Revs. Joe & Janis English

May 18, 2022

By Jeff Becraft

 

Many times I will half-jokingly say to someone, “You are one of my mentors.” There is more truth to this statement than not because I am always picking up things from other people on a daily basis.

But two people who really are my mentors are Revs. Joe & Janis English. They are two of the wisest people I know. I met them 17 years ago and they have been part of my life and the lives of many others ever since.

Joe went in the hospital this morning with a brain aneurysm. He is in his late 70’s and he and his wife, Janis, still lead a church here in Columbia. Joe is also a retired middle school principal. For 17 years, he and Janis have prayed for the lives of hundreds of people… and you are probably one of them. They have been my go-to people for a long time. Janis is very much joined to Joe; they do everything together.

NO ONE gets more excited to hear about the growth and success of students than Joe & Janis and no one cared about and loved young people more than them. One student once said that they were the nicest people on the planet.

When Covid hit and shut down many facilities that we normally would use, they opened up their facility and got people involved so that the students could do hundreds of meals and hundreds of goodie bags for victims of crime and people who are down and out.

I have often jotted down things Joe or Janis have said. They are definitely two people who have shaped my life.

On very rare occasions, Joe would tell of what it was like being an African-American man growing up in South Carolina. But there was never any resentment or bitterness or unforgiveness in his voice. My admiration for him simply grew. As I would listen to him, I would think to myself, “I want to be like that.”

All of us have things that push us down in life but Joe is truly one of the most free people I have ever been around.

As often as I could, I would get Joe to come out and speak to the young people at Carolina Children’s Home.

Joe is still in the emergency department and is unconscious right now and has a lot of blood on the brain. Janis said that the prognosis is not good but she also said that God is a mighty God. We prayed together on the phone.

All kinds of different people get the Friday emails and I do not want to be presumptuous, but if you are a person of faith and if you are a person like Ms. Janis that believes that God is a mighty God, I ask that you would please pray for Joe & Janis right now.

We really do need each other.

 

Jeff Becraft is the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Youth Corps is a life-changing leadership development experience that inspires high school students to be leaders in the Midlands and beyond. You can connect with Jeff at [email protected].