As you're driving by the Busy Bee, you might see a man on top of a horse with a sign that reads “If you are ready to know Jesus Christ and be saved... stop and let's talk.” This gentleman is known as Rick Lane, and he has devoted his life to spreading the gospel while mixing his two favorite things: horses and Jesus. “This is my horse, Little Joe, and we're here to tell the greatest love story of all time in two minutes,” one might hear Rick Lane say as they ask why he's standing out on the corner with a horse and sign. It was three years ago that Lane began ministering along with his horses and began Amazing Horse Ministries, but he wasn't always in this line of work. In fact, Lane explains that before he found Christ, he was in bad shape as a drug addict and a drug dealer. “I thought that, if I hadn't murdered anyone, I wasn't all bad,” said Lane. He found ways to assure himself that, even though he knew he was doing bad, he was going to Heaven because he hadn't hit rock bottom yet. Lane says that he was “high everyday” for almost 10 years, but after opening his heart up to Jesus, he gave up that life, throwing out his drugs and other toxic addictions and even rejecting one of his former buyers when they asked him for drugs. “That was on a Tuesday,” said Lane. “That next Friday, I told the [buyer] that I was saved.” The following day, Lane went down to the local bar and told everyone there that he had been saved. Ever since then, Lane has been out on the streets spreading the word of God. “33 years later and I still get teared up about it,” said Lane. Lane pastored for 13 years but did not come across the idea of using his horses until about three years ago after he was riding horses with strangers in Pavo, Ga. He recalls that a person in the very back rode his horse across the street to a Dollar General and approached a family; at first, the family was afraid, but the man on the horse assured them and gave them a gospel track while telling them all about the Lord. On that day, Lane found a “divine appointment.” He believes God put him there on that very day, and although what he had witnessed had only lasted a second, he was meant to be there. “It was like the Lord hit an arrow to my heart,” said Lane. The Spirit of God spoke to him, and it all clicked in his head to use a horse to spread the gospel. He spoke to the city manager of Quitman, Ga. and asked if he could spread the message of God on the streets. The city manager approved this, and for his first attempt, Lane rode all around the inner city streets, handing out what he calls faith beads as he was surrounded by people who wanted to be saved. As time went on, Lane began to find other methods, including round pin events, where he uses a 50 ft. pen with six horses, preaching to crowds for thirty minutes. During these events, Lane gets his horses to run from him, signifying how man runs from God. Lane also expanded his methods by camping; he travels somewhere big like Tallahassee and camps out for a week on a busy block or corner. By doing Evangelism day-camping and setting up on a busy street corner, Lane is able to reach a lot of people. Lane is seen in Madison often and he sets up at the Busy Bee in town. Lane has five horses in total, but when he is at the Busy Bee, he uses his six-year-old Tennessee Walker, Little Joe. He uses horses because they draw a crowd and share a relationship that relates to man's relationship with God. According to Lane, a horse has a purpose and has to have a leader to really make their mind work, just like we do with God. Along with his work at Amazing Horse Ministries, Lane also is a part of the jail ministry and a Chaplin for the Georgia Sheriff's Department. Lane lives in Brooks County and is married to his wife, Rosemary, and together they have two sons and three grandchildren. Rosemary works as a full-time doctor in Quitman and travels with her husband when she can. Visit Amazing Horse Ministries on Facebook to learn more.
