Tony Cash’s story never gets stale, even when he shares it at 5:30 a.m.

After Rocky Pruitt first heard Cash tell his testimony at his Southeast Christian Church men’s Bible study, he’s still amazed that the power of God can break through any prison bars. 

“It was just a great story of redemption, how someone who had been incarcerated as long as he had, solitary confinement for as long as he had, could find any hope,” said Rocky, 60. “It was moving and it still is when I tell the story. It kind of touches me and it just dawned upon me that this is such a great testimony to God’s will, God’s power. I just felt the need to get involved.”

Rocky and his wife, Cinda,—who own Pruitt’s Automotive—are one of Tony and Kim Cash’s premier Kingdom Community Impact Sponsors.

Shortly after Rocky heard Cash’s testimony, the Pruitt’s met with the Cash’s over dinner to hear more about their disciple-making movement ministry. 

Cinda says they connected immediately with the Cash’s transparency.  

“You were genuine with everything that you had to say. Everything. Nothing was rote with you,” said Cinda, 58. “It was all feelings. It was all what you were about. It wasn’t just reading off of a paper for you. It wasn’t memorized at all. It was just real and I believed you.”

As God has blessed their business, the Pruitt’s felt led to be financially generous towards Kingdom impact ministries like the Cash’s. 

“Our involvement is primarily monetary, but that’s what God has allowed us to do,” Rocky said. “Apparently we’re pretty good at what we do and that allows us to give a fair amount of money away on a yearly basis. I can’t think of a better thing to give it to than the ministries you all have up and running. Helping these men that truly need it … I think what Tony is doing is, we’ve had the conversation about not just preparing these men just to go out and be in the world again … You’re preparing them to be fishers of men, disciples of Christ, and that’s why it was different to me when I heard Tony’s story and what his intentions were with the 3Thirds movement.”

‘Closed on Sunday’

Rocky’s father began Pruitt’s Automotive in 1960 and Rocky purchased it from his brother in 2007. 

When you drive past their auto repair shop off of Lexington Rd., you’ll notice two unique signs on the window: “Closed on Sunday” and Colossians 3:23, which says, “Whatever work you do, do it with all your heart. Do it for the Lord and not for men.” 

The Pruitt’s made a bold business decision by closing on Sundays to honor God. 

Rocky has found that the simplicity of a sign has softened people’s hearts towards the Gospel.

“I’m not a person that’s out there pushing that in front of me, but I don’t shy away from it or deny it,” Rocky said. “Just the other day, I had a longtime customer come to me and ask if I would pray for her grandchildren because they’re in a custody battle. So just from that sign, she knew that I was a Christian. She approached me and asked, ‘Would you put my grandchildren on your prayer list?’” 

In order to make sure they didn’t lose an annual profit of about $5,000 due to closing on Sunday, Rocky decided to change two signs on the side of the road – initially, gasoline price signs—into advertisement signs. It would be $400 to rent four panels each month, or $4,800 annually.  

“Literally the first Sunday we closed, the next Monday morning at 7:30 I get a phone call from an employee at the shop,” Rocky added. “He said, ‘There’s a guy waiting on you here to talk about these signs out front’ … The guy said, ‘What do you want for those signs?’ I told him and he wrote us a check for $4,800 in advance. So the moral of the story is we felt like we were honoring God by closing on Sunday, taking a $5,200 hit and God turns around and says, ‘Here’s your money back.’” 

Since Pruitt’s Automotive opened, business has been booming year after year.  

Cinda says they’ve actually been busier since the pandemic.  

“God is rewarding us financially, hand over fist, and then because we’re so busy we can hire more people, pay them more money, fulfilling their lives,” Cinda said. “Rocky’s a mentor to every one of our employees. They have given him thank you cards just for letting them be part of his team.”

Last month, a new customer thanked Rocky for putting God first in their business. 

“He pulled up one day, got gas, saw the sign, and said, ‘I want you to know that the reason I’m here is because of that sign in the window. I’ll be a customer of yours from now on. That takes a lot of guts in today’s world to put that sign in your window because so many people fear the retribution of the world,’” Rocky said.

A little red rubber ball

When Cinda and Rocky met, she had a son from a previous marriage, Luke, who was three at the time. 

About six months into their relationship, Cinda introduced Rocky to Luke.  

Cinda says the two hit it off “like peas and carrots.”

“We just started bouncing a little red rubber ball around in his playroom and he thought that was a big deal,” Rocky added. “I’d bounce it and he’d run after it. Then, we played Hot Wheels on his little city map back and forth and stuff like that.”

Rocky adopted Luke when he was nine. 

The Pruitt’s, members of Southeast since 2012, married in June 2002. 

“God sent him exactly when I needed him,” Cinda said. “Just like any marriage, we’ve had some troubles like anyone else, but we’ve always worked through them. We love each other. We do.”

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