BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

In February 1969, Kenneth Copeland arrived in Shreveport to preach in Carolyn’s home church. He was a guest in her parents’ home. They just happened to live next door to Jerry and Carolyn. Carolyn was determined that Jerry would attend the meetings. Jerry was determined not to go. She begged and pleaded with him, day after day, but he adamantly refused. “If you won’t go to the meeting,” Carolyn said, throwing up her hands in defeat, “at least walk next door and meet the man.” Reluctantly, Jerry agreed. Jerry spoke to Gloria Copeland when they were introduced, then waited impatiently for Kenneth to appear. He was about to leave when the man walked out of the bedroom. “Brother Copeland,” Jerry’s father-in-law said, “I’d like for you to meet my son-in-law, Jerry Savelle.” Kenneth waved his hand and walked to the kitchen. That’s it! Jerry thought, I’m out of here. He had almost reached the door when Kenneth called to him: “Wait a minute!” He pointed a finger at Jerry, then said, “God’s going to prosper you.” Then, he disappeared. Carolyn has been talking to him about my business! Jerry fumed silently. How else could he have known I was going to prosper? Every night, Carolyn begged Jerry to attend Brother Copeland’s meeting. By the last night, he would have done anything just to make her stop talking about it. “I’ll go on one condition,” Jerry said. “We’ll sit in the back row closest to an exit. As soon as he starts telling tear-jerking stories and begging for money, I’m leaving. You’ll have to get home the best way you can.” “That’s a deal,” Carolyn agreed. An Uneasy Feeling Jerry felt uneasy as he slid onto the cool, hard pew. This was Carolyn’s church, not his. He felt more comfortable under a car than here in the convicting presence of God. The choir sang an old familiar hymn, then Kenneth Copeland stepped to the pulpit. He turned and addressed the choir. “Don’t ever sing that song in my presence,” he said. “It’s chock-full of doubt and unbelief.” “How dare he!” Jerry hissed between clenched teeth. “We can sing anything we want in our church! Besides, God wrote that song!” “God wrote the song?” Carolyn asked. “What makes you think that?” “It’s in the Baptist hymnal,” he explained. “If Kenneth Copeland hadn’t made me so mad, I probably would have tuned him out and not heard a word he said,” Jerry said. “God knew it would take someone bold, straightforward and unintimidated to get my attention. I was so furious, I listened. The message he preached that night had the same effect on me as the one Oral Roberts had preached when I was 12. Both men made the gospel seem full of power, and Jesus came alive. “The next day I went to work under deep conviction. Finally, I sent my employees home and blew the dust off the Bible Carolyn had put on my desk. I took the Bible into the restroom and closed the door. I sat there on the floor and cried all day.” That night, Jerry tossed in bed unable to sleep. At 3 o’clock in the morning, he stood in the living room with tears streaming down his face and raised his hands to God in surrender. “Jesus, I can’t run anymore. If there’s anything left in me that You can possibly use, here it is. Take a good look, because I’m a failure. I’m only 22 years old, and I’m already a failure.” 'Don’t worry about it, son,' the Lord answered, 'I’m a Master at making champions out of failures.' Jerry opened his mouth to speak, but the words that flowed in an unbroken stream were an unknown tongue. Time passed as Jerry lost himself in the freedom of praising God in a heavenly language. Finally, he noticed his wife and mother-in-law sitting on the sofa. “Guess what happened to me?” Jerry asked. “We know,” Carolyn said, tears streaming down her face. “We’ve been sitting here for two hours.” Jerry looked at the clock. It was 7 o’clock in the morning. He’d been praying in tongues for four hours. “Well,” Jerry said, turning to Carolyn, “it looks like we’re going to preach just like you said before we were married.” Jerry went back to work at his body shop with a new plan—to prepare himself for the work of the ministry. A year later, in 1970, he left the business and spent the next three months listening to tapes by Brother Copeland and studying the Bible. A few months later, Brother Copeland came back to Shreveport to hold another meeting. Vocabulary of Silence When Jerry got to talk to Brother Copeland alone, he asked him: “How do you believe God for finances? I have no trouble believing God for healing. But financially I’m not having any success.” “Your problem,” Brother Copeland answered, “is your big mouth. You need to learn the vocabulary of silence.” The more Jerry thought about that response, the more irritated he became. My big mouth? Jerry fumed all the way home. I’m the only person in that church who listens to all his tapes! BVOV : 15

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