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Years at Troy campus
helped prepare Randall Johnson for ministry
Being the only male in a cottage with up to 14 girls at one time could be
awkward for some boys, but not for Randall Johnson. He found blessings in
living arrangements at the former Troy campus of the Children's Homes.
 "I was the eternal prom date," Randall Johnson jokes as he recalls his years
in Troy with his sister Cindy and mother Ann Johnson. They resided in the
girls cottage where Ann was houseparent.
"When a girl didn't have a date for the prom, I would often be called to
duty," says Randall, now a Hospice chaplain and minister of music at Bay
Springs Baptist Church in Columbia Baptist Association. "I went to at least
15 proms while I lived at the Troy campus."
Other vivid memories of Randall's teen years in Troy are of the talent
contests on campus. In one competition, he and a couple of girls from his
mom's cottage formed a rock band and sang "Rolling, Rolling Down the River".
"We were taking it seriously and got our feelings hurt because everyone else
laughed at us," says Randall, former minister of music and youth at First
Baptist Church of Slocomb. "Living at Troy in the girls cottage taught me to
relate to females in brother-sister relationships. That has helped me in
youth ministry as I have learned to encourage girls to live modestly and
have helped to counsel them through difficulties."
Another major influence on Randall's approach to ministry was the
gentlemanly example set by Ralph Jernigan. He was pastor of First Baptist
Church of Troy when Randall, his mom, and many others from the Children's
Home were members at that church.
"Pastor Jernigan could call each child by name," Randall says. "I
remembering listening to him preach and learned a lot about the Bible and
ministering to kids from him.
"People made fun of me and put me down because I was living at the
Children's Home," he adds. "But one of the things I remember the most about
Pastor Jernigan was that he didn't treat me or any of the other Children's
Home kids differently from the other children at church." |
