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- | ====== Godmobile ====== | ||
- | {{ http:// | ||
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- | **Driving his message home\\ | ||
- | The Tribune talks with the man inside the ' | ||
- | By: Joseph Boesen\\ | ||
- | Written: 3/29/07** \\ | ||
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- | Brother Ron, the street preacher. | ||
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- | Everybody recognizes his car, but the man behind the wheel remains a mystery. | ||
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- | His station wagon is a familiar sight in the warmer months as he cruises along Wisconsin Avenue. The sermons over his megaphone are barely distinguishable over the noise of a passing bus, and even though he drives slowly, most pedestrians still cannot read the messages he scrawls on the side of his car. | ||
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- | To clear up the confusion, Ron agreed to meet with the Tribune and speak about his message to young people, his past and his hopes for the future. | ||
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- | For his own safety, Ron insisted that both his last name and address were left out of the article. Although he is not a member of a religious order, he calls himself Brother Ron. | ||
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- | On top of his wrinkled face sits a green hat with " | ||
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- | The 63-year-old Vietnam veteran said he became a preacher of " | ||
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- | "I was at a bar one night and became surrounded by enemies," | ||
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- | Ron said he prayed to God and was able to walk out of the bar safely. | ||
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- | "I got into my truck and felt safe and secure," | ||
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- | From that point on, Ron said he gave up being a semi-truck driver and has dedicated the last 25 years to serving the Lord and passing on the Good Word. When asked what religion he followed, Ron replied, " | ||
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- | At first Ron tried a more traditional approach to spreading God's word. He was clean-shaven, | ||
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- | " | ||
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- | Ron said the criminal element of the streets and the lack of street preachers inspired him to step up his visibility on the street and use his car as a purveyor of God's message. | ||
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- | "I felt that if the devil could play his music loud, why couldn' | ||
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- | Ron grew up in Milwaukee and wants to help the people here. | ||
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- | "God said, 'Start where your miracle happened,' | ||
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- | People believe they are animals and they take away the value of life, which makes it easier for them to start killing one another, he said. | ||
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- | " | ||
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- | Ron said he advocates fear of God. A message on the back of his station wagon reads, "Kill them all, an' start over Lord." | ||
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- | "A fear of God is the beginning for many people to come to God," he said. | ||
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- | Ron has gone to extremities to get his message across. He has considered hiring a skywriter to write religious messages above the city, or hiring a Goodyear Blimp above major sporting events. | ||
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- | Ron also tries to pass on his message of faith to those in power. | ||
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- | He said he questioned Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mark Green when he campaigned in West Allis last year. | ||
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- | "I asked Mark Green if he was born again and what he would do for the Body of Christ," | ||
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- | Ron said Green' | ||
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- | Ron has the same disdain for politicians that they seem to have for him. | ||
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- | " | ||
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- | Local authorities and Ron do not see eye to eye, either. | ||
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- | He has received a multitude of traffic and noise violations from city, county and state police. | ||
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- | "I got a book full of tickets this wide," he said with a smile on his face, holding his hands almost a foot wide. | ||
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- | Ron said he was pulled over for a noise violation as recently as Monday. | ||
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- | "I told them, 'If I am breaking the law, it's because God told me to,' " he said. "There is a separation between church and state: The state is ruled by the devil and the church is ruled by God." | ||
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- | Ron has had to pay Milwaukee $332.20 in fines since 2002, according to Milwaukee Municipal Court records, in addition to multiple fines before that. | ||
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- | Driving around all day preaching God's word is not a profitable endeavor, at least monetarily. | ||
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- | "I can only serve one master," | ||
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- | So where does Ron get his money? | ||
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- | "Ron gets donations," | ||
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- | As evidenced by Ron's oil-stained hands, he also is a freelance mechanic. | ||
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- | "If someone needs help on their car, I will fix it in return for something else," Ron said. | ||
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- | This barter system has worked in the past, but the rising price of gasoline has severely limited Ron's ability to preach. | ||
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- | "I used to go to Madison, Janesville, Sheboygan, all over the place, but now it is too expensive," | ||
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- | "My battery is running low from driving for so long," he said. | ||
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- | Ron said he hopes to preach in front of a congregation rather than from his car at some point in the future. | ||
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- | " | ||