Alaska: Winter 2009 Update!
News from Dillingham
by Judi Thompson
Hi Folks,
Praise the Lord, we now have six radio stations in operation: two in Dillingham and one each in Selawik, Togiak, Aleknagik and Ekwok. We also have requests from Chignik Lake and Barrow to install radio stations there. In Akiak, three people have requested Bible studies in answer to our prayers. The prison ministries team here in Dillingham just made a contact from the village of New Stuyahok who would like to host a radio station. This is a major breakthrough because this village has been completely closed to all outside influences. Please continue to remember them in prayer. Dan Rotthoff is now resident in the village of Togiak, and the Lord is blessing his work there. The Lord is answering our prayers in so many ways! Funds are coming in for the stations, contacts are being made and Bible studies are going out.
We are starting to get feedback from the community here in Dillingham. One lady says she has the station tuned in on her car radio, and sometimes she gets to work and is enjoying the program so much, she sits in the car and waits until it’s finished before she goes in to work! More people are tuning in and enjoying the programs. We are planning to purchase some better-quality microphones when we go toAnchorage for Teachers’ Meetings in February. Then we will start recording some local input for the stations.
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Rod Rau (visits Ekwok on Sabbaths), Buck (host) and Gavin with radio station. |
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We are currently looking for a unique unit that can run the radio stations. It needs to have a small screen, DVD drive, hard drive storage of at least 120GB, at least 1GHZ processing speed, some kind of basic media-playing software, uninterruptible power supply and at least one USB port. Additionally, it needs to cost less than $300 and not look like a computer. If we use a normal computer, all the village kids will want to use it to surf the net and play games. We need the DVD drive so we can mail program updates to the hosts, who can copy the programs into storage. We are currently using secondhand computers that have been donated for this purpose, but these computers don’t come with an operating system, and although we have an operating system we can put on, it is often very difficult to locate all the drivers to get the system to function properly. Also, it means that every station turns out slightly different, which becomes a challenge when things go wrong and we need to try to help the host repair things over the phone! So if any of you technology buffs out there want a challenge, you can help us come up with some kind of small package that will work! It’s so hard to do this kind of thing when we can’t walk into a store and look at what’s on display and talk with the experts.
Gavin is still filling all his spare minutes converting files and adding to the play-list of programs. We have permission from Chapel Music to convert to MP3s and use any of their music, so if you have the ability to convert music CDs into MP3 files, and you have some of Chapel’s music, we would appreciate any that you could send us. Any other good programs, such as sermons suitable for evangelism, Bible studies, or other programs would be most welcome. I found a good website called “Parenting Today’s Teens” where I was able to download almost three hundred 60-second parenting tips.
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| Installing the antenna at Ekwok. |
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The two transmitters that were on order arrived from China. However, one was not in working order and was replaced by the company. Gavin managed to replace the defective component in the original one, and so now we have the two radios for Ekwok and Aleknagik completed and installed. But Satan is good at creating delays! Work, illness, snow, and equipment that doesn’t work have all combined to slow things down.
People are really enjoying the Spotlight on Mission DVD. We have received reports from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, requesting permission to copy and share the DVD with friends.
In summary, here’s what you can do:
- Simply continue to be interested and receive this newsletter. You may request the “News from Dillingham” by sending your email address and name to Judith at zl4jjt@gmail.com.
- Share this newsletter and let us know of others who wish to receive it.
- Join the prayer campaign for a village in Alaska. If you want to have a specific village to pray for, let me know and I’ll give you one.
- If you know someone in one of these villages who may be willing to host a radio station in a corner of their home, let us know.
- If you’d like a copy of a short DVD of our trip to install the radio station in Ekwok, I’ll be glad to make you one.
- Order a copy of the Spot Light on Mission DVD and share it with your church, school and family.
- Send the You Tube link of the DVD to friends and contacts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5cT9ye4qO4 .
- Go to the Alaska Conference Website (http://www.alaskaconference.org/) and check out “Prayer Line Alaska,” “Share the Light,” “President’s Blog” and “Arctic Mission Adventure.” This initiative is much bigger than just 250 radio stations!
- If you feel impressed to contribute financially to any part of this project, take it to the Lord and let Him be your guide.
Contributions to the radio project may be made by writing to “Radio Project” in the Alaska Project line on the enclosed envelope (Flight Log).
Many blessings,
Judi Thompson
Member
