Janie House, missionary of ‘living hope,’ dies in Kenya

Feb 25, 2004
By Mark Kelly

NAIROBI, Kenya (BP)--Janie House, a Southern Baptist missionary in Kenya, died Feb. 21 in Nairobi after a brief illness. She was 56.

House was appointed by the International Mission Board in 1981 after sensing God's call to missions during a 1976 conference promoting Bold Mission Thrust, a challenge presented to Southern Baptist churches to evangelize the world by 2000. Prior to missionary appointment, she directed Acteens and Baptist Young Women's programs for South Carolina Woman's Missionary Union.

She was teaching a missions class for teenage girls at the time and realized she couldn't encourage teenage girls to go and serve the Lord if she wasn't willing to go herself.

Her life's passion was to get the Gospel to those who had yet to hear, said Jon Sapp, leader of International Mission Board work in East Africa.

"Janie House lived her life to get the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people," Sapp said. "Her life was an example that I will use to illustrate points for years to come. She was an example of a woman who lived on 'living hope.'

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