Golf Shores, AL
Steve Hill, 60, A devoted husband and father, Steve Hill was married to Jeri Hill for 35 years. They recently relocated to the Gulf Shores of Alabama where Steve went home to be with Jesus, Sunday March 9th, 2014.
Steve Hill was born January 17, 1954 in Ankara, Turkey to a military family. Later they moved to Huntsville, Alabama. In his early teen years, his struggle with drug addiction began, resulting in several run-ins with the law.
In 1975, Steve’s life took a dramatic turn after a near death experience due to a drug overdose. He had been suffering for three days with violent convulsions when a Lutheran vicar visited his home and offered to pray with him. As Steve called upon the name of Jesus, the convulsions ceased and he was healed, delivered, and gloriously made new.
Shortly after his miraculous conversion, his past caught up with him and he was arrested due to several unlawful activities prior to receiving Christ. Steve was facing serious felony charges and should have been incarcerated. However, God intervened and instead of prison, he was probated to the Teen Challenge drug and alcohol program.
Upon graduating, he was selected to attend David Wilkerson’s Twin Oaks Bible Academy in Lindale, Texas, where he met his future wife, Jeri Larson. They were married in 1979. The young couple soon entered into full time ministry, and began working with Outreach Ministries of Alabama under the direction of Jim Summers.
From Alabama, they went on to serve as youth pastors in Panama City and Tallahassee, Florida. They soon began to sense a call to foreign missions, and doors opened for them to relocate to Argentina to plant churches.
In a span of seven of years, they planted seven churches in Argentina and held crusades throughout South America. Their ministry expanded to planting several churches and establishing Teen Challenge centers in Granada, Spain and Baranovichi, Belarus. Steve was preparing for a crusade in Belarus when his plans were divinely diverted.
On Father’s Day 1995, he was invited to preach a service at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida. Revival ignited, sparking what soon became known around the world as the Brownsville Revival. This was the longest running church revival in American history to date, drawing a cumulative attendance of over four million people from more than 150 nations.
Steve preached four nights a week for five years during the revival, and hundreds of thousands came to Christ and received a fresh touch from God.
He began holding arena crusades throughout America and across the world. Burdened with the desire to reach the multitudes who couldn’t come to the revival, in 2000 he relocated his ministry to Dallas, Texas, where international travel would be more easily facilitated.
While at a crusade in Vienna, Austria in 2002, the Lord spoke to him, instructing him that it was time to plant a church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In 2003, he founded Heartland World Ministries Church and a year later established Heartland School of Ministry. He served as senior pastor until 2012, when his battle with cancer rendered him unable to continue.
Despite the brutal affects of melanoma, he continued to minister by launching several Internet evangelism projects including ProdigalsOnly.com, a website that has helped to lead thousands of prodigals back home to Jesus. During this time Steve also wrote several books and numerous articles, in addition to launching a television broadcast called From the Frontlines.
Following the example set by his own spiritual fathers David Wilkerson and Leonard Ravenhill, Steve sought to invest himself into the future generation of young evangelists and ministers. He spent hours pouring into these upcoming leaders, training, discipling, and equipping them for the work of the ministry, often disregarding his own pain and physical limitations.
Steve Hill has been hailed as one of the greatest evangelists of this generation, known worldwide for his passion for Jesus and his selfless dedication to reach the lost. His message of revival and repentance has truly touched the hearts of millions.
Steve’s heart was always on reaching the lost whether preaching to the multitudes or sharing Jesus with people one-on-one. Often times, he would step away from the crowds that came to his meetings to give a word of encouragement to a little child or to spend a few minutes praying with a drug addict, a prostitute or gang member. He preached with tears and regardless of the occasion, whether a wedding, graduation services, or funerals, was poised to give an altar call to the lost.
His greatest desire was to see Jesus one day and cast the crown of his rewards at the feet of his Lord. His family mourns his loss but is filled with joy knowing that Steve is now face to face with the One he loved so dearly. Finally he has heard those long awaited words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
Steve gave everything he had to whatever the Lord asked of him. Nothing was ever done half-heartedly but with complete dedication. He was meticulous always striving for excellence in every detail. He lived life with intense passion, giving his heart and soul to everything he did, which is why in 34 years of ministry, he accomplished the work of several lifetimes.
He is preceded by his father Frederick Whiting Hill and his mother Ann Eskelinen Hill. He is survived by his wife, Jeri Hill; son, Ryan Hill; daughter, Shelby (Aaron) Levy; and daughter, Kelsey Hill; sister, Marcia (Daniel) Pate, George (Lynné) Hill, and Susan (Fred) Pieper.
Funeral service is Friday, March 14, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. at Brownsville Assembly of God Church.
FAITH CHAPEL FUNERAL HOME NORTH, 1000 Hwy 29S, Cantonment, FL is in charge of arrangements. You may express your condolences online at:
www.fcfhs.com – See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pensacolanewsjournal/obituary.aspx?pid=170134981#sthash.PhXjpinc.dpuf
