The Prayer Frequency

February 03, 2015 ∙ by Anonymous ∙ in Columbia Union News, This Month's Issue, Washington Adventist University

The Prayer Frequency
Story by Taashi Rowe, Photos by Paul Morigi/AP Images

Just an hour ago, one of our listeners called in and gave his life to Jesus,” exclaims Kevin Krueger, the general manager of WGTS 91.9 FM. This leader of one of the most successful Seventh-day Adventist ministries in the country is referring to a call the station recently received during their annual Friendraiser.

The day before the man called in, Krueger and station staff prayed that God would lead a listener to Christ. “Obviously we needed funding, but we knew we also needed to be focused on God and what He is doing,” he shares.

He says the man wanted to speak with a pastor. When they put him through to Chaplain Pete Garza, the caller explained that the music playing on the radio convicted him. He wanted to know what he needed to do next to become a Christian. Chaplain Garza prayed with him and led him to Christ.

Although prayer has become the frequency that WGTS operates on, Krueger is still amazed at how God answers their requests. Every day of each week, from their studios on the campus of Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md., WGTS staff connects some half-a-million listeners to Christ. They do it, not only through upbeat and encouraging contemporary Christian music, but also through an increasing number of off-the-air programs to minister to their needs.

“We have been taught over the years that music is filler or happens before the good sermon. We are working to change that mindset,” says Krueger, who took the controls two years ago after 25 years at a sister station in Washington state.

Below, several members of the WGTS team talk about the ministries they lead and share some of their favorite listener stories. It’s clear the common thread that ties this community together is the wonder-working power of prayer:

MAKING FRIENDS, SHARING ENCOURAGEMENT

Starting at 5 a.m. each weekday, Jerry Woods, along with co-host Blanca Vega, keep listeners’ company throughout their morning commutes. With 25 years of Christian radio under his belt, three at WGTS, Woods is clear about his primary role as a WGTS DJ—to build friendships.

“Building friendships gives us permission to go deeper with people,” he says. “We clown around with people when we meet them because they feel like they already know us from listening to us on the radio.”

Woods says he loves when listeners tell him how God is working in their lives. He recalls one man’s testimony: “This one caller told us he was having marriage problems and decided to leave his family while everyone was out of the house. So, he rented a U-Haul truck. When he turned on the engine, the previous driver had left the station on WGTS. The first song he heard was ‘Lead Me’ by Sanctus Real. It was about biblical leadership. He pulled over on the side of the road and cried. He returned the truck, and when his wife came home, he told her he was recommitting to making their marriage work. It’s amazing to know that God used the station to save someone’s marriage.”

Vega started at WGTS in 2000 when she was a student at Washington Adventist University. She feels fortunate to know that she is part of a supportive community that extends beyond the airwaves. “When I share my [experiences], listeners sometimes call and say they are praying for me and it’s very humbling,” she says.

She also considers it a privilege to do the same for them. One particular experience stands out in her mind. “One of our listeners said when she heard about a women’s conference, she just knew she needed to be there. I was getting ready to go on stage, when she came down the hall with tears in her eyes,” Vega shares. “She just wanted me to hug her and pray for her. When I did, I could smell the cigarette smoke in her clothes. She said she listened to the station every morning even though she is not a devout Christian. She then told me her daughter was addicted to drugs and expecting another child. Her heart was really broken, and she really needed to be encouraged. It was one of those God moments where you realize how He works in amazing ways to touch someone’s life.”

BUILDING A COMMUNITY ON THE GROUND

Terry Johnsson became a volunteer WGTS chaplain in 1997, but officially became a staff member in 2008 after someone donated a large gift to the station. Even though the station needed someone on the air, John Konrad, the late general manager, shocked everyone when he decided to put those funds into a chaplaincy program. Konrad hired a full-time chaplain because he knew that 40 percent of WGTS listeners were not connected to any church community.

The chaplaincy program is the station’s way of connecting with listeners outside of their on-air program. They focus intensely on prayer as a neutral way to connect people to Jesus. Then they started doing one-night evangelistic meetings at hotels in the Washington, D.C., area called WGTS Night of Hope. The first program in 2010 attracted more than 600 attendees—four times the number they originally expected.

“We have a unique audience that the Lord has brought us; however, at the end of the day, we believe that people are better in community than they are by themselves,” Johnsson explains. And, everywhere he goes, he is reminded of that.

“I had finished a procedure at the doctor’s office and was scheduling a follow-up appointment with the lady at the counter,” Johnsson recalls. “As soon as I started talking, she asked, ‘Do I know you?’ I told her this was my first time there. Then she said, ‘Oh my goodness, you’re Terry Johnsson. Wait right here!’

“She came back with about five people and said, ‘Remember those people who said they will pray for you when you have problems? This is him!’ She introduced me as an Adventist. To her we were not known as the people who tell you not to eat this or drink that, but as the people who will pray for you. That really touched my heart to know that we are doing something special in the community.”

A FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE

Jitesh Ram, who studies counseling psychology with a minor in religious programming at Washington Adventist University, works as a Service Gateway associate and a chaplain’s assistant. Service Gateway is what the station calls their front desk. Whenever someone visits or calls the station, their task is to share the same warmth and friendliness that they get from the on-air personalities. The students often end up praying with whomever calls in.

“We call that the first line of defense so it’s really important to give them our full passion and care,” Ram says. “Recently a man called in because he was really scared because the winter was coming and he felt like his family was going to be homeless for the holidays. He obviously was somebody who didn’t want to ask for help but was at a point where he needed to talk. I talked to him and began to encourage him and lift his spirits. He started to cry, and I teared up too.

“I suggested some social services hot- lines where he could call and get some help,” Ram continues. “All he kept saying was that he loved WGTS and that we were the only people he trusted to refer him to some good people. He said, ‘Please keep praying for me.’ We put his prayer request on PrayerWorks and now hundreds of people are praying for him.”

COORDINATING A COMMUNITY OF PRAYER

Veronica “Kiki” Banner has seen first- hand how important prayer is to WGTS listeners so it’s not surprising that she also has become an active user of PrayerWorks, WGTS’ online prayer community—one of the largest in the nation with some 230,000 participants. Listeners simply log on to onlineprayerworks.com/wgts and pray for each other and/or make requests.

As the chaplains’ office coordinator, Banner shares listener requests from the site with fellow staff. She also helps with PrayerWorks Live, a once-a-month prayer session WGTS hosts at Gateway Fellowship, their worship service at Takoma Academy in Takoma Park on Saturday evenings for listeners seeking a church family. There are also volunteers who set up a prayer tent at various events around town.

“I just feel like prayer is such a powerful tool. It’s like the best gift we can give somebody,” says Banner. She remembers how the gift of prayer kept one listener encouraged as she struggled through life’s challenges.

“She slept in her car and would listen to WGTS as a constant reminder that God was going to provide. She ended up going to PrayerWorks online where people prayed for her health and living situation and, before she knew it, she found a room to rent,” Banner reports. “She let us know what happened by praising God for the room online. Then she started coming to Gateway Fellowship. She is so happy to be part of a loving and supportive community and now volunteers there every week!”

THE NEXT FRONTIER

Garza joined the chaplaincy department in 2009 as an assistant chaplain in charge of overseeing the music at Gateway Fellowship. He recalls getting off the stage after leading praise and worship at one of the Nights of Hope: “We had a wonderful time of worship and, after that was done, I went to the bathroom. When I went in, there was a tall gentleman smoking and he immediately apologized. He started pouring out his life to me. I could tell as soon as I saw him that he had been through some rough times. I prayed with him and was so thankful that he felt comfortable enough with me to share. After that, I walked by the prayer room and saw him on his knee praying and asking for forgiveness. This was a big dude, and it was such a beautiful thing to see. I know that the music blessed him, that the spoken Word blessed him. I will probably never see him again, but I know that something beautiful happened that night.”

Staffers started to wonder, though, what if these experiences weren’t limited to a few one-night evangelistic meetings? What if the bonds forged over the radio and through phone calls and through a virtual community could extend into something more? What if this radio station could venture into a new frontier and help listeners find church homes?

Just last month, Garza found the answer by spearheading a program that introduces listeners to three possible Adventist church homes in Maryland: the Takoma Park and Sligo churches in Takoma Park and the New Hope church in Fulton, Md. Staff will connect listeners to these churches through concerts, radio days, a young adult outreach program on Friday nights, PrayerWorks Live and volunteer opportunities.

“We imagine people will come to these churches and start to experience the kind of communities that we as Adventists know and love,” Garza says. And, this end result becomes a distinct possibility every time a listener tunes their radio to 91.9 FM.

Taashi Rowe writes from Takoma Park, Md.

Read these articles from the February 2015 Visitor!

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