Guest speaker for Thursday’s noon meeting of the Minden Lions Club will be Hilton Wells, M.A., CEPC, community engagement and partnership coordinator for Overton Brooks VA Medical Center.

Hilton is an 11-year U.S. Air Force veteran. He joined the Air Force after graduating from high school at the age of 17. He served his country as a weather forecaster on multiple cadre weather teams, and as a two-time, silver badge Air Force recruiter. He is also a graduate of the Sabalauski Army Air Assault School in Ft. Campbell, Ky., and Artic Survival school, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.

Hilton received a calling from God to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in March of 1997 while stationed at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. He honorably separated from the military to fulfill the next step in his ministerial calling in January of 2006. He then enrolled in seminary and began pastoring  Rivers of Living Water Church in DeRidder in June of 2006, pastoring there for 17 years.

Hilton began his career at the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in March of 2021 as a receptionist and matriculated through the mental health service ranks as a program support assistant, program analyst, and he currently serves as one of two community engagement and partnership coordinators for suicide prevention in the Ark-La-Tex region.

Hilton holds an associate degree in weather technology and an associate degree in human resource management. He earned a bachelor of science in human services from Wayland Baptist University and a master of arts in missiology from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Hilton has worked in the mental health field over five years. He has authored three books and published two of them.

He is married to Aurora Wells, his bride for more than 25 years. They have two amazing children: Ariel, 22 and Isaiah, 17. Hilton’s passion is to help people receive Christ and become all God has intended for their lives in this life and in the one to come!

The Minden Lions Club meets Thursdays at noon at the American Legion Memorial Home, located at 119 W. Pine St. in downtown Minden.