About Bro.Ricky Cothren

            “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)  Bro. Ricky Cothren’s life and ministry exemplifies this verse.  Bro. Ricky was born blind because of cataracts in 1966. His family did not have the money to afford the surgeries to remove the cataracts and help give him his sight. God, however, provided a miracle that gave Bro. Ricky some of his sight.  Someone placed an ad in the local newspaper about him and how he needed the money for the surgery.  A copy of the newspaper made its way into the hands of some soldiers who were fighting in the Vietnam War.  After they saw the ad, they took up money to pay for the surgery.  Through several surgeries, Bro. Cothren was able to receive much of his sight.  

On January 22, 1978, at eleven years old, Bro. Ricky got saved by the grace of God.  When his pastor gave him a giant print Bible the following year, Bro. Cothren began studying and meditating on the Scriptures.  Bro. Ricky even created his own Bible teaching cassette tapes for his family and friend.  No one realized then that the Lord was preparing him for the radio ministry.

At the age of eighteen, Bro. Ricky announced his call to preach the Gospel and was determined to serve God wherever and however God wanted him to serve. During his late twenties, he lost much of his sight due to glaucoma and is now legally blind.  He has never let the limitations of his sight limit what he can do for the Lord.  Over the course of his ministry, God has opened several doors for him to preach—homes, fire departments, jails, churches, and the radio.  The Lord also allowed him to pastor four churches.

Bro. Ricky Cothren founded Gospel Broadcasting in 1999 with $700 in a coffee can with the vision of one day owning a radio station.  In 2002, Gospel Broadcasting purchased its first radio station—WYZD Radio in Dobson, North Carolina. Gospel Broadcasting continues to grow as Bro. Ricky remains faithful to serving God.

After praying for a wife for fifteen years, Bro. Ricky Cothren met his future wife, Mrs. Kristi, in 2006.  They were married on July 20, 2007.  In the summer of 2008, God told Bro. Ricky that it was time for him to go full-time for Gospel Broadcasting.  He resigned the pastorate of the church that he loved so he could be faithful to what God had called him to do.  Bro. Ricky Cothren and Mrs.Kristi stepped out on faith and went full-time for Gospel Broadcasting.

“Faithful” describes Bro. Ricky Cothren’s life and ministry.  Since he was saved in 1978, Bro. Ricky has been faithful to serve God in the small things and in the big things.  Bro. Ricky has never let his lack of sight limit him from serving God.  He instead has used it to reach people for the Lord.