Midnight. The Christmas Eve candlelight service had gone well and the volunteer crew in our small church studio was exhausted but happy. The beauty of the candle lighting ceremony warmed our hearts, from the moment the first candle was lit until the entire church was illuminated with flickering light. We couldn’t join the congregation passing the flame from one person to the next, but with cameras, switcher, and edit computer, each member of the crew held out a gospel light.
We couldn’t join the congregation passing the flame from one person to the next, but with cameras, switcher, and edit computer, each member of the crew held out a gospel light....
In media ministry, we don’t usually see the face of the person with whom we share our candle. We attempt to reach those who, for a variety of reasons, can’t or won’t walk through the doors of a church. Analytics don’t measure the power of the gospel message on those hungry hearts. Ratings and reach analysis don’t reflect the brilliant potential of the Holy Spirit working in someone receiving the word.
A dollar and a lifetime
My mom was one of them. Mom was not reared in a Christian home. At age 12, living in a remote area of Montana in the late 1940s, she heard a radio broadcast offering a Bible study course. Listeners were asked to send a dollar to cover the cost of the materials, but if you didn’t have a dollar, write anyway. Mom didn’t have a dollar but she requested the course and the station sent it. Over the airwaves, a gospel light was placed in her hand. She studied the Bible and became a Christian. Mom’s childhood was hard, but she held on to her gospel light and God kept his promise - “A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Isaiah 42:3
Over the years, Mom met Dad, who worked in radio. They had six children and shared the light. We were reared in a Christian home with prayer, gospel music, and Christ-centered education. Today, many of the children and, now, grandchildren are active in ministry, broadcasting, communications, and outreach--ordained pastors, educators, creators of Christian media, and humanitarian aid workers with projects in Tanzania, Samoa, Haiti, Laos, Chile, India, China, and more. Mom lived to see her youngest son put more than 50 Christian radio stations on the air.
How grateful I am that someone wrote that [Bible study] course, someone used their time and talent to record the radio broadcast, and someone had the technical skill to put it on the air.
When Mom died, we found the little metal pin she’d been awarded for completing the Bible study course. How grateful I am that someone wrote that course, someone used their time and talent to record the radio broadcast, and someone had the technical skill to put it on the air. How I’d love to thank and repay the person who covered the dollar when Mom could not. They did this not knowing if anyone would listen to the broadcast or if that dollar would bring a return on investment. I wonder if they’ll be amazed at the throngs of people from many nations who greet them in the kingdom of heaven because of the gospel light they shared with one little girl!