International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries Charlie and Robin Janney have lived and served with their two children, Kacie and Drew, in Aguas Calientes, Mexico, for more than four years. But when they first met in his hometown of Alexander City, they had music rather than missions on their minds.
After Charlie Janney graduated from Jacksonville State University, he took a teaching job as band director of Randolph County High School in Alexander City.
Robin Janney worked her way through college at the University of Alabama at Birmingham by working with the color guards at summer band camps.
One of those camps happened to be at Benjamin Russell High School, also in Alexander City and Charlie Janney’s alma mater. When he came by to watch her work with the color guard, they met. They began dating, and two years later, in 1982, they married.
Early in their marriage, Charlie Janney felt God calling him to full-time ministry.
Even while he was teaching full time, he was also serving as part-time music minister of First Baptist Church, Wedowee. The couple moved to Louisville, Ky., where Charlie attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
After seminary, the Janneys returned to Alabama where he served as minister of music and youth of First Baptist Church, Trinity, for seven years.
After moving to Calera Baptist Church, the Janneys received a surprising call to missions.
Robin Janney recalled, “Charlie was on staff at Calera Baptist Church, and things were going well. On New Year’s 1997, we decided instead of making a New Year’s resolution, we would make a New Year’s commitment to become closer to our Lord.
She continued, “We felt led to pray and fast one day a week seeking where God was leading us.
“After three months, God revealed His plan to both of us,” she said. “So we filled out the missionary request form and sent it in.” Eleven months later, the Janneys were appointed by the IMB.
Charlie Janney still has some connection to music ministry. As a church planter with the IMB, he plans weekly worship services as well as counsels with pastors, assists in new church starts and evangelistic events and creates lesson plans for the various groups that meet weekly.
Robin Janney described their day-to-day schedule as “a little tricky. On the field,” she explained, “it takes a few days just to keep ‘normal life’ going.”
For example, the area does not have a secure mail system, so bills must be paid in person, and business hours are often unreliable.
The Janneys also work together to home-school 17-year-old Drew.
When the Janneys return to Mexico after their stateside assignment in January, 18-year-old Kacie Janney will stay behind at Samford University in Birmingham.
A freshman majoring in pre-engineering, Kacie Janney will naturally be missed by her family. Robin Janney described her daughter as her “right arm,” and said, “She is the most bilingual of our family. Both our children have been a great help to our ministry.” Both Kacie and Drew Janney have worked with volunteer teams as interpreters.
Kacie Janney was 13 when they moved to begin language school in Costa Rica.
“When we left the States, we sold everything and said goodbye. It was a humbling experience,” she said. “Living in a different culture with all kinds of traditions has given me a whole new world view. I’ve been able to take from my experience the good things from each culture — like the hospitality of Costa Rica and the lasting friendships of Mexico.”
Kacie Janney plans to continue working in missions while living at Samford. She said she is looking forward to working with a Hispanic ministry in Birmingham. After spending three years in an all-Spanish-speaking high school, she wants to continue to use the language.
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