BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“Every day was a fight of faith. I kept my eyes on the Scriptures. I kept the Word of God before my eyes, in my ears and in my mouth. It wasn’t easy. Every morning, I wanted to put my head under the covers and cry. I wanted to allow myself to be depressed. I wanted to call and tell my mother, all my sisters and my aunt so they could comfort me. But I wouldn’t. The fight of faith meant I denied my flesh. I denied my emotions. I got out of bed and confessed 70 scriptures before going to school and afterward.” Gabriel and Evelyn posted scriptures on their closet doors. They both confessed scriptures every day. One was Psalm 127:3: “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward” ("AMPC"). They turned off the television, keeping the house filled with the Word of God. “Evelyn had a faith fight going on in her body,” Gabriel explains. “My battle was in my mind. I kept bumping up against the wall of reasoning. When Lazarus’ sister Martha told Jesus that her brother wouldn’t have died if He’d been there, Jesus had one question. ‘Do you believe that I’m the Resurrection?’ She did believe—until the moment Jesus told them to roll the stone away. Martha knew that by then his body would stink. Her head got in the way and she hit the wall of reason. I kept hitting the same wall until the Lord spoke to me.” 'Your head is doing what it’s supposed to do—reason. Your heart is doing what it’s supposed to do—believe. Go with your heart.' Sometimes, when victory seemed far away, Evelyn and Gabriel strengthened themselves by remembering the smaller victories they’d enjoyed in the past. Evelyn had grown up in Detroit, in a Christian family that attended a denominational church. When she was 10, Evelyn’s Pentecostal aunt took her aside and taught her about living for God. The Call “My aunt taught me that I could believe God for anything,” Evelyn explains. “She said that God wanted a relationship with me. I was filled with the Holy Spirit by the time I was 10 years old. She also snuck books by Kenneth Hagin to me. My parents didn’t understand any of it at the time, so I went through middle school and high school many days shut up in my room, praying in tongues and reading books by Brother Hagin. “When I was 16, the Lord called me to preach. I thought God would have known that in our denomination women didn’t preach. I even went to my pastor and told him that I’d been called to preach. He said, ‘No, there’s no way God told you that.’ “Since I knew that I couldn’t preach, I went into pre-med to be a doctor. During my second year in college, I met Gabriel. “Gabriel was living a holy life as well. He’d been called to preach at 18, and by 19 was licensed and preaching. He was passionate about his faith. While I’d been reading Brother Hagin’s books, Gabriel’s grandmother had introduced him to Brother Copeland’s teachings in 1989. One day on the phone he said to me, ‘I believe you’re called to preach.’ “Gabriel attended a Pentecostal church which I visited. As I was leaving, the pastor said, ‘Young lady, I believe there is a calling on your life to preach. If you’re going to answer that call, I’d be happy for you to preach your first sermon here.’ “There was opposition at first because some didn’t believe in women preachers. However, they all came to the service to see what would happen. There was a powerful move of God! He confirmed His Word.” Gabriel and Evelyn married in June 1993. The following year, they were watching Christian television and they kept hearing about Tulsa, Okla. A Divine Appointment What was going on in Tulsa? The only thing they knew about Tulsa was Oral Roberts University. Curious, in July 1994, during summer break from classes, they grabbed a map and drove to Tulsa. Arriving downtown, they found a hotel and booked a room. BVOV : 17

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