“What a blessing to be chosen and called and asked. Never take for granted the things that the Lord does.”
Thankful at 85
Before the service, Pastor Collier reflected on what the milestone means to her. The congregation was able to pay off its church building in 20 years, and she credits God for every step.
“I’m so thankful because I’m 85 and I’m still strong,” she said. “I can’t see well, but God lets me see His word so that I can continue to teach people and bless them. I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Nobody but Him, because I probably would’ve given up if it hadn’t been for the Lord just steady pushing every day.”
The Call to “Go”
Pastor Collier’s ministry began in 1983 with a Bible study telephone prayer line, which she says God gave her before He gave her a church. She recalls being at the altar at Mount Calvary while Reverend Parson prayed. “I opened my eyes and looked up and I saw this big arm with this finger saying, ‘Go.’ I said, ‘Go where?’ And I could hear Him say, ‘Preach My word.’”
At the time, she said, she had seen many women preach by taking a scripture and running with it without explaining it. “I said, ‘God, if You’re calling me to preach, I want to study Your word and make it plain enough for a child to understand it.’ And He did.”
A Line That Never Stopped
The prayer line is still going 43 years later. It isn’t only a prayer line, Pastor Collier says. Participants must study the Word and pray, following rules she says God gave her, including joining every day of the year. “These are not my rules. These are God’s rules, so we’re going to keep them.”
Participants often tell her they have been in church all their lives but never experienced the Word the way it’s opened up on the line. Two women, both 98, join every morning to study and pray. Some members, she says, stayed on the line even when they could no longer see well enough to read or hear clearly.
“God gave me that ministry 43 years ago and said go and preach,” she said. “And He’s been blessing us.”
