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But the victory was bittersweet. His buddies' parents couldn't stop Creflo from attending the school, but they didn't allow him into their homes. Creflo was an average student, and he might have remained one had he not overheard some teachers talking in the hall one day. "Black people just aren't smart," one of them said. "That's right," another agreed. "They just don't have the innate intelligence that whites have." Those cutting remarks might have defeated some children, but Creflo was tired of stereotypes. For the next three quarters, he made straight A's. By his senior year in high school, he was elected president of the student body. Although Creflo was in the forefront of Southern integration, racial issues weren't his passion. Football was. "I started Little League when I was 8 years old," Creflo recalls. "From that moment on, my one burning dream was to play professional football. It was my desire to play football that fueled me, fired me and kept me going during rough times. I played football all through high school, then I made the team at Concord College in Athens, W.Va." Tough times weren't over for Creflo, though. While he was in college, his aunt was kidnapped, murdered and found in the trunk of a car. In the aftershock of that family disaster, his mother became ill. To be closer to his family, Creflo transferred to West Georgia College in Carrolton, Ga. Once again, he made the football team—only to be injured in the first few weeks of the season. "I injured the ligaments in my hips," Creflo remembers. "The doctor also found a hernia which required surgery. He warned me that one direct hit could result in internal bleeding, so I was sidelined. I lost 20 pounds in the aftermath of the surgery." As each pound melted away during his lengthy recovery, Creflo realized that he was losing more than muscle. He was losing his dream. For Creflo Dollar, football was his life. was his life. was Everything he'd hoped for was gone. In despair, Creflo phoned a friend who was a track star at the University of Alabama. "My life has disappeared," he moaned. The young sprinter on the other end of the line didn't just sympathize with Creflo, but rather shared something that would change his life forever. He said he'd discovered that life's race has nothing to do with sports. Then he introduced him to the Star of all stars—the One called the Bright and Morning Star. The One whose Name is Jesus. "I'd been raised in church," Creflo says, "and I directed a gospel choir in college, but I had never met Jesus. Soon after I was born again, I received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit." After years of religion, a relationship with the Lord Jesus was like winning the Super Bowl. Creflo was baptized in water at an apartment swimming pool. Afterward, a man began to prophesy over him. "You will minister to thousands," the man said. "You will counsel, and you will preach to thousands, and then to hundreds of thousands." Is he on dope? Creflo wondered, walking away. He must be because I'll never be a minister. "I didn't have to think twice about what that man said," Creflo explains. "My only objective as a Christian was to share my experience with my family. I didn't want any part of the ministry, and I couldn't abide the idea of being called Reverend. "I had always been afraid of responsibility where other lives were concerned. I never wanted to be a teacher for fear I'd teach something wrong. I couldn't be a lawyer because I was afraid I'd make a mistake and cause my client to go to jail. I wouldn't be a doctor for fear that my patients would die. "Being responsible for someone's eternity was simply out of the question." True to his commitment, Creflo shared his salvation experience with his family. One by one, they were born again. At college, Creflo witnessed to one girl. She told five others. Soon, 20-year-old Creflo Dollar was leading World Changers Campus Ministry—a Bible study attended by more than 100 students. A young girl named Taš gave her heart to the Lord at Creflo's first campus Bible study. He had no way of knowing then that meeting her was part of his God-ordained destiny. In December 1984, Creflo graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. For a while, he taught high school social science in the same school system that he'd helped to integrate. Later, he worked as an educational therapist for the Brawner Psychological Institute—a hospital for deeply depressed and suicidal teens. "The kids were really troubled," Creflo said, "but for some reason I knew I was good at counseling. Still, it was a dišcult job. No matter what you did, some of them killed themselves. It was hard to take." "You've got a new kid," Creflo was told one morning. Picking up the chart, he read Greg's history. The 14-year-old boy had been hospitalized for depression. He was a white kid, pale and thin, with a familiar lost look in his eyes—a look that tugged at Creflo's heart. Greg had come from a family who'd done all they 1 4 : B V O V Old Testament New Testament MARCH READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Tue 1 Lev. 16:1-18:18 Mark 14 Wed 2 Lev. 18:19-20:7 Mark 15 Thu 3 Lev. 20:8-22:25 Mark 16 Fri 4 Lev. 22:26-24:9 Luke 1 Sat 5 Lev. 24:10-25:46 Sun 6 Ps. 32-34; Prov. 6:20-7:5 Mon 7 Lev. 25:47-26:46 Luke 2 Tue 8 Lev. 27-Num. 1:29 Luke 3 Wed 9 Num. 1:30-3:4 Luke 4 Thu 10 Num. 3:5-4:16 Luke 5 Fri 11 Num. 4:17-5:31 Luke 6 Sat 12 Num. 6:1-7:35 Sun 13 Ps. 35-36; Prov. 7:6-23 Mon 14 Num. 7:36-8:4 Luke 7 Tue 15 Num. 8:5-10:13 Luke 8 Wed 16 Num. 10:14-11:35 Luke 9 Thu 17 Num. 12:1-14:10 Luke 10 Fri 18 Num. 14:11-15:31 Luke 11 Sat 19 Num. 15:32-16:50 Sun 20 Ps. 37; Prov. 7:24-8:11 Mon 21 Num. 17-19 Luke 12 Tue 22 Num. 20-21 Luke 13 Wed 23 Num. 22:1-23:26 Luke 14 Thu 24 Num. 23:27-26:34 Luke 15 Fri 25 Num. 26:35-28:8 Luke 16 Sat 26 Num. 28:9-29:40 Sun 27 Ps. 38-41; Prov. 8:12-36 Mon 28 Num. 30:1-31:47 Luke 17 Tue 29 Num. 31:48-33:9 Luke 18 Wed 30 Num. 33:10-34:15 Luke 19 Thu 31 Num. 34:16-36:13 Luke 20

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