BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

'He’s going to be your husband.' Why was she so shocked? Hadn’t she been praying about her future the previous three weeks? She knew she’d heard from God. Ed was mature enough in the Lord that he knew how to hear from God as well. That week, Ed flew to Europe for a preaching tour. Before he left, he said, “When I get back, I’m going to buy you a ring.” Nancy agreed. While in Europe Ed called and said, “When I get home, I’m not just buying you a ring. We’re getting married.” Nancy agreed. On July 9, 1984, five weeks after they met, Ed and Nancy were married by the minister who introduced them. Heaven on Earth “Being married to Ed was heaven on earth,” Nancy admits. “It was so easy for us. Having been raised in a denominational church, though, I had some catching up to do spiritually. Ed stood in the office of a prophet and teacher. He taught me what I needed to know. You might say that I married my Bible school. “Three years after we married, I was preaching with him on the road. During that time, we built a church outside of Tulsa in Jenks, Okla. That’s where I got to know Kenneth Copeland, as Ed invited him to come and minister sometimes. “Ed had first heard him preach in 1971 when Brother Copeland was just getting started. At that time, Ed served at a local church in California. When someone handed him a brochure inviting him to the Full Gospel Business Men’s World Convention to be held in Denver, the Lord had told Ed to go. “Ed explained that he didn’t have the money. The Lord said, 'Sell your house.' Ed listed his home and it sold in one day. That convention was a turning point in his life. It was where he was first introduced to the ministries of Kenneth Hagin, John Osteen and Kenneth Copeland. It was the first time he’d ever seen anyone slain in the Spirit. It was also where Jesus walked in and put a tangible healing anointing in his hand.” Ed bought many of Brother Copeland’s reel-to-reel tapes, Nancy explained. When he returned home, he locked himself away and listened to the recordings day and night. “When he was invited to preach at a Bible study, he played one of Brother Copeland’s tapes and then laid hands on the sick,” Nancy said. “He did that until the day the Lord told him to leave his tape player at home. That day he started preaching.” Called To Pastor During their time at the church in Jenks, Ed was also very busy with his traveling ministry. Yet, when the Lord told them to leave Oklahoma and move to California and plant a church there, they obeyed. Nancy knew Ed wouldn’t pastor again. So she told him, “You need to get a pastor in here.” “You’re the pastor of this church,” Ed replied. “Oh, no, I’m not the pastor. God has never told me to pastor. I’ll preach until you get someone to do it.” They started World Harvest Church in Temecula, Calif., which adjoins Murrieta, but later moved the church to Murrieta, where it is today. “Over the years, we had two sons, Stephen and Grant,” Nancy explains. “In church, I played the organ and led praise and worship. I made the announcements and received the offerings. Then, I preached and greeted the people after church. I’d been preaching for four years when God spoke to me and told me I was called to pastor. Ed was right, again.” In 2009, the Lord gave Nancy a prayer burden that lasted five months. During that time, she prayed in the spirit for hours each day, sensing that she was praying about someone close to death. BVOV : 15

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