Guided by faith, alumna Jessica Jetton ’99 answers the call to serve others
When Jessica Jetton ’99 graduated from Presbyterian College with an education degree, she expected to spend her life in classrooms. She did—but not in the way she imagined.
Jetton spent the first 15 years of her professional career teaching, writing curriculum, and training school leaders. Today, she serves as director of donor engagement for Help the Persecuted, an international ministry based in Marietta, Ga., that supports Christians facing oppression and violence.
Her journey, which spans inner-city classrooms, East African churches, and support for people in Middle Eastern crisis zones, has been guided by one constant: a commitment to serve the people who need her most.
Starting Where Need Was Greatest
Jetton’s first teaching job was in an inner-city school where all of the students received free or reduced cost lunches. Safety escorts were required after 4 p.m.
“I took the job because PC taught me you don’t always choose the easy path,” she said. “You serve where you’re needed, not where it’s comfortable.”
Her career progressed quickly. She taught in elementary students, coached teachers, wrote district-wide math and science curriculum, and trained principals and superintendents in one of Georgia’s largest school systems.
But even as she advanced, she felt a growing pull toward something different.
PC’s motto shaped me. ’While We Live, We Serve.’ I’m honored I get to keep living that out.”
Jessica Jetton, Class of 1999
A Leap Into Global Ministry
In 2013, Jetton left education to join a small ministry serving people with HIV in Kenya and Tanzania.
“It sounded crazy from a practical standpoint,” she admitted. “I was giving up stability, retirement, everything. But I felt called to go.”
Over nearly a decade, Jetton helped local churches provide medical support, community care, and spiritual encouragement. In addition to fundraising, she worked inside congregations, built partnerships, and helped grow programs from the ground up. She also brought people from the U.S. to East Africa to see firsthand the fruits of their gifts and prayers.
Her years in education prepared her well.
“Teaching gives you the skills to work across cultures—listening, adapting, problem-solving,” she said. “You’re always an educator. Now I was just educating in a different context.”
Answering a New Call
Jetton’s current work began after meeting Joshua Youssef, president and chief executive officer of Help the Persecuted, an organization serving Christian converts from Muslim backgrounds. The organization rescues, restores, and rebuilds the lives of persecuted believers across a region stretching from North Africa to Pakistan.
“At first I thought maybe I was just meant to support the ministry financially,” she said. “But the more I learned, the more I realized the scale of persecution was far greater than I ever knew.”
For more than 360 million Christians, there is a real threat of physical violence towards themselves or their loved ones or the loss of their homes and jobs – all because of their religious beliefs.
That persecution often comes from close to home.
“People assume it’s governments,” she said. “But often it’s your own family. When someone converts, they face what we call ‘civic death’—losing home, livelihood, social identity, everything.”
Jetton’s role blends communication and pastoral care. She listens to stories from the field, shares them with supporters, mobilizes prayer, and helps connect donors with the urgent needs of Christians in the region.
“Their burdens are not meant to be carried alone,” she said. “We want to see persecuted Christians experience fellowship with the Body of Christ as their needs are met—and find renewed strength to follow Christ. I’m the bridge between the field and the people who want to help.”
The work includes emergency rescues—some dramatic, some quiet and strategic—but always focused on keeping believers connected to ministry in their home countries.
“We don’t want to empty the Middle East of its witness,” she said. “If everyone leaves, who will be there to share the gospel?”
Rather than simply evacuating believers to safety, the ministry provides what Jetton calls “wraparound care”—immediate crisis relief combined with long-term support that allows converts to remain in their communities as witnesses.
“When someone loses their job for converting to Christianity, we help them start a business,” she explained. “When they’re disowned by family, we connect them with safe housing and community. The goal isn’t just survival—it’s helping them thrive as witnesses right where God planted them.”
How PC Prepared Her
Though her résumé spans unrelated fields, Jetton sees her path as a single, continuous call to service—one that began at Presbyterian College.
“On paper, my education degree doesn’t match what I do now,” she said. “But PC prepared me in deeper ways. It taught me to lead, to serve, to see the world beyond myself.”
She credits Celtic Cross and its founder, Dr. Bob Smith ‘61, and professor of religion Dr. Peter Hobbie with shaping her spiritual formation and worldview.
“I read Dietrich Bonhoeffer in college,” she said. “Not for a grade, but because our professors taught us to ask, ‘What can we learn from his life? What does faithful leadership look like today?’”
These experiences made her comfortable navigating new cultures, discerning complex needs, and entering hard places with humility and purpose.
A Life of Unbroken Service
Looking back, Jetton sees each stage of her career as preparation for the next.
- Teaching prepared her to educate donors.
- Curriculum writing helped her organize large-scale initiatives.
- Leadership coaching prepared her to support ministry leaders overseas.
- Celtic Cross prepared her to understand persecution through a global, theological lens.
“Everything I did was getting me ready for what I’m doing now,” she said. “The Lord used all of it.”
Still a Blue Hose, Still Serving
Despite the international scope of her work, Jetton remains deeply connected to PC. She served nearly a decade on the PC Alumni Board, including five years in leadership, and she continues to advocate for the college’s mission. At Homecoming, she was awarded the Dum Vivimus Services Award for her work in communities and in the church.
“PC’s motto shaped me,” she said. “’While We Live, We Serve.’ I’m honored I get to keep living that out.”
Her journey—from classroom educator to global ministry—demonstrates the breadth of service a PC graduate can offer the world.
“At every stage, the calling has been the same,” she said. “Serve wherever you are needed. And trust God with the rest.”
