I would like to give you a little background about us and our ministry. Larry was saved on August 3, 1998 during Bike Week in Sturgis, SD. About a month before that, he was fired from the best paying job he had ever had. His world was turned upside down and he started searching for answers. I was raised in a Christian home and saved when I was about 10 years old; but certainly had not been walking the Christian walk for several years. We were married on June 27, 1975 and we were both into drugs and alcohol most at that time. Larry was sent to prison in 1989 and after his release in 1993 he cut back on the drugs and alcohol. We started attending church right after he was released from prison, but that didn’t last long. During the next two years, we were involved in three motorcycle accidents. We weren’t injured seriously even though the bike was almost totaled in two of those accidents. God was trying to get our attention, but we weren’t listening. It was in the summer of 1998 that I realized Larry was using cocaine and crystal again. I did not want to end our marriage, but I didn’t know how to handle this. One morning after finding some drugs in one of Larry’s drawers, I cried out to God for help. It wasn’t long after that Larry lost his job, not exactly what I had in mind but God had a plan! It reminded me of what my grandmother used to say – be careful what you pray for because you just might get it.

We had met several members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association after moving to Hope in 1995. We met John Ogden, who is now director of CMA, at a secular rally not long after we moved to Hope. We found out just last summer that a Christian man who lived in our apartment building in Illinois had been praying for Larry after our move. He knew Larry loved bikes, so he was praying that God would put some Christian bikers in Larry’s path. I would say God was faithful to answer that prayer. Larry had questions about Christianity that I could not answer, so I suggested that he talk to John Ogden. Since John was going to Sturgis, they agreed to meet there and try to answer Larry’s questions. The end result was that Larry gave his life to the Lord.

Early in 1999, Larry went to a rodeo that the CMA had at the prison in Pine Bluff. They took their motorcycles onto the prison yard, visited with the inmates, and had services in the chapel that weekend. He met Happy Jack Burbridge who has been doing prison ministry for over 25 years. The chaplain at the unit at that time, Norman McFall, encouraged Larry to get a CRA (Certified Religious Assistant) badge and do volunteer work at the prison. Not long after that weekend, Larry got his CRA badge. Larry had a way of talking to the inmates. They could see that he was sincere and he had “been in their shoes” so to speak. They listened to what he had to say. He started going into the unit at Pine Bluff as well as other prisons in Arkansas and the Hempstead County Jail on a regular basis.

During this time, unemployment ran out with no job prospects in site. We were first told that he could not draw unemployment or if he did, we would have to wait a few months. He started drawing right after losing his job. The amount of the check covered our house payment and car payment; the two payments that my income didn’t cover! On April 1, 1999 Larry was in a motorcycle accident. A woman who had no license or insurance pulled out in front of him. God provided for us through this accident. Our Christian brothers and sisters gave us love offerings totaling over $2,000. We tithed from these offerings and God repaid us ten fold. We had a bodily injury policy on the bike and we were awarded the full settlement. We give God all the glory for that. It meant that Larry could continue to do prison ministry.

In March of 2001, Larry accepted a job with the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
Financially, it was a relief for me; but I think we both knew that Larry was needed in the prisons. We kept getting letters from inmates telling us how much they missed Larry’s visits and the encouragement he gave them. The DOT works four ten-hour shifts part of the year and Larry thought he could still do ministry on his days off. As it turned out, the first year he was there they worked five tens and sometimes Saturdays. He continued to do what he could, but kept feeling drawn back to full time ministry. It was in December of 2002 that he told me he knew God wanted him back in the prison ministry full time. After much time in prayer, Larry quit his job and returned to prison ministry full time March 1, 2003.

This last year has been a great year for us and we feel it is just the beginning of a new, exciting part of our lives. We know that Larry is doing what God intended for him to do. I had a dream last year that confirmed this for me. The dream took me back to when Larry was in prison, the things we went through, people we met, etc. God showed me that He allowed us to go through that time in order to minister to others in prison now. There have been several other confirmations since that time; money coming in just when it was needed, Bibles delivered to our door step from an unknown source, a vehicle repaired at no cost just when the weather turned too cold to ride the bike to the prisons and the list goes on. We are blessed to be able to do God’s work in the prisons and look forward to more opportunities in the years to come