BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

kcm events Experience Faith in Action! Danita Brooks Landover, Maryland “November 2012, was the fourth year I’d attended the WDC Victory Campaign. In addition to learning how to be bold in my faith, I received another revelation from God that shook my world. It happened when Brother Copeland told us to repeat these words: ‘God loves me as much as He loves Jesus. There’s nothing He won’t do for me.’ Having a son of my own has helped me understand the depths of God's love for us…. Now I get it. God would do anything for us. The only thing that limits Him is our faith.” Watch Danita’s story kcm.org/testimonies --------------------------------------------- John and Mary Ann Ward Rockville, Maryland Life for John and Mary Ann Ward, and their daughters, Katie and Jackie, had been filled with activity: enjoying one another’s company while camping, hiking, boating and swimming. In some ways, it was like living the “American Dream.” But when the pain from a debilitating disease diagnosed years earlier as ankylosing spondylitis—chronic inflammation of the spine and joints, often causing them to fuse—began to worsen, John’s life was threatened and his family was thrown into a tailspin. “Pick the position you want to be in,” the doctor had advised John, “because you will freeze in that position, and you will die in that position.” It was a major attempt by the devil to not only destroy John, but also his family. And, it almost worked! As the doctor’s words hung in the air, Mary Ann saw John receive them as the truth—the final verdict. “John, just believe God, and He’ll heal you!” she encouraged. But those words went nowhere with John, who saw his future as very bleak. “I was always a difficult man to live with,” John recalls. “I had a hyper sense of responsibility, and my identity was wrapped up in being a good provider. The pain I endured when my joints flared up exacerbated everything because it made it difficult for me to work. My greatest fear was losing my job and not being able to provide for my family.” Mary Ann loved her husband, but as time progressed and things worsened, she wasn’t sure how much more of John’s unbelief and negativity she could endure. Eventually, she told her daughters, “I can’t do this anymore. I think it’s time for me to consider leaving Dad.” Understanding her plight, the girls encouraged: “Do it, Mom! We’re with you!” But something about that decision didn’t sit well with Mary Ann. She and the girls were in agreement, but was it the wrong kind of agreement? When John lost his job a short time later, and Mary Ann herself began experiencing illness, she, Katie and Jackie agreed that divorce was not the solution. The family had to pull together. “Since I considered myself to be the family provider, losing my job shook me to my core,” John remembers. “I wanted more than just a job. I wanted to change. So I started reading the Bible every morning before searching for a job. I prayed. I consumed Mary Ann’s collection of DVDs, books and magazines. And, I started watching the Believer’s Voice of Victory broadcast.” Desperate for work, John applied for as many as 15-16 jobs a day. The only stipulation he placed on employment was that he refused to live in the Maryland-D.C. area, something he would later learn was not his decision to make. Making a Move In July 2009, Mary Ann watched John Copeland and Jesse Duplantis on the BVOV broadcast. Teaching on Psalm 23, Jesse said, “This verse says, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death….’ But some of you aren’t going through. You’ve set up house and camped in the valley.” At that moment, Mary Ann realized what was happening to her family. They had put down roots in that house, and it was home. But, God wanted them out of it. 10 : BVOV

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