Marilyn Hickey Ministries thanks you, deeply, for joining us in celebrating Marilyn’s life.

Summary

Encouraging, optimistic, always upbeat, and energetic— At the age of 42, Marilyn Hickey responded to God’s call on her life to “Cover the earth with His Word” (Isaiah 11:9). The natural inclination to reach out and celebrate people and culture was traceable in Marilyn’s formative years. Yet, she had no idea how God would send her around the globe teaching the Bible and building bridges with people of all cultures and religious backgrounds, especially in the Muslim world. The Lord has continually opened doors of opportunity for Marilyn, first in local church ministry, then radio, and eventually television. Today, Marilyn has traveled to over 140 countries. Her teaching and healing events have broken records for the largest public meetings ever held in that nation’s history, including Cairo, Egypt, and Pakistan. She and her late husband Wallace were married for over 50 years and have two children and several grandchildren.  Marilyn holds the following degrees of education: Bachelor of Arts in Collective Foreign Languages from the University of Northern Colorado and an Honorary Doctor of Divinity from Oral Roberts University.

Childhood

Marilyn Hickey was born Marilyn Allene Sweitzer on July 1, 1931, to Mary Alice and John Sweitzer of Dalhart, Texas. Located in the panhandle of Texas, Dalhart was right in the center of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. At the age of five, her father moved the family to San Angelo, Texas, where Marilyn started first grade and excelled in school. Marilyn’s parents and grandparents were hard workers, and Marilyn learned at a young age that if she wasn’t willing to work hard, her dreams would never become a reality. Marilyn began working at the age of 11 so that she could buy her own clothes. One of her first jobs was gathering baskets of apples that had fallen off trees, for which she received five cents a basket. Her childhood experiences taught her to never give up, even when things looked impossible. This would serve her well later in life.

Marilyn’s brother David was born shortly after the family moved to San Angelo. Despite living in separate states as adults, Marilyn and David were always close, talking often until David’s death in 2012.

At the beginning of World War II, when Marilyn was ten years old, the Hickey family once again moved. This time to Sewickley, Pennsylvania, where her dad helped build ships as part of the war effort. They lived in Sewickley until the war ended in 1945. It was during this time that Marilyn developed her love for reading the Bible and praying Scripture. In her autobiography, It’s Not Over Until You Win, Marilyn writes:

My heart was pulled in such a way that I felt like I needed to know more about God. One day, I prayed a simple prayer in my heart to Him; I said, “I want to be where You are. Where are You? Should I go to the Methodist church, or the Catholic church, or the Baptist church? I want to be where you are.” He replied to my heart with a crystal-clear message. He said, “I am in the Word.” That seemed strange at first, but it also made sense to my heart. . .I began reading my Bible each day, and every night I knelt on the floor of my second-story bedroom and prayed the Scriptures.

Unbeknownst to Marilyn, these times of reading and praying the Word were laying a foundation for her life and shaping her destiny. During Marilyn’s junior year of high school, she attended a Methodist summer camp in Jumonville, Pennsylvania. It was here that she committed her life to Jesus and asked Him to be her Lord and Savior.

Early Adulthood

When Marilyn was 16 years old, her family moved across the country to Denver, Colorado. During her school years, she developed a love of foreign languages, which continued at her high school in Denver. Her Latin teacher and his encouragement and motivation helped Marilyn adjust to her new school and life in Colorado. By the time Marilyn graduated from high school, she had taken six years of Latin, several years of French and Spanish, and even Greek. At this point, Marilyn wanted to be a foreign ambassador, traveling the world experiencing other cultures and countries. This led her to pursue a degree in foreign languages, first at the University of Colorado, but eventually graduating from the University of Northern Colorado.

It was at UNC that Marilyn was exposed to the concept of small group Bible studies in her dorm by a group of Lutheran girls. Marilyn attended confirmation class, and although she never officially became Lutheran, she was installed as president of the Lutheran Student’s Association at UNC. Marilyn credits this experience in small group Bible studies as equipping her for her future ministry.

In 1953, Marilyn graduated with honors from the University of Northern Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in Collective Foreign Languages. Although she didn’t give up on her dream of being a foreign diplomat, Marilyn was immediately hired upon graduation to teach Spanish and English at a high school in Pueblo, Colorado.

Marriage and Ministry

Marilyn met her future husband, Wallace Hickey, in the spring of 1954 when she made a trip home to visit her mother. Wally had rededicated his life to the Lord shortly before meeting Marilyn and had subsequently been Spirit-filled. Marilyn’s initial impression of Wally was that he was overly religious. At that point in time, even though Marilyn was a Christian, she was not very committed and not Spirit-filled. However, she knew that if she wanted to spend time with Wally, she would need to attend his Spirit-filled church with him. After seven months of dating, they became engaged, and shortly before their wedding on December 26, 1954, Marilyn had a supernatural encounter with the Lord and became Spirit-filled.

In 1957, Wally and Marilyn were called into ministry, first as evangelists and then as pastors. Wally was a Visitation Pastor at First Assembly Church in Amarillo, Texas, before they moved back to Denver to found and pastor their own church, The Full Gospel Chapel, in 1960. The first Sunday, they had 27 people in attendance (including children) and held their service in a little storefront building. Their passion for evangelism and reaching the lost grew the church, along with Marilyn’s door-to-door neighborhood outreach. Over the decades, they moved from building to building as their congregation expanded. Today, the church continues as Encounter Church, led by Marilyn’s son-in-law, Reece Bowling.

Family

Nine years after they were married, Wally and Marilyn adopted their son, Michael. In 1968, despite Marilyn’s infertility, God performed a miracle in her body, and at the age of 36, she gave birth to their daughter, Sarah. Until his passing, Michael lived in Ohio, near his children and grandchildren. Sarah lives in Denver and has three children, Isabell, David, and Ben.

Covering the Earth with His Word

After planting their church, Marilyn began leading home Bible studies in the Denver area. What started in one home soon expanded across Northern Colorado and into Wyoming as the spiritual hunger grew. With the encouragement and financial support of those attending the studies, Marilyn stepped into radio ministry and eventually television. At a time when women were rarely given a public preaching platform—especially in broadcast media—this door opening was truly a miracle from God.

In 1973 God gave her a special mission to “Cover the earth with His Word,” which was later confirmed during a lunch meeting with T.L. and Daisy Osborn. Having followed the Osborn’s ministry for years but never having met them, Marilyn decided to be bold, and ask them to lunch one day when she was visiting Tulsa, Oklahoma. The first thing Daisy said upon greeting Marilyn that day was, “Marilyn, God is going to use you to be a world evangelist. You are going to affect leaders of nations.” It was after this that God opened the door for Marilyn to teach nationally on television.

Marilyn’s international ministry began in the early 1980s when God told her to take $10,000 worth of food and 10,000 Bibles to Ethiopia. Ethiopia was in the middle of a severe famine, and Marilyn and her team were welcomed into the country. Since that trip to Ethiopia, Marilyn has traveled to over 140 countries, providing humanitarian aid and hosting healing meetings in many of them. Marilyn has had her life threatened on many occasions, but each time, God miraculously kept her and her team safe. During the 1980 and 1990s, when Christianity was being heavily persecuted in Asian countries, Marilyn smuggled Bibles to the underground church in China and Vietnam.

Since she began her international speaking and healing ministry, Marilyn has been welcomed into over 20 Muslim countries, with over one million people attending her 2016 meeting in Karachi, Pakistan. During her travels, Marilyn has had audiences with government leaders and heads of state all over the world, and every time, she respectfully focuses on the miraculous power of Jesus.

Education and Leadership

During her early travels, Marilyn met many people who sought training, and this produced a desire within her to equip individuals for their ministry and calling. Out of this desire, Word to the World College was born. Word to the World College was an accredited, two-year Bible school that focused on taking God’s Word to the world. Marilyn’s Bible School trained thousands of students, many of whom planted churches throughout the world and are participating in full-time ministry. Additionally many of Marilyn’s signature teaching are available in master class format at Mentored by Marilyn .org.

In 1986, Marilyn received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Oral Roberts University. Shortly after receiving this honor, Oral Roberts asked Marilyn to be on his Board of Regents. It was very uncommon for a woman to be on the board at that point in time, so it was particularly surprising when she was asked to be the Chairman of the Board just one year after joining. She was unanimously voted into the position and served as Chairman for over 18 years.

Marilyn was also the first woman to join the board of directors for Dr. David Yonggi Cho (founder of the world’s largest congregation, Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea). In addition, she has authored over 175 books and publications, including her autobiography, It’s Not Over Until You Win.

Awards

In 2015, Marilyn was honored at Oral Roberts University with the prestigious Lifetime Global Achievement Award. This award recognizes individuals, or organizations, that have made a significant impact in the history of ORU and in the world.

In 2019, Marilyn received an International Lifetime Peace Award from the Grand Imam and President of Pakistan.

In 2021, Marilyn was honored with two awards from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary: The Pillar of Faith Award in acknowledgment of her worldwide impact on the Church through biblical teaching and sustainable healing ministry; and the Smith Wigglesworth Award given on behalf of the entire Assemblies of God fellowship in acknowledgment of her decades of service worldwide.

That same year, she was also given a Lifetime Achievement Award from then-President Donald Trump.

Although Marilyn started life wanting to be an ambassador to foreign countries, God had a better plan, and she became His ambassador to the world, covering the earth with His Word.

Current Ministry

Years ago, God told Marilyn not to be buried with her mantle, but instead to pass it on to all who were willing to receive it. Marilyn obeyed this directive and spent decades developing, discipling, and commissioning partners and team members. Because of this, when Marilyn slowly stepped back from active ministry in her 90s, she did so with peace and confidence. Marilyn knew that what God had started would be carried into the future by faithful hands on whom a portion of her mantle rests.

A large portion of Marilyn’s mantle also rests on her granddaughter, Isabell, who stepped into a powerful teaching ministry with Marilyn in 2023. Isabell brings both reverence for the foundation that has been laid and a God-given ability to preach the Word in fresh, effective ways. Along with Marilyn’s ministry team, Isabell is powerfully walking into the future, using decades of Marilyn’s teachings—thoughtfully curated and digitally restored—to expand the reach of her grandmother’s ministry through modern platforms, international outreach, and the daily television program. Marilyn’s powerful teachings are currently being translated into multiple languages that will reach people around the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ in their native tongue. Marilyn has also authored over 100 books and other publications.

God’s vision for Marilyn to cover the earth with His Word is still alive and powerful today. Her ministry is continuing to walk through open doors, taking the gospel to nations that desperately need to experience the miracle power of the Word of God and reaching future generations with the hope of the gospel.

Bibliography

Marilyn Hickey, It’s Not Over Until You Win, Marilyn Hickey Ministries, USA, 2019.

Marilyn Hickey, Legacy of Faith Collection, Harrison House, USA, 2011.

Wallace Hickey, Life Lessons for a Generation That Needs to Hear, Marilyn Hickey Ministries, USA, 2005.

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