jump-rope, china, and an artist set. Jenny was surprised that she got an artist set.
She said, “I didn’t think I would get this.”
Her dad laughed. “You kept dropping hints. It was obvious you wanted it.”
Her mom asked, “Why don’t you be that persistent when you invite kids to church?”
Jenny flushed. “Okay, I will.”
Copyright GGN


Jenny Story (Before her father's death) – Beth A.
Dear Diary,
This summer my family and I were invited to my Aunt and Uncle’s house for summer vacation. We stayed for two weeks and had a wonderful time. We took a three day camping trip. My Aunt and Uncle have a house in town and own some property in the mountains. On their property is a cavern. Uncle Dwight has some caving equipment including helmets, (with lights) rope, racks for climbing, and safety packs.
On Thursday we went up in the mountains. I was an hour and a half drive up there.
First, we set up our tents. Then my cousins, Jeff and Susan, Uncle Dwight, Daddy, Gordon, and I went in the cave. It was completely dark, and our helmet light only lit a very short distance around our heads. It was very interesting to see all the different stalactites and stalagmites. We had to climb down the drop-offs and clip up some very steep rocks! It was very fun and nerve-racking at the same time! We squeezed through several skinny places.
At one place Uncle Dwight had us all sit down and turn off our lights. It was horribly dark! He took each of us on a walk in the dark at separate times while the others stayed seated. He told us this, “As you follow me, you are having to trust me completely since there is no light in this cave and our lights are off. You don’t know where you are going, but you trust that I will lead you safely and that I know where I’m going. You believe in me that I will lead you through the cave and get you out.
The same things are true for us as Christians. Sometimes we have a little idea of what might be in the future, but most of the time we do not know at all. Whether we have ‘light’ or not, we must always hold Jesus’ hand and trust Him to lead us all the way to heaven. Throughout life there are many rocks, mountains, valleys, and yes, as in this cavern, there is water. We have to climb, and yes, sometimes are not as enjoyable. Just remember to ‘Trust in the Lord and lean not unto thine own understanding.’(-Proverbs 3:5).”
After our turns Uncle Dwight told us to turn our helmet lights back on. (If we didn’t have light for a long period of time, we could really hurt our eyes.) The place where he had led us in the dark was a huge open room, with many stalactites, stalagmites, ‘curtains’, and ‘tables’.
After we were all in the ‘Giant Hall’ we sat down and had a snack. Then we climbed out of the cave.
Back at the camp Mother and Aunt Holly were fixing a supper of chili while Jordon and my younger cousins, Lora and Kent, played around the campground. Saturday afternoon we came home to prepare for Sunday. We had a wonderful vacation and learned some lessons about trusting God, even ‘in the dark’.
Love, Jenny
Copyright GGN


Jenny Story – Chrissy M.

Jenny came home from school one afternoon, set her lunchbox down on the shelf, sat down at the table, and buried her face in her hands.
“What’s wrong, Jenny?” asked her mother in concern.
“Oh, Mommy,” sobbed Jenny, “there’s this boy at school and he just picks on me all the time. I just don’t know what to do.”
“Well,” said Mother, sitting down beside her, “why don’t you tell me about it.”
“His name is Jamie,” said Jenny with a sniff. “Last Monday he pinned my braids to the back of my desk, then on Tuesday he put a tack in my chair. Now every day he puts a squirrel tail or something like that in my lunchbox. And he’s always hiding around corners and behind desks and doors to scare me. I try to be nice, but he’s always so mean.
“Let’s get down right here and pray about it dear,” said Mother. “Jesus knows all about it, and He can show you what to do.”
A little while later, when they got up from their knees, Jenny said, “I’m going to take some of those candy bars that I got, and some of those cookies that I made, and put them in his lunch box.”
“Good idea,” said Mother. A few days later Jenny came home from school very happily.
“Oh, Mommy,” she said laughing, “You should have seen Jamie today. He couldn’t figure out where the cookies and candy bars came from. You should have seen the look on his face when he finally figured out who did it. Then he came and told me that he was sorry for being so mean, and now he’s really nice.”
“That’s good, Jenny,” said Mother, “It always pays to be kind, and do things Jesus’ way, even when others are unkind to you.” “Yes, it definitely does,” said Jenny happily.
Copyright GGN


Jenny Story (After her father’s death) – Gwin K.

Other than her ultimate devastation at the death of her father, this was about the most tragic thing that had ever happened to Jenny Johnson. Her leg became paralyzed. No one knows, not even Jenny, how she broke it. This was because she had a minor concussion at the same time.
About a week later, she was able to return home from the hospital. But life was never the same in the months to follow. It was because she couldn’t continue her dream—to become a professional volleyball player. She had been working on it since before her dad went away to war. He had worked on it with her.
She had hoped to be accepted on the JV high school team in the spring. But after a couple of weeks of therapy and a vote of confidence from her mom, she started training for volleyball again. She used a brace on her leg that helped her stand up. It was very difficult, and she slammed to the ground many times, but she didn’t give up.
The tryout day finally came and Jenny proved to have all the skills that the other girls had. The one thing that made her different was that she had a passion for this sport. So for that reason, she not only made the team, but was also voted team captain.
After much therapy she overcame the paralysis and was again able to use her leg. It wasn’t as good as new, but it soon would be.
Later Jenny said to her mom, “Mom, I think I know why God let this happen to me.”
“Oh?” said her mother.
“Yes, I think it was because He knew He would help me.”
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