While visiting family over Thanksgiving, I found myself at the local Save-A-Lot store running errands for my mother-in-law. With my adult daughter, Taylor, in tow, we tried purchasing the correct corn meal and other items on the list (“tried” is the key word). However, outside the story was a Christian recovery group selling items like bracelets, necklaces and t-shirts. Intrigued, we stopped to look at their table. As we sorted through the merchandise, we saw one that caught our eyes. Playing off of the drug epidemic and recovery angle, it said, “Hope Dealer.” In true fashion, I purchased the shirt.
Soon after arriving at Sunshine, Gabe Coriell approached me about the possibility of doing a daily one minute radio spot. He thought with my storytelling background, a presence over the airwaves was not only possible but a positive move. After much discussions and vision planning, he, along with the other deacons, embraced Ray of Hope. We wanted an uplifting message rooted in Scripture, without using Scripture to pound its message. The world is filled with too much adverse messages, so we counter the negative with the positive. We wanted to offer hope. In March of 2018 it began to air on The Mix WNXT 99.3. We settled on a set time of 7:25 am and a floating time for the afternoon to appear sometime between 2:00-6:00, and then a repeat of one episode on Saturdays.
Ray of Hope made the positive impression we desired. The feedback was always encouraging. People were listening.
But the one flaw of radio ministry has two related elements to it. First, it’s expensive to purchase airtime. The cost for Ray of Hope was usually six hundred plus dollars a month. Over the long haul, that’s a lot of money to invest on a monthly basis. That leads to the second element, long term commitment is needed before you start realizing the benefits. If Ray of Hope was to have the maximum results possible (e.g. people attending our services), maybe we’ll see them after five year presence on the radio. Maybe. Significant funds is needed to sustain such a ministry. A number of churches have those resources. Unfortunately, Sunshine does not.
Last summer, Gabe, Aaron Kallner and I began talking options. What direction can we take Ray of Hope? To be honest, as much work as it took to write a daily spiritual message, I loved the ministry. But the truth was it was not going to be sustainable. We talked. We prayed. We tried envisioning what to do.
Enter another option. With the launch of Sunshine’s new website, an opportunity to reach more people through an online presence has been realized. Ray of Hope was not about to be shut down but re-envisioned. We will be creating an audio recording, like before, and formatting it to a podcast linked to our website. Jacob Miller is working on dynamic artwork to accompany the audio portion. Instead of a daily moment, we will be posting 2-3 podcasts weekly accessed through the church’s website and FaceBook.
I will miss the radio version of Ray of Hope, especially since a large number of people have tuned in for the message (and it helped that I grew up on the importance of radio as a medium for messaging). But as Bob Dylan once wrote, “The times they are a-changin,” and the online presence is both affordable and prolific. I am excited about this new opportunity to renew, recast and to re-envision a message of hope for everyone. After all, I am a “Hope Dealer.”
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)