Jeany Jun, wife of former General Assembly moderator Alex Jun, always knew she would grow up to be a pharmacist, but she couldn’t have imagined that her work would one day open discipleship doors everywhere.
You mentioned that you were once timid about sharing your faith in an academic setting. How did you get over it?
I am a pharmacy faculty member at Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) in Claremont, California, and have worked in a variety of academic institutions over the past two decades. For a long time, I compartmentalized my faith and my work. I would put on my clinical hat and focus on teaching students how to be good clinicians instead of touching on the whole person. Once, I was driving to lunch with three of my students — a Muslim, a Buddhist, and a Jewish student — and the Jewish student asked me, “Dr. Jun, you seem to have a lot of peace. Where does that peace come from?” But fear kept me from honestly answering the question that my peace came from Jesus.
That failure taught me that I need to be willing to be prepared to give an answer for the hope I have. Now I’m very intentional about sharing my faith. I try to take every opportunity I can, often sharing about our family’s experience in Cambodia and why we were there. But I have to take a risk to actually ask a person a question related to faith. If they’re interested and as you get to know the person, you can ask deeper questions.
So, tell us a little about your ministry in Cambodia. How did you serve there?
From 2010 to 2013, Alex and I were asked to work alongside Dr. Lloyd Kim, coordinator for MTW, and his wife, Eda, while they were missionaries in Cambodia. It was so hard for me to give up the job I had at the time. But when I finally did let that go, I felt like God said, “I have something so much better for you.”
And as it turned out, another institution hired me two weeks before we left for Cambodia. Because of that and other opportunities that arose, while overseas I taught local pharmacy students, discipled women, and led U.S. pharmacy students and other health care professionals on short-term medical missions trips.
You mentor younger professional women at your church. What messages do they most need to hear?
Use all the gifts, talents, and skills God gave to you, and glorify Him. Work with excellence in everything you do. God placed you exactly where you are, in your own spheres of influence, to touch the lives around you. I’ve discovered discipleship opportunities in the college classroom, on the Cambodian mission field, and among professional women in my church, New Life Presbyterian of Orange County. Glorify Him. Enjoy Him. Remember your primary identity as a beloved child of God.
Illustration by Julian Rentzsch