Christian Radio For Russia uses direct-to-home satellite broadcasting to reach both Christian and secular audiences across eleven time zones in Russia and around the globe
by Michael Ireland
June 13, 2007
MOSCOW, RUSSIA (ANS) -- On April 25, the day they buried former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and his dreams of a free Russia, the KGB (now FSB) came to New Life Radio's studios, demanding all kinds of answers to questions about its programming, who controls it and their finances, according to Dan Johnson, President Christian Radio For Russia. "Then they went to every Christian organization based at the Christian Center on Namyotkina Street, where we are located, and demanded the same answers. They informed us they will be back, so Christian Radio For Russia needs prayer that God puts a hedge or barrier around its facility to keep these dogs at bay," says Johnson.
"Now more than ever, New Life Radio needs help and partners so it can keep broadcasting. The publishing (of this story) now is timely, given all the negative news between U.S. President George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin prior to the G8 summit in Germany. Russia is sorely lacking in protecting freedom of religion and the press, and churches nationwide and the other former Soviet republics are facing greater troubles. Russian-speaking young people sorely need Christian media alternatives, like NLR. We expect to be broadcasting on ABS satellite within one or two weeks," Johnson said.
The aims, purposes and goals of CRFR - Christian Radio For Russia -- are to share the Gospel of Christ through the provision of Christian radio programming to the Russian-speaking peoples across Russia, the former Soviet Republics, and worldwide, says Johnson.
"From another perspective," says Johnson, " it is our challenge to provide the technical possibility of every community in Russia to have access to broadcast signals with Christian programming, which is why we use direct-to-home satellite, FM, AM, and the Internet to cover Russia."
In an interview with ASSIST News, Johnson was asked how and in what ways CRFR seeks to meet these goals and why radio is being used as a ministry tool?
Johnson said: "New Life Radio began as Russia's first Christian fm radio station in 1996 (located in Magadan, Russia) and later in 2000, introducing nationwide direct-to-home satellite Christian radio from studios located next to the Kremlin in Moscow. NLR now operates from studios in southwest Moscow across from the main Gazprom headquarters.
"So we meet these goals everyday by ensuring that New Life Radio has the financing to continue its 24/7 satellite radio broadcasting. The response from our audience shows that God is blessing the effort. Countless people are impacted by the Christian message, and we even have letters from people about to commit suicide and (who) stopped after they heard a song on New Life Radio and gave their lives to the Lord. Even one life saved is worth the entire effort we have gone through over 13 years of work to operate NLR."
Johnsons says that working in conjunction with various Russian denominations, NLR provides information resources as well as biblical instruction and Christian entertainment on a nationwide and international scale.
"Given that radio is an integral part of Russia's mass media diet, we use the satellite radio format to get into both Christian and secular homes, because the Russian government has specifically worked against the expansion of Christian media in the terrestrial radio mode (am/fm/shortwave), and satellite broadcasting is the most logical new media format to serve a nation with 11 time zones. No new Christian FM stations have started in the last 6 years (there is only one independent station at present) and even qualified Christian ministries or Russian churches with sufficient financing cannot get radio licenses," he said.
Asked by ANS how and in what ways he has seen God at work throughCRFR's ministry, Johnson responded: " I could write a book on that one.
"NLR's continuation defies normal explanation. We have broadcast since 2000 with no paid programming, no commercials, no on air sales, and no asking for money on the air from listeners. We have no big financial source or denomination funding us, and usually start out each month with nothing in the bank, and somehow we pay the bills at the end of the month. We do so much with a small group of people that God's hand is evident. We should have been bankrupt years ago. Our model of broadcasting is pretty unusual, and we do everything so the listener has the best music, highest quality biblical instruction, and a clear presentation of the Christian life, with no commercials, questionable programming, or distractions. My deal with the Lord is this: we make great radio, and give everything out for free including the airtime to Russian programmers, and somehow, God pays the bills."
Johnson was also asked what have been some of the highlights of CRFR's radio ministry, and what is different, unusual, or unique about it?
"God blesses us with being able to do unique things that had never been done in Russia before (ie. introducing Christian FM and Christian satellite radio). Our radio format was unique and introduced a newer contemporary approach for Christian radio in Russia. Even secular satellite radio stations started adopting some of our format characteristics. Today, our signal gets into Russian prisons, military bases, rehab centers, hospitals, and other secular sites, when it was our intention to originally target secular satellite TV audiences, churches, remote missionary sites, as well as radio station affiliates. God has given our station excellent rapport among a diversity of Russian church denominations and leaders, and we see God's hand in how we are constantly expanding to reach a worldwide audience with a tiny staff of 5 people in Moscow."
Johnson said that now, new life radio is poised to develop Christian radio for Russian-speaking immigrant communities in the USA and elsewhere (via direct-to-home satellite on the Telstar 5 satellite; by a brand new type of HD radio called "digital FM subcarrier radio" (see the ministry website at www.freewebs.com/newliferadio for more info), on cable radio and IPTV internet feeds, and even using 3gpp cell phone streaming to immigrants from Seattle to New York City. NLR will provide the free programming, but we need help from American Christians to pay the relatively small costs for broadcasting. For example, for $2,500 per month, the USA can have nationwide satellite radio from NLR. And there are over 8 million Russian speakers in America to target. This is just one of many applications that our staff is seeing develop and this is what makes us a pretty unique radio ministry. Who could pull this off with such tiny resources? The bottom line is not telecom channels, but content. People need to hear God's word in their own language, and that what New Life Radio does for Russians worldwide."
Johnson said that an authoritarian dictatorship in Russia that has severely restricted freedom of the press and is now limiting freedom of religion.
"Try developing nationwide Christian broadcasting in these conditions! We lost our first FM radio station this past year in Magadan, with the government refusing to grant our third 5-year license renewal. No Christian group can get a radio frequency, and now even if they wanted, most Christians don't have the financing to compete with secular business for radio channels. So New Life Radio is a guaranteed signal for those communities that will never have a local Christian radio station," he said.
Johnson explained that one of the primary difficulties the ministry faces is financing.
"Even with just 5 people, we don't have funds to pay for overnight or weekend radio staff to monitor the station. Thank God we have a radio automation system. So we need denominations in the USA who have missions work in Russia to join us to pay the $10,000+ per month it takes to run NLR on a minimal basis. We provide mission support to all of their missionaries and ministries, but we don't receive a cent from any denomination. Not a single Christian station in Russia (including the few AM stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg) has any large percentage of self-support from within the country. That is why NLR is a very lean and technically mean ministry. We can do the same as a national Christian satellite network in America that might cost $1 million or more per year, for a tiny price of $120,000 annually. God is definitely keeping us."
Johnson also said the ministry deals with a government "that is ready at any moment to shut us down should we say anything on the air that they don't like. Russian law forbids the press to criticize the work of public officials in the course of their duties, and journalists are back to self-censorship. While NLR does not do political reporting, we do general secular and religious news every hour, and we take chances, because even if we simply read a Russian news agency wire, and the story is factually wrong, the radio station can be liable and its staff put in jail, along with the originating author at the wire service. It is becoming just like in Soviet days (I did my Ph.D dissertation on Soviet broadcasting, so I have a pretty good clue how it was. I was in the Soviet Union in the 1980s working on telecom and broadcast projects, and had to work with Party and KGB oversight, so I can tell you how it was."
Because of this, Johnson said New Life Radio depends on god's provision to keep them funded with such a tiny base of supporters, and to keep them on the air despite a hostile Russian government.
"Since the Lord can take on anyone, we don't fear Mr. Putin and his minions. We just proclaim the Word of God, and rest on His divine protection. That didn't stop us losing our first radio station, but we keep pressing on," he said.
Regarding the situation surrounding the type of radio ministry CRFR is involved in, Johnson says there are less than eight Christian radio stations that he is aware of in Russia, and most of these rent government frequencies and don't have their own channels.
"The majority are in Moscow or St. Pete, and are usually in difficult situations financially or legally. The rest of the country is essentially unserved by terrestrial Christian radio. New Life Radio is the only Christian radio station that operates by satellite, and the only one with a nationwide broadcast capability (not counting Internet distribution). While we do have radio affiliates, we began as a satellite-only operation, though we have now expanded across a variety of media formats," Johnson said.
He explained that it is extremely difficult license-wise to develop radio ministry.
"Even for our station, the licensing with the government is a tenuous situation. Many Christian applicants have been denied a channel, even if their city only has one or two FM stations operating, and there are maybe 10 frequencies available for exploitation. We began the satellite station project in 1998 after our experience in Magadan: despite having contacts with the Ministry of Communication in Moscow and plenty of funding, it took me three years of paperwork just to get the license for our first station in Magadan.
"Knowing that most cities in Russia with groups of Christians would never have the same ability to obtain a frequency nor build a station or pay a local staff, I decided that the easiest way to get Christian radio into every city was by direct-to-home satellite radio. Once the signal was available, then we would work with local Christians to try to get a frequency: if they could get one, then HCJB World Radio would give them a free professional FM radio transmitter and satellite system. With this, local Christians could afford to rent a single room to house the equipment, pay the electric bills, and that's all they would need for a 24/7 Christian radio station with no personnel required. Well, we thought that perhaps in five years, there might be 20 or 30 stations across Russia. But the reality is that no one else (save a station in Vladikavkaz operated by another ministry) got a frequency. And in 2007, it will be even more difficult for anyone to get a license. Fortunately, we have one station ready to rebroadcast us in Norilsk, Russia (a secular company owned by a Christian has the license). But we cannot get our signal to them at present as they are out of satellite range of the Hotbird satellite, so we will sign a contract for a second satellite (ABS-1) that will give new life radio coverage from Germany to Japan. It will cost us just $2,200 per month for this capability, but it will offer the hope for cities in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East to obtain Christian radio."
ANS wanted to know how can Christians in America become involved in and support CRFR's ministry?
"First of all," said Johnson, "we need people to know that New Life Radio exists, and that it needs help to keep its nationwide and international outreach going, especially during these times of increasing troubles against the Christian church. We need lots of prayer. If we had 40 churches in America giving $100 per month to sponsor our satellite channel, that would guarantee satellite radio for Russians living from Spain to Japan, and even Israel. We need 10 churches to give $100 per month to support our Internet broadcasts. And we need churches to consider helping support our on air staff, which is around $1,000 per month....and we immediately need 4 of them just to cover our airshifts Monday through Sunday. We have such a talent small team of Christian radio programmers, that they are well worth what we pay them, and even $1,000/month is tough to live on in Moscow."
New life radio's broadcast equipment is between 7-10 years old, and they need to raise about $25,000 to replace it, Johnson said.
"The main idea is that we desperately need Christians in the US to continue their support for Christian radio in Russia, as a way of telling the Christians of Russia that we are united with them, and will help them with media even if their own government prevents them from developing it themselves."
Johnson concluded by saying: Our best aid to Russia is by encouraging them (especially their young people) with the Word of God. No matter how bad relations are getting between the American and Russian governments, our strongest friends over there are Christians, and helping a tiny staff of Christian radio programmers in Moscow with a worldwide outreach is a worthwhile ministry to support for the long term. Please let people know about our website: www.CRFR.org. "
You can listen to the station live on the internet at www.nlradio.net or at the www.streamingfaith.com site.
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
