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Stories of Ministry Impact
Stories from missionaries in remote villages (*names have been change). These stories drive us to reach out using the tool of radio.
They Broke My Heart.
The Wrong Book
Native Fear
Diane
Coffee Break
Sometimes what is broadcast on the air can be used as a tool for believers to share Jesus with a friend. *John works on a fishing boat with a captain who is also a believer. He told me that one of the other crew members does not believe in Jesus, but loves to listen to Chuck Swindoll on "Insight for Living". Every day at 9:30 am they all take a coffee break, turn on KRSA, and listen to Chuck's sermon. That is followed by a lively conversation about the subject of that day's sermon. *John's friend has not come to the Lord yet. However, with more prayer and coffee we trust that he will soon bend his knee to the one and only savior of the world.
Daryl Carlson, KRSA Program Director 1996
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Whale Pass
"Please accept our contribution to further the mission of KRSA Radio. Over the years we have found the programming has been invaluable, uplifting and a blessing. Your broadcasting reaches so many folks who may never hear the Word." - Whale Pass Bible Church
Listener Letters
"This check is a drop in the bucket, I know, But I am a very senior citizen, 90 years old and have a vision problem. I do want to thank the people who provide the very good religious programs. I pray you may always be able to do so, as long as we are allowed radios"
"Please don't ever go away, you are so needed in our community." - Listener from Sitka, AK
"Thank you for bringing Christ ALL YEAR!" - note on a Christmas Card
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They broke my heart
After a long day at camp, my campers and I plodded back to our cabin. I just wanted to go to bed but we were going to read the Bible together first. One girl started crying as she talked about home, then another, and then the whole cabin was crying. I began to hear their stories and understand the pain of their homes. I got a glimpse into the lives of these kids I wanted to tell about Jesus. We had been told about the terrible conditions in the villages but I didn’t feel the pain until I saw their tears. I was plunged into the culture. Most of all, I realized what it meant to grow up without Christ – and without hope. How will they hear … unless we hold summer camps?
Alaska short-term missionary
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The Wrong Book
“Maybe all this time, I have been reading the wrong book,” Joe* said as I turned to leave. I had just finished visiting with him, talking about his battle with cancer. He had been reading extensively about living a healthier lifestyle and what foods may keep the cancer at bay. When the conversation turned to more personal things, Joe expressed an all too familiar phrase, “Of course, no one can be sure that they will go to Heaven when they die.”
I whispered a prayer and soon found myself saying, “Joe, I consider you a friend, and as your friend, I believe I have something very important to tell you.” I then began to tell Joe about God’s gift of salvation. I opened my Bible to passages in John and Romans. Joe listened intently but was not ready to make a decision. He was ready, however, to have a Bible of his own and I promised to bring him one later that day.
Over the months, I had several more interactions with Joe. He told me he was reading his Bible again. He was also reading a book which said the Lord’s Prayer was a model for how to pray, not just vain words. Joe had memorized the prayer as a child but now was excited to understand what it actually meant.
In September, I visited Joe again and he immediately began talking about prayer and living a spiritual life. He talked about how the residential school he went to as a child taught him to be afraid of God but now he understood who Jesus really is.
I asked Joe if he had ever joined God’s family and he said, “No.” But he had a curious, excited expression on his face so I took him back to verses in Romans and John. Joe remembered reading John 14:6 which says that no one can come to the Father except through Jesus Christ. After a long discussion, I asked Joe if he was ready to make a decision and he excitedly said, “Yes!” Together we knelt and prayed.
Joe is now a new brother in Christ and continues to read the right book.
Derek, Alaska
Native Fear
I walked though a cemetery with an Eskimo man, a missionary to the Native people of Alaska. Each grave had a picket fence around it and a wooden cross at the end. Although longevity in this village is not uncommon, many lives were pitifully short. Victims of poor health, violence, alcohol and drugs.
“Do you know why there are fences?” asked my friend. “Somehow people believe that the fence can keep out the evil spirits that will come and snatch the spirit of the departed loved one.”
“So, why are there crosses, too?” I asked.
“Because many of these people think they are Christians. But they can’t really separate their animistic beliefs from the veneer of Christianity that American civilization has pushed on them. They live in two worlds – their own clan that reaches back into the past, and the modern culture that puts wheels under them and money in their pocket. Underneath the surface there is so much fear.”
“I know that fear,” he continued, “I lived with it till I was in college. Even though I had a godly grandmother who showed me to a genuine faith at about age 12, it wasn’t until I was in Bible college that I really began to search the Word and find release from the fear. Growing up in a village is a hard life.”
Hard to believe that this is the United States. Later we sat in the office of the local government leader – another middle-aged Native man. He too is a strong believer, but he knows the price of being a Christian. Most of his peers, he says, have no problem believing in God. “All Native people believe in God,” he said. “It’s just that Jesus Christ is so intrusive because He demands commitment.” This man took years to realize that only in total commitment would he find satisfaction. “I had to be totally broken before I let go of trying to do it myself,” he said. My Eskimo friend was one of those who helped him surrender to Christ.
Fear. The barrier that holds these people in bondage. Fear of life, fear of death, fear of the spirit world.
How different really though are these people from the typical American? Yes, their culture keeps them separated from surrender to Christ, but right in my neighborhood there are people whose culture keeps them from Christ. Their superstitions aren’t rooted in animism, but they worship everything around them. They may not have a problem believing in God, but Jesus is a huge barrier. Jesus intrudes into our lives and asks for total commitment. He asks us to put away our other gods, and worship Him alone.
We don’t put fences around our graves, but we, as American, certainly put fences around our hearts. And then we hang crosses around our necks. So many times the crosses just cover superstition and rejection of a personal Christ. And the fear of death.
Hebrews 2: 14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
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Diane
During summer camp, I really connected with the five girls in my cabin. Each night, after devotions, they wanted to talk about spiritual things, to the point where I had to tell them we needed to continue the conversation later because we had talked until one or two in the morning.
They all had so many questions and I would barely have one answered before the next one was asked. They asked questions like: "What does God think if you don't go to church?" "What does God think about drinking (alcohol)?" "Do even murderers go to heaven?" "Why did God create people if he knew they would sin?" Whew!
One of the girls who had the most questions was named Diane*. Several times throughout the week, Diane heard the gospel. She was really counting the cost that if she was going to believe this, she would be rejecting every other belief and would really start living for God. I prayed that Diane would not leave this year without making a decision for Christ.
That Friday, I was busy working on a project and wasn't in the cabin for the scheduled afternoon "rest" time. Two of the other girls in my cabin approached me later and said, "Did you hear about Diane?" I hadn't.
They said that she was alone in the cabin at the beginning of rest time and decided to pray and ask God to forgive her and come into her life! She then proceeded to tell the other girls when they got to the cabin! What an awesome work of God!
That wasn't all that God did. All of the girls in my cabin really opened up to me throughout the week and shared their stories of hurt and pain. I heard stories of childhood rape, getting beat up at home, fathers abandoning them, mothers in prostitution to pay for drugs, parents smoking weed and growing it in the house, and even doing it with their kids and so much more. I wept for them, pointed them to the hope we can have in Jesus, and prayed for them. My heart is broken over them as I heard their stories, knowing that many of them are going home to those situations. A number of campers are going back to villages with no church or no youth group. Diane is going back to a school where she doesn't know any other Christians.
Please pray that these young believers will grow in their knowledge of Christ, that they would understand the great love He has for them, and choose to live for Him! Pray that they will lead others to Christ. And pray that the church will be planted where they live!
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