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A Future for the Lord’s Work

A Future for the Lord’s Work

MAY 17, 2021    |    3 MINUTE READ
ANGIE OVERHOLT, GLOBAL WORKER


Leaders don’t always look exactly as expected. Sometimes they appear in the form of fifteen-year-olds who develop a passion for the Lord and express it through sacrificial servitude. Lilian was one such example. Her story first appeared in the May/June 1993 issue of The Call and has been adapted for the blog.

Lilian grew up in the small village of La Paz, Catacamas in Honduras, as the oldest of seven children of a farmer. Her father grew corn, rice, and beans for their family’s use, with only a small excess to sell for their other basic needs. They were very poor. In spite of this, Lilian’s father provided for her to go to high school in Catacamas.

We met Lilian when Larry and I started visiting La Paz on Sunday mornings for Sunday school classes. Lilian came home from Catacamas every weekend (where she lived with a relative in order to be able to go to high school) and was faithful in coming to Sunday school. She soon accepted the Lord as her personal Savior and became a leader in the newly formed church at the young age of fifteen. She taught the children’s class and then started teaching her peers, the teens. She was respected by all in the church. Often it was Lilian who cleaned the church before Sunday school or visited with and witnessed to her neighbors about the Lord.

A photo of Lilian studying in Sunday school class

One day Lilian shared with us her dream of being a nurse. She saw the health problems the children in her village faced that sometimes caused death. One time her own little sister almost died of dehydration. There was a lack of knowledge of what to do for the child. Her cousin died from dehydration and diarrhea. We told Lilian we would pray for her, that somehow the door would open for her to go to nursing school.

We shared this dream of Lilian’s with someone visiting Escuela El Sembrador, and he offered to help Lilian. We helped her to apply to an evangelical nursing school in Honduras about five hours from El Sembrador, but she was denied admission because she was younger than eighteen years old.

Most young people would have been discouraged, but not Lilian! She asked special permission to attend the Bible institute at El Sembrador, leaving the door open to the Lord for a call into the ministry. She still desired to go to nursing school but was willing to follow the Lord’s leading. Every weekday, Lilian walked the two miles each way to school to study in the Bible institute. At night, she worked by kerosene lantern to do her studies and also helped in the almost-nightly church services.

When the end of classes came in November, Lilian promised to go out to a mountain church (one her uncle was helping to start) to preach. She made her plans.

However, right before the scheduled revival services, a message was sent that Lilian needed to go to the nursing school for an interview. You see, one of the staff members of the farm school was a good friend of the nursing school director and had convinced her to talk to Lilian. Lilian felt she could not go to the interview. She felt the Lord was leading her to go to the revival. And during the revival, several people came forward to dedicate their lives to the Lord.

Needless to say, the nursing school was not very happy that Lilian had not shown up for her interview. However, when they found out why she had not come, they arranged another meeting. Lilian impressed the interviewers with her humble spirit and willingness to serve the Lord. She was accepted!

Editor’s note: Lilian and her husband, Paman, are still active in the ministry. Lilian works as a tent-making missionary in eastern Honduras and serves as a nurse and the pastor of Casa Sola church.

A photo of Lillian seated on the ground with several other women preparing plates of food.

ACTION STEPS

PRAY: Pray for the next generation, that their hearts would be moved by the Holy Spirit. If you know of a young believer who is passionate about serving the Lord, lift them up specifically. Ask that they would have guidance for their next steps and how their passions align with His plan.

GO: Are you passionate about sharing your faith with others? Do you have a unique calling on your life? Let us help you figure out how you fit into the story God is writing all around the world.


Author Bio: Angie Overholt and her husband, Larry, have served as global workers in Honduras for forty years. They are now transitioning into leadership roles in the States and are eager to see how the Lord will lead them.

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