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May 2022 His Grace Magazine! Page 11

Duane Chapman

How Dog the Bounty Hunter had gone from being in prison to becoming a Reality Star

Dog the Bounty Hunter is known to millions on the reality tv show; his real name is Duane Chapman. He had widespread fame, especially with his tv reality show, as he grabbed fleeing criminals.

Duane was the big star of Dog the Bounty Hunter, his show first aired back in 2003 and ran until 2012. The show was known for its tough and wild side, but Duane is a devout Christian. He came to hold on to faith after he went to prison back in the 1970's.

Duane, who is now 69 years old, recently said about his very personal road and his spiritual roots, "My great grandmother was Christian, she was a pastor. My mother, all day long, her whole life, all she did was pray for us."

When Duane was growing up, he had to always attend church as it was mandatory. He said, "We had to go to church, or my mom took the keys away from my motorcycle."

But even though

Duane had been raised in the church, he started to turn his back on his faith as he began to fall away as a young man, and he started to take a more carefree attitude on a biblical life. He said, "I was committed, and then, I thought, God's really busy in Vietnam, so He's not going to care really what I do as long as I say the blessing and keep God kind of first."

But Duane's journey had led him to a life of crime that forced him into a decision of moving forward in crime, or moving forward into a life of chance. He said, "After going to prison

in the 70s in Texas for 18 months, I realized, right then, that at the end of this rainbow of crime and all that, is not a bucket of gold, it's a cell."

Duane was hanging around with three others when they broke into a man's home as they were looking for marijuana. One of the men shot and killed the house owner in a struggle. Duane was sentenced to five years and as we mentioned, he served 18 months.

Duane said that his mother had never given up on him, and prayed that he would come back to the Lord. When he was released, she would play the

Bible while he was sleeping. He said, "As I slept, my mom put on a recording of the Bible, and every morning, when I woke up,

I'm like, Mom, why did you? She's like,

I don't know who turned that on." Duane became a bounty hunter and his 43 year career had him capture 8,000 fugitives. His rough past helped him speak the word of Christ to the offenders to help them. He said, "I would capture guys and tell them, 'Listen, man, I've been there, done that, we need supernatural help.'"

After over 4 decades of bounty hunting, Duane said he wants to help others and share the truth. He said, "I am not a preacher, never will be. But I have a message."