BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“Those 24 hours were the darkest of my life,” Mary remembers. “But when they were over, I had come to the realization that without God—I had nothing. Learning To Trust God “From that point on, Dick and I started digging deep into Scripture. It was 1989, and the Copelands had started their daily broadcast. I remember listening to Kenneth teach that God would supply seed to the sower.” Mary knew that if they were going to plant financial seed, God would have to provide it. She was working at a temporary job, and Dick was a weekend disc jockey. Their $800-per-month income didn’t even cover their debts, much less supply them with enough to give. Fighting depression, Mary took a brisk walk around the neighborhood. Something glinted in the sunlight, and she stooped to find four pennies. Seed! Mary didn’t have much at home, but she had envelopes...and stamps. Mary addressed one envelope to Kenneth Copeland Ministries. Dear Kenneth and Gloria, she wrote, This is my seed. I plant it in your ministry. She mailed the three remaining pennies to three other ministries. “I thought Mary was crazy to mail those pennies to ministries,” Dick admits. “I wanted to plant big things. I didn’t realize we had to start where we were.” As Mary began to grasp the law of sowing and reaping, Dick became convicted about their words. “I listened to the Copelands and Charles Capps teach on the power of positive confession,” he says. “Our situation was desperate. I knew we were missing it somewhere, and I was determined to get us on course with God. I got a copy of "Prosperity Promises," and other booklets with scriptural promises. Then I began searching the scriptures. I typed up 200 confessions based on Scripture. I took 100 to confess each day and gave Mary the other 100.” Dick customized his confessions to support his dreams. “Father, I thank You,” he said, “that I’m the king of voice-overs in this world. I have an abundance of work, and my voice is heard the world over. I praise You and thank You for it.” While Dick enthusiastically called those things which be not as though they were, Mary floundered. “I didn’t know what I was talking about when I made those confessions,” Mary admits. “I had no idea what it meant to inherit the blessings of Abraham. My mind balked.” Finally, Mary realized that, just like the pennies she planted, she’d have to begin right where she was. Each day she summoned up the strength to say, “I believe I have faith to say my confessions.” Knowing that they would see a change soon, Dick began planning their income. After one month—it had decreased. Dick studied the figures, then walked into the kitchen. “Do you have anything against me?” he asked quietly. Mary looked at her husband. Did she have anything against him? Suddenly she felt a pang of bitterness as she thought of the time she had listened to his advice about a business venture and ended up losing her house...and the time he refused to let their friends help them move—and then went to work, leaving her to unpack alone. “Yes,” Mary said, “I do.” That night, they took their hurts and offenses to the Lord and forgave each other. From that time forward, their income slowly began to increase. “I learned an invaluable truth,” Dick says, “when things go wrong, don’t look around—look in the mirror.” Roadblocks Behind Them They started their confessions in March of 1990. On July 6, Mary wrote in her Bible, I was afraid a month or two ago to make all those positive confessions. Now my faith is at a place where I want to work on them all. No longer did Dick and Mary confess 100 scriptures each day. Instead, they each began confessing all 200 every day. “I got a full-time job as a disc jockey in the fall of 1989,” Dick recalls. “In 1990, I began praying and believing God for voice-over work—basically being the unseen voice that narrates on commercials, movie previews and TV previews. In the spring of 1990, after we began our confessions, I got work being the voice of three radio stations making $25,000. One year later, I was working on 12 radio stations, making $35,000.” Clearly, God was blessing the small amount of seed the Ervastis had been able to plant. But they had big dreams. That meant they needed to plant more seed. But how? They were already giving all they could afford. In the fall of 1990, Dick began praying about it. The Lord provided a simple solution. 'Give your voice-overs,' He said. BVOV : 11

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