He is not retiring. He is not even slowing down after more than 50 years in the ministry. In fact, he is busier than he has ever been with a full schedule for the next three years.
By Martine G. Bates
The Alabama Baptist
HARTSELLE, Ala. (BP) – He is not retiring. He is not even slowing down
after more than 50 years in the ministry. In fact, he is busier than he
has ever been with a full schedule for the next three years.
Why then did well-known evangelist Junior Hill write his autobiography now?
“I was 69 when I started the book,” Hill said. “I wanted to write it
while I could still remember things. As you get a little older, things
fade in your mind. It just seemed like an appropriate time to do it.”
Hill is guest speaker at the LBC annual meeting Nov. 13-14 at Trinity Lake Charles.
“Constructing your life is difficult,” Hill said. “I tried to get the
important things in the book, but you can never get everything in it.”
Laughing, he displayed a characteristic flash of humor.
“Some things you don’t want to tell.”
The book, They Call Him Junior,
chronicles Hill’s life and ministry. It also includes a touching letter
his wife, Carole, wrote to a young evangelist who had asked how she
dealt with Hill’s frequent absences.
Hill said he received more comments about his wife’s letter than anything else in the book.
“I think people enjoy getting a glimpse into the life of a preacher. It was just a letter from my heart,” Carole Hill said.
Louisiana Baptists who have followed Hill’s ministry will find
many of the facts related in the book familiar, such as his election in
1989 as first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
There are portions of the book, however, that might prove surprising
for some readers. One example is an episode during the height of the
Civil Rights era that resulted in Hill’s dismissal as pastor from a
small Mississippi church. Although he said he was devastated at the
time, the experience resulted in a ministry to discouraged pastors.
Sammy Gilbreath, director of the office of evangelism for the Alabama
Baptist State Board of Missions, describes Hill as “the pastors’
encourager.”
“He loves pastors and he loves the local church,” Gilbreath said.
“Junior is one of the greatest harvesters in the country today. There
are untold numbers in the Kingdom today due to his personal
soul-winning, his encouraging message for others to be faithful sharing
their faith and his harvest of souls due to his anointed preaching.”
Hill does not attempt to explain why large numbers of people have come
to know Christ through his preaching and says in the book that he does
not even keep a count of how many there have been.
“Only the dear Lord in heaven knows those facts, and I am perfectly content to await His final report,” Hill said.
Hill said he hopes the story of his life will touch people in a specific way.
“I hope people will realize that the Lord can use simple people like
me,” the evangelist said. “Sometimes the average person who does not
have a lot of ability will think they’re not important or they can’t
accomplish anything,” Hill said. “I would hope that people who read the
book would see that everybody is important and everybody makes a
different contribution to the body of Christ.”
Hill’s book is available at www.juniorhillministries.com.