BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

1 0 : B V O V brought it into being." His greatest technological achievement came with Syncom, the first successful geosynchronous communication satellite. Weighing only 100 pounds, the small satellite was designed to match Earth's rotation, hovering over a fixed point in the sky— something never before accomplished. It would become the foundation of modern global broadcasting. Despite early setbacks, Clyde's belief never wavered. "I never doubted that we could place one in geostationary orbit," he said, crediting colleagues like Dr. Harold Rosen, and divine wisdom obtained through prayer. Clyde and Eufaula would pray in tongues until they received revelation from God—a spiritual practice later affirmed by Kenneth Copeland, who emphasized: "That's the way it came to pass. When you search God's heart…the Spirit Himself makes intercession…and He that searches the heart knows what is the mind of the Spirit." 'Birds' In the Spirit The integration of Clyde's faith and engineering was so deep that even prayer meetings touched the classified world of aerospace. Phillip Halverson, a prayer partner known for praying in tongues and interpreting in English, once began declaring, "Birds, birds, come out, birds!" Unbeknownst to him, "birds" was the classified term for satellites. Clyde immediately recognized the spiritual significance: "There's no way anybody could have known that," he remarked, "except by the Spirit." Another miraculous moment came when a satellite was lost in orbit. Clyde was given the seemingly impossible task of locating it. Brother Halverson came to Clyde's home in El Segundo, Calif., and prayed over him as Clyde lay back in his leather recliner. After extended sessions of intercession, Clyde received divine insight—and they recovered the satellite. It was just one more instance of God showing up in the details of orbital science. The Divine Idea: World Communion Service By the early 1980s, Clyde's groundbreaking work had laid the technological foundation for global satellite communication. That's when Kenneth Copeland received a stirring from the Lord. "The LORD dropped in our hearts to have a worldwide Communion service," Copeland recalled. "So I called Clyde and said, 'Can you hook satellites together and make them talk to one another?'" Clyde's answer was quintessentially faith- filled: "Yeah, I can. How do you do it? I don't know. But if you need it, God knows how to do it." And so began one of the most daring spiritual and technical undertakings in Christian history. The Communion service was set for Aug. 28, 1982, during the Southwest Believers' Convention. Working with a team of more than 11,000 technicians, Clyde successfully connected eight satellites to link 137 U.S. cities and 22 international cities—something never done before. Helping execute the vision was Dale Hill, a pioneer in Christian television who had worked with ABC Sports and understood the power of live broadcast. "To be a part of that," Hill said, "I felt like it was the largest thing ever done in Christian programming at the time," recalling how sports broadcasting had just begun experimenting with mobile satellite trucks. "We brought that same level of technology back to the ministry." It was an unforgettable moment when cameras at Dr. Yonggi Cho's church in Seoul, South Korea, panned across the massive congregation. As the congregation in Fort Worth saw the Korean believers on screen, they stood and applauded, overwhelmed by the spiritual connection. "There was a real connection," Hill reflected. "Today, we take it for granted. But back then, it was a miracle." At the core of it all was a man who depended not only on formulas and physics, but also on divine insight received through prayer." T.L. Osborn joins Kenneth Copeland in receiving Communion. Syncom II "

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