Forks Janitor’s Dedication Turns Vision into Reality for Hometown in the Philippines

For Forks Middle School Janitor Lanie Amsdill, a simple message from God sparked an extraordinary journey that spanned from her current home on the Olympic Peninsula back to the Philippines, where she was born. Raised in a small village of 300 people, Lanie spent her early years working as a nanny in the Philippines, sometimes traveling to California with the family she worked for.

In the late 1980s, she joined a friendship club and began corresponding with Frank Amsdill, a resident of the West End. After nine months of letters, Frank traveled to meet her, and they soon married. In 1988, Lanie moved to Forks and found herself living on Mora Road in a single-wide trailer, quite a change from her home in the Philippines she’d come from.

“I was all alone when Frank went to work, so I decided to wash the trailer,” Lanie recalled with a laugh. “For five days straight, I washed that trailer. I didn’t drive, so with nothing else to do, I just kept washing, I found it was a joyful task.”

Lanie soon found work at school, first in the office, then as a paraeducator, a cook, and an assistant librarian. Her work ethic quickly stood out. “I think when you start a job you finish it ….Once, school administrators Mr. Thomas and Mr. Jones came by to check on the building after hours and found me still working, even though it was nearly 6 p.m.,” she shared. “Mr. Jones hired me on the spot to be the Janitor. I love my job; I do my best for the kids in the building.”

A visit back to her hometown in 2011 planted a new seed of purpose for Lanie. Attending church, she was struck by the building’s dilapidated state—crumbling cinder blocks, a dirt floor, and bamboo poles holding up a sagging roof. During the service, a bamboo pole even fell. “It was a sign from God,” Lanie said. “The message was clear: I needed to build a church.” Lanie kept God’s message to herself.

She began saving $75 each month, a slow process that she felt would take forever …She finally accumulated $17,000 in seven years. Despite doubts about how far it would go, she felt a strong call to go forward. In 2019, she returned to her village and set to work. Within days, she had purchased land, hired local labor, and began laying the foundation. However, funds quickly dwindled. “I had enough to build a good foundation but not enough to finish,” she said. Back in Forks, she had a new idea—“God told me to cook traditional Filipino food and sell it as a fundraiser,” Lanie said.

But, even when you are doing good for God “stuff” can happen …one day while preparing Filipino food to sell Lanie was tired and not paying attention and her pressure cooker fell from her hands onto the floor and food went everywhere. “I was crying and asking God to help.” Then she noticed the pan was warped and the lid did not fit back on. “I was upset because this pan was valuable and needed for my food-making project and I had orders to fill.” So …she hammered on the pan to fix the warp, but it didn’t work so she went to find her husband in the barn to ask for help. Lanie went back to cleaning up the mess praying her husband could fix the pan …and he did!

Orders for food poured in from supportive friends and neighbors. Lanie shared her mission at the local Assembly of God Church, and more donations began flowing. The Assembly of God Church board even voted to donate $10,000, which allowed her to complete the church structure. “It was incredible,” Lanie recalled. “Many people pitched in—the Baptist Church, community members, people I didn’t even know.”

With the church completed, she turned her focus to another need: supporting local children in her village. A $10-per-month scholarship program was created, now supporting 40 children whose families attend church. Despite funding challenges during the pandemic, one generous donor began covering the entire program. “The Philippines community is very poor,” she explained, “but the church now has over 100 members. They now hold two services because so many attend.”

But Lanie’s vision didn’t end there. She felt another calling from God: her church needed transportation, a Jeep, to help members travel to services, and more. Starting with $1,000 in her savings, she shared her goal, and soon donations arrived from unexpected sources, including $750 from a Port Angeles dentist who was moved by her story. “He wasn’t even Christian, but he wanted to help,” Lanie said. “Then a friend donated $4,000, and eventually, we bought the Jeep.”

After the Jeep, a new vision from God arose—to build three small houses for families in her village. Donations began arriving again. “One house was $1,600, another was funded with $1,750, and then a generous local donated $5,000. I was so grateful.”

While Lanie has provided great help to her former community it has not all been smooth sailing. When beginning to work on the first house it was discovered that the lot was not owned by the people who had a current house there. When news got to the landowner, they said no cement foundation could be built there. So what to do … Lanie remembered a cousin selling a lot and Lanie asked Pastor Hailie of the church in the Philippines to ask the cousin to donate the lot. The cousin agreed and asked that they pay her back someday, and then a miracle again happened the cousin said she would just give the lot to them, no strings attached.

The houses were completely funded within a year, along with additional furniture like chairs and benches for each home.

“People in Forks are so generous,” she said. “Even last week, someone approached me in the grocery store to ask how they could help.” Lanie would like to acknowledge and thank those who have donated financially to the projects and the funds to cover her trip back to the Philippines to celebrate; Pastor Andy, Marni Whitehead, Steve Dalman, Doug and Donna Moulton, Flora and Dan Finley, her husband Frank and many more!

Currently, Lanie is saving to build a Missionary House to support her church’s growing needs. Her work is a testament to her unwavering faith and commitment to her village across the ocean, a true labor of love.

Lanie’s original profession was a nurse, “But, God wanted me to be a Janitor,” Lanie shared. I encourage the students to do their best and I love that they run to me to show their grades and that they made the honor roll, or they are passing after they have struggled and they share that with me. The students think I make the best no-bake cookies in the world,” Lanie said, adding, “and I do …I season them with love, and they work hard just to have those cookies and also for their families.” “It is a sense of fulfillment for me, even as the Janitor, when I see the kids become successful in what they are trying to do. It is the best job God could have given me, and I love it because of the students, and the Middle School staff that really care.”

“I’m not a rich person; I’m a working person,” she said. “These were God’s projects. I did the work, but the community and their generosity made it all possible. Three houses, a Jeep, and a cow, all in a year.”

Lanie has a message for people everywhere, “I would say to those needing help please don’t get discouraged, don’t lose hope, God hears you, and hope can be found in Jesus.” “I would like to thank all those who helped me in God’s ministry to do what has been accomplished.”

For Lanie, her path from Forks back to the Philippines has been one of purpose, generosity, and faith in God’s plans, and proves that one person can make a difference.