On Turlington Plaza Wednesday afternoon, in the shadow of his big white sign, Joey Johnsen said goodbye.
Johnsen, the 24-year-old campus preacher who's become a fixture in Turlington over the past year and a half, will travel to South Korea on Saturday to be with his fiancee, teach English classes and continue to preach the Gospel.
His fiancee, Mi-Young Jang, a 30-year-old UF graduate, went back to her home in South Korea in December when her Visa expired. She had come to Gainesville to get her master's degree.
"I've missed her a lot," Johnsen said. "I'm rejoicing in the Lord my God that we can be together again."
Johnsen, who received a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2005, said he met Jang about a year ago at UF, and they became engaged in June. The wedding will be Nov. 24.
He said he and Jang would move in together only after they're married.
They already have a place to live, Johnsen said. A woman from Jang's church offered them a two-bedroom house for a year, free of charge.
Johnsen said it's not luck or coincidence that's allowed him to continue to spread the Gospel on a minimal income.
"That's what's amazing," he said. "I wanted to serve the Lord, and God has provided for me."
Johnsen said his job contract expires in a year. After that, they plan to come back to the United States.
He said he hopes to have his student loans paid off shortly after their return, so he could preach full-time and start a family.
After he pays off his loans, Johnsen said his Gainesville church, Windsor Baptist Church, has promised to support him in other evangelist endeavors overseas.
His sights are set on India, a place he said hasn't been fully reached by the Gospel.
Though Johnsen attends a Baptist church, he doesn't call himself Baptist. He calls himself "a disciple of Jesus Christ."
He said Baptists, Presbyterians and other sects aren't much different in anything but name.
"When it comes down to it, we're all Christians," he said.
Johnsen said he began preaching to college students because there are many temptations on campus and not much authority.
"So many factors can lead people away from God," he said, listing promiscuity and pride as students' top offenses.
Kevin Lo, a UF psychology junior, said he's gotten to know Johnsen while he's been at UF.
Lo said Johnsen inspires him to trust in God.
"Seeing his faith, it gives me courage when I get in tough situations," Lo said. "God called him here."
Johnsen said God has now called him to spread his message farther than Gainesville.
"Jesus Christ said in Mark 16, 'Go, ye, therefore into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.'" Johnsen said. "So that's what I'm going to do."
