Billy Taylor was born in Evanston, Illinois, on May 22, 1955. His parents divorced when he was only five. His mother took Billy and his brothers and moved them back to her home town in Arkansas. After joining the Navy in 1972, it wasn’t long before he became involved with drugs and alcohol which continued for several years.
After getting out of the Navy, Billy contacted an old girlfriend, Janet, who lived in Maryland. Billy decided he wanted a change in his life, and tried to commit himself to Christ after moving to Maryland. Billy and Janet were married on November 6,1976. But six months after they were married, Billy and Janet both backslid.
Their first child, a son named Clint, was born on January 4,1979. By 1980 they had moved to Texas, where Billy was working in the oil fields. Janet was then pregnant with twins. In the sixth month of the pregnancy, however, there were complications. On October 4, 1980 at 1:00 A.M. Janet went into labor. One of the twins tubes was crimped, causing the fluid to back up, and he died before being born. When the water broke, it was an enormous amount of water. Janet began to hemmorage, and she began to die. Her eyes rolled back in her head as the nurse worked frantically to try to find out what to do. Billy shouted and asked what he should do, and they told him to talk to her and keep her talking. But she was dying, and there seemed to be no hope. There in the hospital room watching his wife die, Billy heard a still small voice. That voice said “I called you when you were 17, (and He did, but Billy ran and joined the Navy) and I called you when you were 21, (and again Billy went to Texas to make his fortune) and again you ran”, God said. Then the voice said, “Now what will you do?” Billy never wanted to be a missionary or pastor. Having met people in those fields, he knew how hard it was at times, and he ran. He always wanted a common three bedroom house, two car garage, a good job and so forth. But God wanted much more. God wanted him! Billy then remembered that when all of his drug addict friends left him, his wife stayed with him. Billy saw her condition and his own spiritual condition. These words then came out of his mouth “Lord, I will be a missionary, a pastor, evangelist, or anything you want me to be, just please heal my wife.” Instantly she was healed! Instantly! Both children were delivered, one was stillborn and the other one lived for fifteen minutes and then died Oct. 5.
Emotionally crushed, Billy left the hospital wondering why both children died. He had given his heart to the Lord. He just couldn’t understand. He did see both of the children after they died, and they were both boys. Crushed was the word, for Billy was baffled. But as he drove away from the hospital, the reality finally began to catch up with him. Billy was a realist: he had to see to believe, and “see” he did. About forty miles away from the hospital Billy stopped the car and began to cry endlessly. He felt led to look into the sky as though someone was pointing or lifting his eyes toward the sky. He then saw a vision, a vision of the child that had just died. The child was dressed in white, and a large angel stood beside him. The child was so happy, saying, “Don’t cry Daddy, I’m going home,” and they both walked into the light. The vision disappeared. Suddenly there came an audible voice of God saying, “Now you know there is a resurrection, now you know there is life after death, now preach the gospel!” With that Billy cried and thanked God.
Billy and Janet both committed themselves back to Christ. Two weeks later they were attending a revival nearby where they were living in Texas. The spirit of God moved in a mighty way and Billy received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Billy and Janet, along with their son, Clint, moved back to Maryland. One year later God spoke to Billy again and said that he would be a “missionary”. Exactly one year to the day that the twins died the Lord woke Billy and his wife up and caused them to pray. This time God said, “Anything you ask of me this day, I will give it unto thee.” Billy said he would like to have a faith and healing ministry, but above all he desired a salvation ministry. God said, “Yes, my son, I will give it, but remember your calling is to be a missionary”. Billy said, “But where, Lord?” The Lord showed Billy a bright cloud with writing on it that said” The Philippines”.
On August 2, 1982 Billy and Janet, along with their two children, Clint and Angela (Angela, only 6 months old, was born on Feb 10, 1982), left for the Philippines. God led them to begin a ministry called “Missionaries to Asia” in 1984. Their heart was to see the lost come to Christ. Billy began to visit some tribal areas. Then he began holding crusades. As God blessed and increased their ministry, He spoke to Billy to open a Bible School to train Filipino nationals so that there would be more laborers for the harvest.
Today, Billy and his wife have founded a great ministry in the Philippines, seeing thousands come to Christ in nationwide crusades throughout the nation. Five Bible schools have been established in different regions of the country, over 200 ministers have been trained in these Bible Schools, and nearly a hundred churches have been planted. A 40 ft. catamaran (gospel boat) has been built for reaching the islands of the Philippines. Billy obtained his captain license in Stuart, Florida at Chapman’s School of Seamanship. Throughout the dry season, Billy and his crew and crusade team travel in the gospel boat spreading the gospel where God leads them.
The Taylor Family(from left to right): Angela, Art, John, Kristine(Johns wife), Clint, (2nd row) Heidi, Janet, Billy, Janeth(Clints wife). And the family is still growing, Praise God!
