BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“God just saved me,” Ronnie said. “When I came out of that closet, I spoke in a language I didn’t know,” Ronnie remembers. “I know now that I was praying in the spirit. I prayed that way for two weeks. My drug addictions were gone. I’ve never been the same.” The next day, Ronnie got in his car and turned on the radio. On every channel he tried, Ronnie got nothing but static—except one. “I know who you are,” Ronnie heard the man’s voice say. Then he told Ronnie about his life. “God is telling you what to do, so do it,” the voice on the radio finally said. “I knew exactly what God was asking me to do,” Ronnie recalls. “He wanted me to turn myself in. I thought it strange that when I’d been arrested, they hadn’t realized that I had escaped from prison. “I went to the police station and told them I had escaped and wanted to turn myself in, but they chased me out,” Ronnie said. “I went home and tried to preach, but while I had the zeal, I knew nothing about the Bible. Everyone thought I was out of my mind except Gwen. She believed me and got saved. I went back to the police station a second time, but I still didn’t turn up in the computer.” “I escaped on Feb. 13, 1979,” Ronnie told the authorities. “He’s high,” one of the officers said. “No, I’m not. I got saved and God wants me to turn myself in.” Still, police turned him away and Ronnie went home. A while later, Ronnie tried a third time to turn himself in to authorities. This time, his records were located. He was arrested and sent back to prison. Back to Prison “They sent me back to prison in Alabama,” Ronnie remembers. “Instead of putting me in the general population, they beat me, stripped me, shackled me and dragged me down the hall naked to the mental ward. The whole time, I heard violins and trumpets, music like I’d never known. The toilet in my cell had run over, but no one cared. Feces floated in standing water. It covered the bed. There was no place to stand, sit or sleep. “When I prayed and talked about God, they told me to shut up. When they tried to get me to renounce Jesus, the whole place shook. Every pipe rattled. “I felt things crawl all over me and bite me. I talked to the chaplain about it, but he looked at me like I was crazy. I didn’t know much, but I knew those were spirits that came out of me when I was born again. They wanted me again! They bit and tormented me, trying to regain control. I had no idea what to do. I knew nothing about the Bible. I had no idea that I had authority over them. I wasn’t allowed to attend church services, and they told me I’d never get out.” One day, Ronnie listened as a TV was playing nearby. He recognized the voice coming over the TV as that of the man who has spoken to him over the radio. “I asked who it was, and they said his name was Kenneth Copeland,” Ronnie said. Paying Attention to God’s Word In time, Ronnie was moved to the general population and later to a state prison, where he was able to watch the "Believer’s Voice of Victory" TV broadcast and hear Brother Copeland. The first book he was given in prison was "The Established Heart" by Jerry Savelle. Then, someone gave him a book by Kenneth Hagin. As he read those books and watched Brother Copeland on TV, Ronnie began to learn about his authority as a believer, and how to live by faith. He spent the next three years studying the Word of God and learning to live by faith. “I served three years and was released,” Ronnie recalls. “When I got out of prison, I was a different man. Gwen, now born again, had gone back to school and become a registered nurse. After my release, we were married. “We became Partners with KCM, and formed a ministry under Pastor Bill Winston. I called wardens and chaplains to let them know I’d started a prison ministry. I preach faith and grace, and it’s changing lives. “I’ve been out of prison for 29 years now. If it weren’t for KCM, I wouldn’t be the man I am today. Because I’m connected with them, I receive insight and revelation I otherwise would not have. They taught me how to live. Kenneth Copeland is my spiritual father.” Sometime after he had begun his prison ministry, Ronnie overheard family members talking. “So, it wasn’t Benjamin after all,” one of them said. “No, it sure wasn’t. It was Ronnie all along,” another responded. What did that mean? Ronnie wondered. “I didn’t know much about my father’s family,” Ronnie explains. “I learned that I was half Cherokee. My father’s name was Benjamin. His parents—my grandparents—preached the gospel and started a church in Alabama. Apparently, for years my grandmother prayed that her son, Benjamin, would answer the call to preach. “He never did, but my father’s family understood that her prayers had reached me. You will never know this side of heaven the power of your prayers on future generations. Whatever you do, never, ever give up on your prodigals.” V 26 : BVOV

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