It is good to remember heroes. On this day three years ago, my brother, Travis Johnson, went to be in the presence of King Jesus. His broken body was made whole. Sure, he was a super athlete, valedictorian of a class of over 700, magna cum laude, received a full ride to medical school, and earned another Masters at Harvard. Along with his wife Amy, they took their three little children (3 months, 2 years, 5 years) to serve children on the Ugandan- Congolese border that suffered from HIV, sickle cell anemia, malnutrition, and abuse amongst other tragic illnesses. Yet, they were forced to return home when Travis was diagnosed with a terminal illness. He lived 7 more years fighting stage 4 colon cancer. He would say he was living with cancer not dying from cancer. During those years he started a Masters of Public Health program in rural North Carolina through the nation’s #1 program at UNC. He also weekly volunteered as a medical witness at court advocating for abused children. He did all of this while he was receiving countless chemo and immunotherapy treatments and undergoing surgeries. Yet, the point is this, he probably would not have told you any of these things. Because he didn’t live for his glory. He gave his life for the temporarily broken so that they might have the assurance of eternal wholeness through a relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Take a moment and read more about his LIFE.
This picture was taken after 7 years of fighting stage 4 cancer. At this point, Travis is mostly blind and quite crippled and would die two days later. Yet, his joy IS contagious. I don’t know what idealogy you have put your hope in, but you cannot dispute this supernatural joy offered by Jesus that goes eternally beyond the brokenness of this life. Travis is still smiling 🙂
Nate Johnson
Headmaster
