By Heather Webb

At her home on November 15, 2022, surrounded by friends and family, Jean Johnson passed gently into the loving presence of Jesus. Jean and her husband Sidney are the founders of Children of Promise.

Children of Promise was a God-sized dream that Jean received from the Lord when she and Sidney completed their forty-seven-year long career as missionaries for the Church of God in India and Asia. From the very beginning, the goal has been the same as it is today—to be an extension of the ministry of the local congregation in its village or city by providing holistic care for children through nutrition, education, health care, and discipleship.

What started in six countries in 1992 as a partnership between the Women of the Church of God (now Christian Women Connection) and the Missionary Board of the Church of God (now Global Strategy) grew to ministry in fourteen countries by the time the Johnsons retired in 2003. From the earliest days of Children of Promise, Jean and Sidney elevated the local leadership and local church, a value that is still paramount thirty years later. They recognized the importance of this ministry being locally shaped and globally supported.

Children of Promise leadership through the years! From left to right: the Johnsons, the Maxfields, the Webbs.

Since its inception, the ministry of Children of Promise has provided holistic care through the local church to over 14,000 children across 33 countries.

Jean, we celebrate the God-sized dream that you received in 1992 and for the years you faithfully lived out that dream. Because you cared so deeply about children, your impact has reached their families, their churches, their communities, their countries, and the world. Well done, good and faithful servant. The world is a better place, and the kingdom of God has grown because of your life.

Jean’s beautiful memorial service was held at Park Place Church of God in Anderson, Indiana, on Saturday, December 3. If you’d like to watch a recording of the service, you can do so here.

Heather and Mike Webb serve as executive directors of Children of Promise. Learn more about Children of Promise at www.childrenofpromise.global.

Feature (top) photo: Jean (left) and Sidney (right) Johnson.