OUR WORSHIP TEAM

The Journey of Gerri Lou Gill 

In the quiet town of Sioux City, Iowa, a child was born who would one day walk the roads of nations, planting seeds of faith that would bear fruit in the lives of many. Her name was Gerri Lou Gill, and though her journey began in a small corner of the Midwest, her story would stretch across continents, through trials and triumphs, and into the depths of spiritual awakening.

Her earliest years unfolded in South Sioux City, Nebraska, where she was raised in a Catholic home and attended St. Michael’s. It was there, in the hushed sanctity of morning Mass, that she first felt the stirring of something greater—a longing to know God, a whisper of destiny. Life, however, would not make the road easy. At the age of ten, she watched as her family unraveled, her parents separating and divorcing within a year. The world as she knew it shifted beneath her feet.

But God, ever watchful, never let her go.

She and her brothers—Mikey, Danny Joe, and Shaun—were left in the care of their father, a man who did his best to raise them alone. Each morning before school, he would drop them at church, seeking warmth in the sanctuary of St. Michael’s. What he did not realize was that in those early hours, when the stained-glass windows glowed with the rising sun, a deeper warmth was taking root in his daughter’s heart.

From childhood, she longed to serve the Lord. She dreamed of becoming a nun, believing that her purpose lay in a life devoted to prayer. Her father, skeptical and protective, sought to break her resolve by sending her to a convent for a day, thinking she would see the hardship and turn away. But his plan backfired. What he hoped would deter her only planted seeds—seeds that, though buried beneath years of wandering, would one day spring forth with unstoppable force.

Life pressed forward. High school came, and with it, new experiences. Sports, friendships, and the pressures of growing up. Her father remarried, and new family members entered her world—stepsisters Kimberly Kaye and Alisha. The house was fuller, but the longing within her remained unchanged.

Music became her escape. It called to her like a siren’s song, promising adventure and purpose. When the opportunity came to pursue it, she seized it with both hands, leaving home at fifteen to chase the dream. She moved to Cumberland, Wisconsin, finished high school, and stepped onto the stage as a professional nightclub entertainer. Drumming, singing, performing—her name became part of the rising music scene, playing with the Steve Bledsoe Show under Big Jack Productions. The future seemed bright. The road ahead glittered with possibility.

Then, as quickly as it had begun, it all fell apart. The band dissolved. The dream shattered. And Gerri Lou found herself standing at a crossroads, unaware that her life was about to change forever.

It was in Nashville, Tennessee, where the Lord’s hand guided her to an unexpected encounter. A woman named Betty Jean Robinson—a songwriter, a recording artist, and a woman of deep, unwavering faith—saw something in her. Betty took her under her wing, inviting her into a Pentecostal church, a place unlike any she had ever known. The music, the worship, the undeniable presence of something holy—it was foreign, yet familiar, as if the embers of an old fire were being rekindled. Betty prayed for her, interceding for a heart that did not yet fully understand its need for salvation.

Then came the night when everything changed.

A hotel room. A door unlocked. A television that should have been off, but wasn’t.

The voice of Pat Robertson filled the silence. “If you die tonight, where will you spend eternity?”

It was not just a question—it was a call.

And in that moment, Gerri Lou knew. The presence of God filled the room, surrounding her, pressing into the very core of her being. Years of running, of searching, of chasing dreams that could never satisfy—they all led to this. She knelt. She prayed. And heaven rejoiced as a prodigal daughter came home.

What followed was nothing short of transformation. The life she had built, the engagement she had planned, the music career she had pursued—she walked away from it all. The Lord called her to something greater, and she obeyed. She went to Christ for the Nations in Dallas, Texas, equipping herself for ministry. Then, the doors of the world flung open before her.

Israel became her first mission field, the place where she saw firsthand the beauty of God’s tapestry woven across cultures. From there, the journey continued—Colorado Springs, where she pastored children at Austin Bluffs Community Church and Springs Harvest Fellowship. More years of study, degrees earned, new churches planted—Destiny Christian Fellowship, Generations Church, Gateway Church. Everywhere she went, she poured herself into the work, serving under the Rocky Mountain District of Open Bible Churches.

Then came the fire of trial.

In 2010, illness struck, and she found herself on the cancer ward, confined to a hospital room on the 11th floor—room 1111. But the valley of suffering became a meeting place with the Lord. He restored her, strengthened her, and when she rose, she returned to the work. She interceded at the Jericho Center, pastored once more at The Springs Journey Church, and eventually returned to Sioux City to care for her aging parents.

Even then, the calling did not cease. Worship ministry, theological studies, missions—she pressed on. Her doctorate in Hebrew Letters was completed. She stood on the soil of nations, carrying the gospel to South America, Africa, Australia, Europe, Israel—every continent but China and Russia. She taught in Bible colleges in India, Japan, and Thailand. She evangelized, preached, discipled. Wherever there was a soul in need, the kingdom of God called, she went.

Alongside the ministry, she worked. She drove school buses, ran businesses, managed offices—whatever was needed to sustain the mission. Because she knew: some sow, some reap, but it is God alone who gives the increase.

Now, as she approaches 65, she stands with hands weathered from labor but heart steadfast in faith. And yet, even with all she has seen, there is still a spark in her spirit, an urgency that will not rest. The work of the Kingdom is not finished. There are still lives to touch, prayers to be prayed, nations to reach. The same fire that burned in her as a child, the same whisper she heard in the halls of St. Michael’s, still calls her forward.

She is a sower, casting seeds across the earth, knowing that in due season, the harvest will come.

And when the Lord returns, may He find her faithful, still planting, still believing, still pressing forward.

For the work is not yet finished.