SOME EIGHTEEN TIMES, he has come close to death. Three were airplane “mishaps” (as he calls them): one in a crop duster that went down, the second in a twin engine aircraft that ran out of fuel clearing the Honduran mountains, and the third in his Convair 240 that went down in Belize. Collier almost drowned in bad weather during a long-distance swim in the Bahamas. And when he was bringing the ministry’s ex-Navy 80-foot minesweeper to Belize, he was caught between Cuba and Mexico in a northerly in which a 120-foot cargo boat did go down. Two automobile accidents put him in the hospital, and he was electrocuted while standing in water. When he had cancer, he endured surgery and 38 cobalt treatments. John survived four heart operations, two in one day. The second was because he was bleeding to death. All in all, John has been on the hospital table a total of 47 times, including the painful cobalt treatments. While living with the Mayas for eight years in Belize, Central America, Collier contracted malaria and was fl own to a hospital. Besides dengue fever (a deadly form of malaria), hepatitis, and other tropical diseases, John experienced numerous scorpion bites while living with the Mayas, some while living in a small $150 US stick-siding house with a tin roof.
John Collier has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Belize and resides in the small country of Belize, Central America, to which God called him more than 30 years ago. In Belize, Collier has worked with British forces, spent time in jungle training, supervised medical missions, and directed hundreds of shortterm mission teams. Although he is not a preacher, he helped start 18 churches. He reads the entire Bible two to three times a year and still likes to memorize scripture. He speaks at churches and conferences, but most of all enjoys personal work—leading others to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the U.S., Collier was a businessman who decided to change his priorities and seek the Lord’s guidance. You will enjoy reading John’s story. At the same time, you will see that a life dedicated to God is one of great adventure, faith, and grace that knows no end.
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable,
Always abounding in the work of the Lord,
Forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
--1 Corinthians 15:58
JOAN SEARS
travels to Belize frequently with mission teams and lives with her son Jason in Lubbock, Texas, where she directs the Intensive English Program at Texas Tech University.
