He was serving a lifetime sentence in prison because of drug use and crime. As an inmate, he surrendered his life to the Lord; then a miracle happened.
Reginald Watts had a Leave It to Beaver type upbringing, which, according to him, means, “I have no excuses for what I’m about to tell you.” During his last semester as a junior at Texas Southern University, he got hooked on drugs.
Trying to hide that from his family brought on more problems. “You tell so many lies…you borrow money from so many people and never pay ’em back…. You eventually run out of friends. Your circle gets smaller and smaller, and that’s what happened to me,” said Watts. So, he started stealing, which eventually led to his first conviction on robbery. The charges were dropped down to an assault charge, and he was given credit for time served.
When he was released that year, he was already thinking about how he was going to change— but his thoughts weren’t about changing into a righteous person who does good; rather, he was thinking about how he was going to level up: stop using drugs and instead start selling drugs. “Well, that lasted maybe a week, then I was back to using drugs again and back to robbing,” stated Watts. His next conviction was for two counts of armed robbery and one count of attempted armed robbery.
Hear Reginald Watts tell his story:
He went to trial and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, the judge vacated the 25 years and gave him a life sentence, due to the Habitual Offenders Act, “which is legal,” said Watts.
With the 25 years vacated, they gave him a life sentence— “L-I-F-E. Not 99 to life, not a hundred to life, not 50 to life, LIFE,” explained Watts. “No probation, no parole, no suspension of sentence. In essence, I was to die in the Louisiana State Penitentiary.”
A Desire To Do What’s Right
In the penitentiary, every prison cell had a shelf with the Bible on it. Watts loves to read, and that was the only book he had access to. He started reading it, and it opened up to Romans 7:14-25. Verse 18 says, “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.”
“I read it again,” said Watts. He got an epiphany, realizing he did, in fact, want to do what was right. “I always wanted to please my parents. I always wanted to do what was right. But I kept getting back to drugs and stealing and all the stuff that comes with it,” he remarked. It was then that he broke down and told God that God was right and he was wrong, and that he needed God’s help.
While he was in prison, a man named Kenneth Copeland came to preach to the inmates. Said Mike Barber, of Mike Barber Ministries (MBM), “He [Watts] cut his teeth on listening to Kenneth and Gloria Copeland teach the uncompromising Word of God.”
According to Barber, for 15 solid years he connected with Watts while he was incarcerated, and they would pray together, believing the day would come when Watts would be released.
After over 25 years in prison, Watts walked out the doors of the prison as a free man. Barber was there to embrace him. “With the sheriff holding one door, the warden of the facility holding the other door, Mike Barber and his wife were standing there with one of my spiritual mentors,” recalled Watts.
As Barber drove Watts to his new home outside of prison, he received a phone call from the commissioner over all the prisons in Mississippi. The warden had already heard that Watts had been picked up from the penitentiary, and he shared with Barber and Watts that he had been believing for 15 years that one day he would have Watts on his staff in Mississippi.
Said Barber, “Within two hours, Watts went from having been in prison for 26 years, to being asked to be the head chaplain over all the prisons in Mississippi.”
Watch Mike Barber share the story of his relationship with Reginald Watts and the impact that KCM Partners have on the work that MBM can do:
“It was amazing,” said Watts. “I’m telling you, the power of God, not just to get me outta prison, but to already have my purpose lined up the way that He knew I would accept it…. And just to show you the full circle, here I am now at Kenneth Copeland’s Southwest Believers’ Convention. I am directly in debt to Kenneth Copeland Ministries.”
Watts shared something Mike Barber had said to inmates many times before: “He said, ‘My name is on those study papers we give y’all, but it’s Kenneth Copeland Ministries that allows me to come here.’” Added Watts, “Those that are in the ministry with KCM, those of you that donate, those of you that give of your time and your finances, it’s being used greatly.”
Said Barber, “Every time Mike Barber Ministries goes into the prisons, you’re there with them, because you give to KCM as a Partner.” This is made possible because 10% of all money given to KCM is immediately given to other ministries, such as MBM, to carry the good news of Jesus even further than KCM could on our own. We call this twice-sown seed.
Reginald Watts shares with Kenneth Copeland how his life was forever altered by the Word through KCM’s prison ministry:
Matthew 25:36 says, “I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me…. I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
MBM witnesses to over 250,000 inmates per month. As a Partner with KCM, you’re there witnessing to them, too.
“Don’t ever think that you’re not part of it because your name is not there, or we don’t call your name. If you gave 50 cents to KCM, you have done something big. Because it takes money to do the ministry. Especially when you go into prisons. ’Cause we can’t give anything back. Prisoners are always receiving,” said Watts.
Watts is thankful for KCM and those who have partnered with KCM. “We thank God for you, not only as pastors, but as chaplains, as well.”
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