Portrait of David Leslie Hill. IMB Photo
David Leslie Hill an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in the Philippines and Singapore, died April 11, 2025. He was 93.
Les was born Jan. 28, 1932, in Kansas City, Kansas, to the late Ralph and Thelma Hill. He graduated from East High School in Denver, Colorado, and received the Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, and the Bachelor of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.
At the age of 14, he felt God was calling him to preach. The year he graduated from high school, his father, who was in the military, received orders to transfer to the Philippines. While seeking missionary appointment he wrote, “Out of my father’s leaving and our planning to join him, I had my first thoughts of being a missionary. I must admit that it was hurriedly pushed out of my thinking.”
When the Korean war broke out, he enrolled in college instead but later visited his family in the Philippines for the summer. While seeking missionary appointment he wrote, “In October of 1951, I realized that God was definitely calling me to mission service and that I could no longer ignore his calling. A heavy burden was rolled off my shoulders the Wednesday evening I said ‘yes’ to God about missions.”
During his second year in seminary, he met Janet Nabors. They were married in May 1956. He completed his seminary work and accepted the call to pastor several churches in Texas.
In 1963, the International Mission Board appointed Les and Jan missionaries to the Philippines. His work included starting churches, managing building projects, training and counseling pastors, authoring textbooks, seminary administration, missionary support and much more. He also served terms as seminary president in both the Philippines and Singapore.
He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Janet Nabors Hill; his children, John David Hill, Deborah Lynette Hill, and Jana Leigh Gillham; and three grandchildren.
A funeral service was held April 17 at Calvary Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky.
Read an obituary here.