the "Alpha-Hour" on March 1 despite financial troubles, BosNewsLife learned Tuesday, January 21.
"We’re now only three thousand dollars away from having three full months of the radio show financed, " Operations Manager J. Gator Henry (38) told ANS. Despite these problems, he was confident his staff "will, to the glory of Jesus Christ, begin broadcasting in less than two months."
He stressed the "Alpha-Hour" had received prayer and financial support from Christians around the world including Australia, while a local radio station in southern Florida, known as WMCU 89.7 Spirit FM in Miami, donated $5,000.00.
The program crew "has been in training" with colleagues at Minsk based Alpha Radio, which airs the program, since January 6th "in preparations for beginning the first historical broadcast on March 1, 2003," Henry explained.
LARGE NETWORK
Alpha Radio is reportedly the former Soviet republic’s second largest FM radio network with a potential audience of 1,5 million in Minsk and the nearby city of Vitebsk.
"In Belarus there are really no Christian religious content programs in the mass media. Religion is only now becoming open and accessible for people. That is why to play these programs on air is an honour for our radio station," said Vitaly Tverdohlebo, Editor In Chief of Alpha Radio.
"People (in Belarus) need religious programs as much as possible, so there must be religious content programs," Tverdohlebo added.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
In a move organizers describe as "an answer to prayers" President Alexander Lukashenko allowed the "Alpha-Hour" to air daily, despite signing what critics call "Europe’s most restrictive religion law."
Henry told ANS that the station’s president, "has personal assurances" that the radio show can air "seven days a week, one hour per day."
J. Gator Henry and his wife Vitalia, who is from Belarus, will settle in nearby Kiev, Ukraine, from January for at least two years to co-ordinate the Alpha Hour.
WIFE "INSPIRATION"
"My wife is the inspiration behind all of this, and the one whom the Lord has utilized to bring about this unprecedented and historical opportunity," Henry explained.
He will also work in the region as Senior Producer for CBN- CIS, the former Soviet Union division of the Christian Broadcasting Network founded by American evangelist Pat Robertson.
