More About the Jackson Family
The Jacksons seek to live authentic, Christian lives in their circles of influences. This means they seek to be Christ-followers who understand what it means to live under grace. Living under grace with nine children, six in-laws, and currently 13 grandchildren has not always been easy but has always been the desired path.
Meet the Children
A graduate of Erskine College, the oldest daughter, Rachel, taught sciences in the International Christian School in Caracas, Venezuela, for two years, but she now lives in Palmer, Alaska, with her husband Trevor Olson and their three precious children. While enjoying motherhood, she also comes alongside of her husband in his real estate/broker business. Their greatest area of service is with foster children. Many foster children have graced their home in addition to Rachel directing REACH 907 - Restoring, Empowering Alaska's Children and Homes. Recently, the governor of Alaska appointed her as a member of the state’s Social Work Examiner Board and in 2019 awarded her the Volunteer of the Year award.
Rachel
Also a graduate of Erskine College, their second daughter, Rebecca, interned at the Institute of Creation Research in San Diego, California, during her college years then served the Lord among Muslims in the Middle East for three years. Upon her return she met and married Josh Shrom of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They have three daughters and a son, whom they homeschool, with another baby on the way. Rebecca volunteered for awhile at her local crisis pregnancy center where she translated parenting classes into Arabic and where she sought to connect with the local Arab women. Josh and Rebecca recently joined a new church after changing jobs and moving, so they are finding ways to serve in it and in their community.
Rebecca
Next up, Miriam graduated from Converse College with a degree in Vocal Performance. She absolutely loves singing praises to the Lord with her classically trained voice in churches, but she also enjoys singing the national anthem at sporting events and roles in local theatre musicals. Miriam served on short term mission trips in Caracas, Venezuela, and Nairobi, Kenya, and she volunteered as a counselor at the Piedmont Women’s Center, a local crisis pregnancy center in our area. She taught sixth through twelfth grade girls in Sunday School for over eight years, and currently performs with our church’s choir. On May 13, 2017, she married Brandon Schell, and they welcomed their first child on April 5th, 2021.
Miriam
The fourth daughter, Hannah, married Dustin Miller, an epoxy coatings specialist. They have three daughters and a brand new baby boy. Before college she apprenticed at Miracle Mountain Ranch in Pennsylvania for a year; then she finished North Greenville University while concurrently taking classes to become certified with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. Hannah served as conference director for Truth for a New Generation, a national apologetics conference, and co-directed a community prayer launch against abortion and Planned Parenthood, both attended by around 1,500 citizens of the South Carolina upstate. She served as Chairwoman of the Christian Life and Public Affairs Committee of the SC Baptist Convention while also co-hosting a daily radio show, Christian Worldview with Tony and Hannah, a talk show that discusses current events from a Biblical worldview. She is the newest member of the Board of Trustees for The Baptist Courier, a SC magazine, and recently launched her own podcast, The Hannah Miller Show.
Hannah
The fifth child but first son, Rob, also attended Miracle Mountain Ranch’s apprenticeship program for two years. He grew up down by the river (LOL), so he loves outdoor activities. He is a Safety and Basic Shotgun instructor with the National Rifle Association. Rob has served on several short term mission trips to Caracas, Venezuela and to Guatemala. After taking classes in Houston, Texas, he is level 2 NACE certified and now co-owns his own coatings company with Hannah's husband, Dustin, Miller-Jackson Coating Solutions. He was ordained as a deacon in his church in the fall of 2015 where he also taught a Sunday School class of fifth grade boys for three years. He married Rachel Marshall of Pennsylvania on October 15th, 2016, and they had their first child Julia Rose in October 2021.
Robert III
John Richard, the sixth Jackson, brings the Jackson household much joy as the first of our two special needs boys. Born with a serious respiratory defect and brain damage, he now serves in our home as the professor. He teaches us all what it means to be loving and kind while helping us to be servants just like Jesus. He loves to be around people, including traveling to Pennsylvania and visiting for a while to help with Rebecca’s babies.
John Richard
Jehu, the seventh Jackson child, also attended Miracle Mountain Ranch as an apprentice and graduated North Greenville University in 2019 as an Outdoor Education Leadership major. He hopes to share Christ through the avenue of the outdoors. He is the fourth Jackson to have worked with Child Evangelism Fellowship, sharing the gospel with children in backyard Bible clubs. He also served as a counselor in our church’s Kidfuge program and sang in the youth choir. He worked two summers as a counselor at Camp Ridgecrest for Boys and one semester at Camp Snowbird, and now works alongside his brother Rob and brother-in-law Dustin as a coatings specialist. When he is not on the job with his brothers, Jehu is most likely on a river kayaking or on a mountainside rock climbing.
Jehu
Carla, our eighth child, graduated from our homeschool In His Steps Academy (as they all have done). She took voice lessons throughout her high school years and taught horse riding lessons in addition to participating in one summer of Child Evangelism Fellowship. Like other siblings she completed a gap year at Miracle Mountain Ranch then attended North Greenville University before transferring and graduating from USC Upstate’s nursing program in 2020. She is the only one of our children to follow her parent’s footsteps into the medical world. Also in 2020, Carla married Nathan Beasley, a mechanical engineering graduate from Clemson (yay!), and they reside in Spartanburg, SC. Currently, Carla serves as a nurse manager and sonogram technician for our local crisis pregnancy center.
Thomas Jonathan Lee Jackson, named after Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and his grandmother, Margie Lee Watson, is the caboose of the family but certainly not the least. Thomas loves listening to music and often sings around our home. No one would send Thomas back. As a family member with Down Syndrome, he is the best professor of all because the lessons we all learn at the feet of Thomas are never ending and make us more like Jesus every day. Oh, yes, we love Tommy-boy!