BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

At the same time, however, Robert and Tamara were remembering how important it was to honor their pastors. “While we determined to always honor them, the Lord also emphasized to us that we had to stop being so concerned about what men think about us, and make God’s opinion our top priority. Things were being said about us that weren’t true, but we chose not to be offended. We went to church and honored our pastors by doing just what they wanted. But on our own time, we chose to live by faith the way we were learning from Brother Copeland.” While practicing the principles of prosperity, they decided to use Tamara’s entire salary that year as seed, over and above their tithe. They gave as the Lord led them, even buying one person a car. In addition to his regular job, in August Robert led a football camp for boys at a maximum security prison. Anger and rage erupted into fights so often that the facility maintained a ratio of one staff person for every eight boys. However, on the football field, Robert and one assistant had upward of 40 boys, but not a single fight broke out. It was so unusual that the superintendent brought in a group of state officials to observe. A Divine Connection Throughout 2006, 2007 and into the beginning of 2008, the Lord had Robert and Tamara in a type of spiritual boot camp. They listened to the Word and studied their Bibles, sowing, giving and refusing to be offended. Then, it seemed as though everything fell apart. Robert’s employer lost a contract and Robert lost his job. He started a new business to make up the difference, but then was hit with another disappointment. After three years, the boys’ prison lost its funding and could no longer host the football camp. As a result, Robert had a week in August with nothing scheduled. Turns out, that was a good thing. One day, while visiting the KCM website, Tamara discovered that the ministry’s Great Lakes Believers’ Convention was going to be held in Milwaukee that same week. Deciding to attend, the couple packed the car and drove 19½ hours straight to get to the convention. “The first night of the convention, Brother Copeland talked about when he attended Oral Roberts University and the Lord had said, I’m ready for you and I’m ready for you now,” Robert recalled. “Standing in that audience, Tamara and I each heard the Lord speak those words in our hearts. I was like, ‘Wait! What? Now?’ “During those meetings the Lord confirmed to us that He was calling us into the ministry and He wanted us to leave our church. Brother Copeland said some things that helped us understand why we needed to leave, but it wasn’t easy for us. Our pastors were the parents of one of my best friends and we loved them,” said Robert. “The rest of the week we were so stunned we could hardly sleep. We’d heard Brother Copeland say that when he and Gloria had a major decision to make, they sat down and took Communion over it. So we went to our hotel room, took Communion and asked God to help us. The Lord told us, 'Brother Jerry has something for you.'” An Impartation of Anointing Thursday morning, the Lord instructed Jerry Savelle to lay hands on people and impart the anointing to rise above and overcome the circumstances that would hold them back. He also mentioned the anointing for ministry. Their pastors were out of town and Robert was scheduled to preach on Sunday morning, so they left following the Friday night service to return home. During the long drive, Robert and Tamara bargained with God about going into ministry. “Lord, we’re scheduled to be involved in a lot of upcoming events. Can’t we wait until the end of the year?” 'No, do it now.' “Well, how about November?” 'Now.' They wept all the way home, not knowing how things would play out. The one thing they did know, was that whenever anyone had left their church, they were shunned. Looking out over the congregation, Robert preached on Sunday morning knowing it would be the last time he would speak into their lives. When the pastors returned home, Robert and Tamara went to meet with them. Pulling up outside their house, Robert turned to Tamara. “We’re not going in there to convince them. We’re going to respectfully inform them of what God has told us,” he said. “There’s not going to be any argument; no back and forth. We will act in love.” 20 : BVOV

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