An Amazing Fact: In case you think Americans have it bad at rush hour, consider that the worst traffic jam in history occurred in São Paulo, Brazil, on May 9, 2014, when cars and trucks were stuck bumper to bumper on the Marginal Pinheiros highway for 215 miles! Gridlock on this Brazilian commute is so common that roadside vendors make a good living and radio stations take advantage of a huge captive audience!
According to traffic experts, rush-hour drivers in the most populated cities in America spend an average of 3.5 months of their lives sitting in congestion. (I hope you’re not one of them!) That breaks down to about 45 hours every year, enough time to hear an entire Amazing Facts evangelistic series twice over.
Now there’s a thought! Think how fast God’s truth would spread if we could reach these millions trapped in commuter gridlock with gospel messages? It could spiritually revolutionize an entire city! “For the word of God is living and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12).
A Captive Audience
I have personally seen how the power of the Word through radio transforms so many lives. Like Wyatt, who was trapped in the gridlock of Satan’s lies and, while only 16 years old, had been thrown into a hardened prison for a serious crime.
Wyatt grew up in a dysfunctional home, coping with his loneliness and pain through rock music, TV, and endless violent video games. When a Satanist introduced him to the occult, it seemed to hold the exciting allure young Wyatt was looking for—acceptance, power, and pleasure. The idea of living purely for self was intoxicating, and he fell deep into partying and drugs. “The more risky my behavior, the more exciting my life seemed to become,” he explains. But it all came to a screeching halt when he was tried as an adult for a violent crime and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Sitting all alone in a cold, dark cell day by day, Wyatt was filled with remorse and fear. He often thought about suicide. His mom suggested he turn to Scripture, but he balked. Yet, for the next few weeks, he would walk by a prison bookshelf stuffed with Bibles. One day, out of sheer frustration, he grabbed one. He sought to silence his conscience by proving Christians dead wrong, but instead, his heart was touched as he read. After studying the amazing life of King David one day, Wyatt fell to his knees and asked God to forgive him. He had found hope, cleansing, and amazing peace! God had used the monotonous gridlock of prison to finally get his attention.
With a Bible and a small radio, Wyatt eagerly searched even deeper for freedom in biblical truth, and that’s when he “stumbled” upon Bible Answers Live, Amazing Facts’ radio program. To get better reception, he had to stand on his bunk and hold his radio over his head next to his cell’s three-inch-thick window. “I loved hearing callers ask the exact questions I had,” he explains. Since he couldn’t call in, he often prayed that his questions would be answered during the Sunday night broadcasts. Many times they were, but he also learned many new things he’d never heard before.
“Through Bible Answers Live,” Wyatt says, “I learned how God wanted me to keep the seventh day holy.” He also learned the truth about what happens at death, freeing him from the spiritual deceptions that had tormented him for years. Then through the mail, Wyatt requested the Amazing Facts Bible Study Guides. Those powerful lessons were so totally life-changing that he was soon giving Bible studies to fellow inmates, sharing the liberty he found in the Bible truths he had learned through Amazing Facts.
Because his conversion was so clear, by God’s grace, Wyatt’s sentence was reduced for good behavior and, after 14 years in captivity, he walked out a free man. But his freedom wasn’t just from iron bars. “I learned about Jesus and His love for me. What a Savior!”
Messages of Power
I praise our Lord that He allowed you, through Amazing Facts, to play a key role in Wyatt’s discovery of truth. I’m thrilled to tell you that Wyatt has now become a first-class firebrand of faith, attending our AFCOE program and assisting with the Landmarks of Prophecy series in Albuquerque last November. And now he and his new wife, Jenni, are already doing public evangelism! Amen!
It is your faithful support of Amazing Facts’ radio broadcasts that made it possible for the Holy Spirit to reach Wyatt and so many others with biblical truth. When the Word of God goes out, “it shall not return to Me void” (Isaiah 55:11).
With the explosive growth of the Internet and satellite TV, many once predicted that the impact of radio would diminish, but radio has also grown and remains a powerful medium of communication. Most new cars now come equipped with satellite radios that can pick up Bible Answers Live each week!
In fact, it was the profound impact of radio that inspired the birth of this unique ministry 50 years ago. Joe Crews, our first speaker, debuted a new radio program called Amazing Facts, always linking a remarkable fact from history, nature, or science to a powerful spiritual message that pointed listeners to Jesus. It was an instant success used by God’s Spirit to change lives!
And now, with you, Amazing Facts is preparing to take another bold step of faith in the world of radio …
Wonders in the Word
The Bible Answers Live program has been a tremendous soul-winning success, even with a smaller available audience on Sunday nights. But we are now planning, by God’s grace and your help, to launch a 30-minute radio program called Wonders in the Word to reach the massive audiences of rush hour across America. This program will have an open window into busy people’s lives, with more time dedicated to presenting the everlasting gospel. Think of the millions of lost and confused souls that Jesus will reach!
Our very specific goal is to target large populated markets with this new Bible-based broadcast, so we’ll be acquiring more radio time-slots in large cities—airing Wonders in the Word during that powerful witnessing window called “the rush-hour commute.”
Picture with me just how many thousands of people will be listening to God’s words of life during these crucial hours! We will be featuring key topics that get the best responses from searching souls, the messages that really speak to hearts today—and at the end of each program, we’ll invite listeners to try our Study Guides, free books, truth-filled websites, and to call me personally with their own questions during Bible Answers Live.
It’s true, friend! Where most people see nothing but stress, headaches, and impatient drivers, there is actually a golden opportunity to reach millions of spiritually hungry Americans. While they are stuck in gridlock, we will share the gospel!
A Bold Evangelism Opportunity
We know this works! Wyatt was once locked up as a prisoner of the devil, but through our radio programs, he learned more fully of God’s redeeming truth. Now Wyatt is leading others out of the devil’s dungeon and into the light. Let’s multiply this result in millions of lives across America—when most people are tuned in to their radios!
Of course, broadcasting during these prime hours tends to be more expensive, but I believe in my heart that the times in which we live call for such a sacrifice. We estimate this new Wonders in the Word project will cost about $6,000 each week—or a full $300,000 each year above and beyond our current broadcast budget. (Yes, this is what others are paying for primetime slots.)
That might seem like a lot, but I promise you that as we move forward in faith, God will bless. Remember, it’s only because you believed enough in our mission to support our broadcasting work that the harvest is being multiplied in the first place!
I ask you to keep that same empowering faith and move boldly forward with me now. So friend, will you please send a gift this month to support our new soul-winning radio initiative, while also remembering our many other ministries? Your gift will be used to ignite spiritual reformation in hearts across the nation in a unique way.
Thank you in advance for taking this step of faith and filling hearts nationwide with Wonders of the Word!
For the cause of Christ,
Pastor Doug Batchelor
President, Amazing Facts