♪ [Gene Bailey] That's good. [Kenneth Copeland] It is good. So all of us are benefiting from what God did through one man and his wife that wouldn't quit and just stayed before God and prayed and prayed in the Spirit and prayed in the Spirit and prayed and interpreted it only he interpreted into scientific language and I've seen some of it. It was all mathematical calculations. - Right. - Where do you think he got that? - Divinely inspired.
- Well... (technicians over radio) [President Kennedy] We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. ♪ On the afternoon of December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright walked four miles from Kitty Hawk to send the following telegram to their father in Dayton. Success four flights Thursday morning all against 21 mile wind started from level with engine power alone.
The sons of Reverend Milton Wright tossed a coin to determine who would pilot the first airplane. With a combination of ingenuity and what they believe to be divinely inspired ideas, their historic flights at Kitty Hawk marked a new era in aviation. As they took to the skies, another visionary dreamed of even greater heights, spaceflight. His name was Robert Goddard, a Sunday school teacher who taught his class how the Bible and science mesh together in divine inspiration.
His pioneering invention of liquid-fueled rockets is what allows us to launch satellites into space. The telegraph, the airplane, and the rocket, all God-inspired ideas. ♪ Throughout the history of the church, Christians have acted on God-inspired ideas and in doing so, changed history. The technological inventions have empowered the church and helped advance the gospel by using these new tools.
The church has always been the early adopters of technology, beginning with the printing press and in our lifetime, satellite broadcasting. With the help of divine inspiration, a small team of engineers from Hughes Aircraft, led by Clyde McGee, who was inspired by God ideas, persevered and developed this satellite, Syncom, named for geosynchronous communication. A revolutionary satellite that paved the way for advanced communication satellites.
God had to have a man and Clyde McGee stepped up to be the one. ♪ [Billye Brim] Well, his wife, Eufaula, who was of the Blackwood family, she called him Clyde Thomas McGee. He was a grocery boy for his dad in the grocery store. He was born and brought up in Ackerman, Mississippi, and they gave him a test in high school, I suppose, and he passed that test with genius. He was a genius. - I called him our genius brother.
He was on our board and I always introduced him, our genius brother, Clyde McGee. But Clyde Thomas McGee was a southern gentleman all of his life. And after he took the test and they found out how brilliant he was, they paid for his education at Mississippi State. And oh, he was a fan from then on. He became a space scientist for Hughes Aircraft Space Division. [Gene Bailey] So I guess that's because he excelled, obviously, at Mississippi State, you know, in his studies.
But out of school, did he go somewhere before he worked for the government? - He went into the services and then went on into the space program from there. But they had their eye on him. They were paying for everything. And they were going to keep their eye and keep him in their services. - Right. Okay. So talk about, you know, you said something that I know probably peaked some of people's ears that you said you follow was part of the Blackwood family.
- Yes, his wife was part of you know, the Blackwood Quartet, the early day Blackwood Quartet. Her mother, Lena, was the only sister to the original Blackwood Brothers. And her mother, Lena, Lena Cain, she was... she received the Holy Spirit in 1914. And she had gone with James to a meeting in a buggy. James the tenor, you know, the one that sings and so famous.
And they had gone, they were teenagers, and came home and they had to stop that buggy and get out and jump around and shout and praise the Lord. ♪ The Blackwood family that Clyde married into was the most famous gospel group in America at that time. They sold out venues across America and even Elvis wanted to be a part of the group. [Announcer] Blackwood Brothers ♪ One thing to realize about Clyde's roots is that he was steeped in that fervent Pentecostal culture of the Bible Belt.
This was a time when people would prefer to go to a night of praise and worship rather than to a movie. It's not something familiar to modern audiences. - Now, I'm quite sure that Clyde did not move and all of that until he married Eufaula, you know. But then she would connect with his Holy Ghost prophecies and everything else with his brilliance of mind. He was a believer. And, but all the time they were doing the satellite business, they were married and they were praying and God guided.
[Gene Bailey] After World War II, America was busy getting on with their lives and confident they were leading technologically in the Cold War with the Soviets. But in 1957, the needed boost for American space endeavors came not from dreams or designs, but from a crew tiny Soviet satellite named Sputnik. ♪ Sputnik's artificial orbit around earth served as a wake-up call, jolting the United States into the reality of the space race.
Initially lagging behind, America found itself in a frenzied pursuit to catch up. The political shockwaves caused by Sputnik, however, provided an unexpected silver lining, a singular focus for the nation's aerospace industry in its brightest minds in developing satellite technology. America was both inspired and determined to be the leader in the business of communication satellites.
Amidst the secrecy of the times, a small team of engineers from Hughes Aircraft found themselves at a crossroads. This led the team to ask about the next big project. The answer came unexpectedly from their boss. What about that satellite idea you've been talking about? This suggestion sparked the journey that would redefine space communication. A battle against scientific odds and prevailing norms lay ahead. But these engineers were armed with an idea whose time had come.
[Billye Brim] And he did all of that. He was always telling us this. I did all of that with a slide rule. He didn't have a computer. He had a slide rule. And he said, we never went outside the laws of physics that are already established that everybody knows. And God just showed us how to use them and brought it into being. Clyde McGee, often hailed as Mr. Satellite, led the charge at Hughes Aircraft Launch Facility.
Inspired and determined after the Soviet Union's Sputnik launch, Clyde's team focused on communication satellites. Their breakthrough came with this satellite, Syncom, a small satellite, two feet by three feet, weighing a mere 100 pounds. But its secret lay in its flight path. It was the first satellite designed to sync up with the Earth, making it usable 24-7. To get it into a stationary orbit was the key, but it had never been done before. And Clyde had to figure out how to do it.
The first two attempts failed to reach proper orbit. But Syncom number three on the nodes of a new type of Delta rocket soared 22,236 miles above Earth. To enter a geostationary orbit would require several engine burns at just the right time and at just the right length of time. Geostationary orbit, a concept as revolutionary as the satellite itself, meant that the satellite moved in perfect sync with the Earth's rotation.
It took 23 hours, 56 minutes, and four seconds to complete one orbit, making it appear stationary over a fixed position. Clyde was the right man at the right place at the right time. Unwavering in his belief, he remarked, - I never doubted that we could place one in geostationary orbit because of the work of Dr. Rosen and Tom Hudspeth, Don Williams, that their dedicated effort had, we knew that it was very possible.
- He credited his team and a spiritual connection, invoking the Holy Spirit for creative ideas, witty invention, and precise solutions. Launching Syncom 3 was a groundbreaking achievement. This allowed the Tokyo Olympics to be broadcast live to the first live worldwide audience. Thus, in the vastness of space, a convergence of dreams, ingenuity, and divine inspiration propelled America into the forefront of satellite technology.
♪ [Billye Brim] It wasn't just that Pentecost was something at church or you might have a move of the Spirit. It was your life. They lived it all day long, every day. So he's a space scientist, so praying in the Holy Ghost and hearing from God is a part of his job as a space scientist. - In the years we've been studying the history of revival, one truth is obvious. Both prayer and action is required. In telling the story of Clyde McGee, we find this also true.
Inspired by a God idea, he acted and was supported by personal prayer and a prayer team around him. And here's what's so important. He and his wife would pray in tongues until they got the answer. That's the way it came to pass. When you search God's heart, "Likewise the Spirit who takes hold together with us against our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searches the heart knows what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Oh. And the Scripture says we have the mind of Christ. - That's right. - And he created it all. [Billye Brim] So, oh, Brother Halverson, he was always praying with him. Brother Halverson was a man who prayed in tongues and then English words would come out. So, he would pray about the birds, the birds.
- So, Brother Halverson got down right in front of him and he said, "Birds, birds, come out, birds. Come out, birds. Clyde, yeah, Clyde, I know what you're talking about. Birds, that was the classified name of satellites, "birds". - And there's no way anybody would have known that. - No way, nobody knew that. But Brother Halverson got it in the Spirit. And he'd just get out there and pray over him and pray over him in the Spirit.
- And so, the Halversons lived up there and they said to Clyde, he was praying and Clyde said, "You're praying about the satellites. That's what we call the satellites." So, he was praying it. He prayed it, worked with him, prayed it in. Now, interesting thing, and I have it right here. One of the times they lost the satellite. - Really? - And they didn't know if they could get the satellite back, but they charged Clyde with getting it back.
So, here is just the kind of what was written up in this publication. Rounding up a satellite in the vast empty hunting ground of space would seem to be a task akin to finding a needle in a haystack. And that's kind of like what it was. So, anyway, Brother Halverson went out to El Segundo, where Clyde lived and worked, and where they're going to find this satellite. And Clyde had a recliner, leather recliner, and he stretched out in that recliner, laying out like this.
And Brother Halverson prayed over his tummy like this in the Holy Ghost. And I don't know how long they prayed, how many sessions they had, but God showed Clyde how to get it. And they got it. Almost immediately, the people around Clyde, who were steeped in Bible prophecy, saw the implications of his work. Because for years, Bible critics and scoffers had used the verse in Revelations about how the whole world would see the two witnesses rise from the dead. How could that even happen?
But now, it was becoming obvious. Of course, Martha, well, Martha at that time, you follow later she was called, she knew Bible prophecy. Her dad specialized in Bible prophecy. So she said to Clyde, in her Southern accent, "Clyde, you let me know when you launch the next satellite that when it can be so that we can watch that happen, the two witnesses, you let me know." So he said to her, "The next one is it."
(technicians over radio) This was the problem that all of the scholars and the scoffers had with the book of Revelation. In the 11th chapter, this is talking about the two witnesses, have power to shut up heaven and rain and so on. They have finished their testimony. The beast that is ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and overcome and kill them.
Their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. So Jerusalem. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. Well, how could you ever do that? Gene, we're watching a war in Gaza every day. A reporter from Jerusalem, Clyde Thomas McGee. So it wasn't just Clyde and his wife.
There were others that were involved in it. So here's what's thrilling. Born again, Holy Ghost baptized, tongue-talking believer, and his wife. Now she was out of the Blackwood family, the Blackwood Quartet and all of that. And they're just, you know, they're just Pentecostal people that love God. And that first satellite was synced with the earth. And that put Revelation chapter 11 to bed right there. - That's right. Sure did. - Yes, it did.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries has always been pioneers in using technology, as Brother Copeland says, to get the Word out on every available voice. I sat down with Dale Hill, who is a pioneer in Christian television. Kenneth Copeland's daughter, Terri Copeland Pearsons, had brought him in to help with the World Communion service because his TV truck was state of the art at the time. [Dale Hill] So along comes 1982 and this crazy idea to do a World Communion service. - That was amazing.
Tell me about that. Well, you know, to be a part of that, you know, I felt like that was the largest thing at that time that had ever been done. And, you know, as far as a Christian program, the great thing for us is we had worked with some of the sports groups, and we had seen what could be done. So we tried to bring some of that technology back to ministry. And, you know, there were so many things the whole television industry was experimenting with back then.
And so, you know, I remember we received a call from ABC Sports to do a college game. All their trucks were busy. Well, the intriguing thing about this college game, it was the first time that they had ever brought in a large semi with a satellite dish on it. And they sent that college game back to the network via satellite. And it was so unique because it made news that night, which I loved it because there was a shot of our truck in the background on this news story.
And of course, ABC covered up everything on our truck with their ABC banner, which was okay. But my point is that's how new technology was. So to see what could be done, you know, and then to bring some of that same ideas back and see them happening here for a worldwide communion service was just phenomenal, I thought, because here we're using the same technology ABC is using to send a sport around the world. We're bringing it back and using it to do worldwide camp meeting. That was amazing.
And I will never forget the first time that there was a shot of the congregation at Dr. Cho's church, and they panned the crowd. And when they took that shot, they panned the crowd, the people in the convention center in Fort Worth. Man, they just stood up and cheered. And it was a legitimate connection there of Christians on the other side of the world. And we take it for granted today, but then that was just very impactful.
- Yeah. And that was, now we don't think twice about connecting somewhere. Of course, we can do that, watch live from the internet. - Exactly. - But then to have satellite dishes, that was crazy technology. - Absolutely. - It was way out there. - Way out there. And still to this day, I get excited thinking about Brother Copeland and Terri having the vision and the idea that they could do this. If it had been across this country, it wouldn't have been such a big deal.
But the fact that they connected Seoul, Korea, that's what made it just so over the top, I felt. - By the early 1980s, a constellation of satellites had been launched into space. And the Lord had been talking to Brother Copeland about having a live worldwide communion service. His vision for the church was to see the largest number of Word-oriented, faith-believing Christians to come together in unity through communion. Without unity, the church couldn't walk in love.
And without love, there is no power. The Lord dropped in our heart to have a worldwide communion service. - That's right. - And so I called him and I said, "Clyde, can you hook satellites together and make them talk to one another?" I said, "The Lord's put on my heart to have a worldwide communion service." He said, "Yeah." I said, "How do you do it?" He said, "I don't know." But he said, "You need it. You know what Philippians 4 says? If you need it, God knows how to do it.
He hooked eight satellites together and we had churches all over the world taking communion together. We were downtown in the Convention Center and in my mind now, Dr. Yonggi Cho was up in this corner and I was standing there serving communion to an unknown number of people. It's the first time it had gone worldwide. Clyde knew that the Lord needed it and trusted him to show him how to do it.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries held the worldwide communion service Saturday evening, August 28th, 1982 during the Fort Worth Believers' Convention. Over 11,000 technicians worked in collaboration to broadcast the communion service via satellite to auditoriums in 137 cities across the United States and 22 foreign cities around the world. Until then, technology did not exist to support such a service.
[Kenneth Copeland] You know, there's a scripture in the second chapter of the book of Acts that says, "In the last days, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and I will do signs and wonders in the heavens above." And then the earth beneath fire and vapor of smoke. And he was talking about the fire of the Holy Spirit in the earth and the smoke of the glory of God.
Well, there are several of those wonders in the sky tonight, those satellites sailing around the earth. I understood from the last report I had counting the phone lines and all, there was something like eight satellites carrying this message to the whole world. The entire world has this message coming to it tonight.
So when I look into the skies and the signs and the wonders that God is doing in our age, to think that we could all just lay aside all of our differences of denomination, our differences of doctrines, our differences of politics, our differences of our nations and the colors of our skin and our ideas and our thinking, just lay it all aside and reach out to one another and love one another. And Jesus has got to be one of the signs of the last days because that is a wonder of all wonders.
Hallelujah. God is doing it. (applauds) Praise God. [Gene Bailey] In communications history, it was the largest closed circuit television broadcast ever. A consultant from NASA stated, "This is the beginning of a new phase of Christians utilizing technology provided by God through the space program." The International Indian Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific satellites, as well as the Western Union and RCA satellite systems, allow the World Communion Service to literally surround the globe.
God does watch over His Word to perform it. Such innovations enable the launch of the first ever worldwide communion service broadcast live through Kenneth Copeland Ministries. But God had to have a man. And this is one point I want to make here. He was the one, just like Revival Radio. Clyde McGee was the one. He's the one that yielded to God. He was the one. Well, look what he did for the gospel. My goodness, man. - And still doing. - They're still doing it.
- Yeah. ♪ If ever there was a "be the one" story, it's our Brother, Clyde McGee. Remember, it was prayer and action behind every revival and also behind God inspired ideas. And that's what we're doing here on the Victory Channel. That's why Revival Radio TV, FlashPoint, church services, all of our conventions and Victory Campaigns, everything you're seeing today is because of the inventions and the ideas of one man, Clyde McGee. ♪