With the Speed of Light

“The heavenly messengers seen by Ezekiel, like a bright light going among the living creatures with the swiftness of lightning, represent the speed with which this work will finally go forward to completion.” Review and Herald, January 11, 1887

The hour has struck, when, because of developments in the formation of the Papal New World Order, the three angels’ messages must be proclaimed to every creature under heaven. As the network of New World Order influence and substance is being drawn together with breathtaking precision and speed, time is running out. The New World Order is global, affecting every nation and individual on the earth; and already legislation is in place in this country that would eliminate freedom, preparing for a sudden strike against the Protestant and republican features of American Constitutional law.

In this time of crisis, when there are millions who have never been brought in contact with the truth, God is making to historic Adventism the most powerful means available for communication the loud cry to the world. The story of how this has happened is the most incredible series of providences I have witnessed in my life.

When I was in college, as I read the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy for hours each day, a tremendous longing welled up within me to carry the message of the three angels of Revelation 14 to the world. Outside the borders of North America, the primary medium of communication is shortwave radio (there are approximately 500,000,000 shortwave radios in the world), and my dream included transmitting in the major language groups the message of The Great Controversy, The Desire of Ages, and the Scriptures, including the three angels’ messages. In the intervening twenty years, I obtained my advanced class amateur radio license while working toward my first class commercial license which is necessary to operate a radio station.

Earlier this fall, on the night of November 3, 1993, from about midnight on, I awoke every hour or two with a powerful impression regarding the proclamation of the message via shortwave. I felt strongly impressed to tell John Osborne in the morning of my dream of giving the gospel and the three angels’ messages by shortwave. That was Thursday morning. Little did I know what was taking place that day.

A shortwave radio station rarely goes on sale, but on Friday, John called the engineer for Joshua and Caleb at Prophecy Countdown, Gordon Simkin, to have him see if any short wave radio stations were available. On Monday morning, Gordon called his old friend, George Jacobs, who is perhaps the world’s leading authority on commercial shortwave radio stations.

A short time before, George had been contacted by the Christian Scientists. They had asked him to become the broker for the proposed sale of their large station in Scott’s Corner, Maine. Though George is not a broker, they recognized him as an authority on shortwave radio and wanted him to manage the sale of their station.

The transmitting power of this station is 500,000 watts—the largest made. This enormous energy is multiplied 100 times by the world’s most sophisticated and powerful shortwave antenna array, suspended between two gigantic towers—placing it in the position of being the most powerful shortwave station in the world. The station is in strategically the best location in the United States for reaching one-half of the world’s population. This station’s antenna is electronically steerable, making it possible to reach Scandinavia, all of Europe, Ukraine, western Russia, Afganistan, India, the Middle East, and the entire continent of Africa!

Though the law forbids targeting the United States with the antenna, the radiation pattern of this antenna provides a backwash of 50,000 watts on the reverse side that reaches clear across North America, making it clearly heard on the West Coast.

George had just received the prospectus on the Friday before John called, which meant that the Lord impressed me at the very time the prospectus for the sale of the most powerful shortwave station in the world was traveling to George Jacobs. George quickly forwarded a copy to Gordon by Federal Express.

Shortwave requires no satellite. The electronic magnetic waves from the antenna bounce off of the earth’s ionosphere, skipping the signal around the earth. This station is so powerful that the signal skips off of the ionosphere, bounces between the ionosphere and the earth at the speed of light, encompasses the globe and hits the antenna on the back side!

Amateur radio operators sometimes endeavor to see how little wattage it takes to encompass the globe and have found that Morse code can be sent around the world with eight watts of power! The advantage of all of this power is that it not only provides a very reliable communication, but it transmits a very strong signal; and, of course, people are inclined to listen to the loudest signal.

Prophecy countdown contacted their attorney. Within a few hours, working from a laptop computer, the attorney was able to turn out a twenty-five page contract which, along with 40,000, was sent to George Jacobs.

Soon after this, George called Prophecy Countdown and told them that the contract they had submitted was one of the finest he had ever seen and complimented them on the skill of their attorney.

Because they were so prompt in being able to put together a contract in a record period of time, the offer made by Prophecy Countdown was very favorably received. Monday evening, a week later, saw John and his family, Gordon, the attorney, and the Prophecy Countdown board flying to Maine to see the station.

It might be appropriate to mention here that the lawyer later added a little light to how he was able to so quickly put together a contract for the purchase of the station.

It seems that about two years earlier he had been strongly impressed that one of his clients would be needing a contract of this nature, and he had begun working on it. The contract was, by nature, very specific in its application and limited in its scope. He had completed his work on it only days before he received the call from Prophecy Countdown requesting a contract of exactly the nature he had been working on for the last two years.

The call from the radio station owners, inviting the board of Prophecy countdown up to Maine to finalize negotiations, resulted in a call to the travel agent. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving holiday is one of the most heavily utilized travel periods, and no seats were available. Not discouraged, the team at Prophecy Countdown sought the Lord in prayer. No sooner had the prayer ended than the phone rang and the travel agent was on the line. She apologized for failing to remember that they had sufficient travel mileage and that for a minimal charge they could be upgraded to first class seating, a few seats of which were still available. Quickly, they requested six seats. A few minutes later it was thought that it would be wise to add another seat for the attorney. They called again, but already the remaining seats were filled.

Tuesday, the Prophecy countdown board met with the Christian Scientists. The station, built for $7.2 million in 1987, could not be rebuilt for less than $10 million. Knowing that the assessed value is $8 million, Prophecy Countdown offered $4 million. An agreement was reached, accepting 40,000 as a down payment, with a total figure of $5 million, and a contract was signed.

Ross Perot, the Roman Catholics, and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, it turns out, were also contenders for the purchase. Adventist World Radio had to vote to buy the station; however, there were reviews by two more committees required. That would have taken until spring.

When one considers the ability of this station to reach billions of people, constituting half of the world’s population, and all the world’s population with additional equipment, this station is far and away the most cost effective way of reaching—instantly—the world’s population with the three angel’s messages. Even the remote, nomadic tribes on the earth have shortwave receivers.

It is the Lord’s doing, marvelous in our eyes. The effort in the proclamation of the message is to be borne by several ministries. Programming is to be developed and aired by Prophecy Countdown, Steps to Life, Biblical Studies Institute, and Modern Manna Ministries. We are committed to the proclamation of the three angels’ messages—the bread of life—for a starving world.

It is the will of God that the gospel commission be completed. Here is the finest technological tool in the world to instantly complete the proclamation of the gospel. There are other stations that are as strong, but none are stronger.

When the opportunity presented itself and a call was made, in a few months God’s people raised $1.2 million for Caleb and Joshua, to proclaim the message by satellite TV to the northern half of the Western Hemisphere. The next challenge of faith is to purchase much of the rest of the world with the three angels’ messages. We are well able to go up and possess the land, to purchase and operate this station by faith in Christ.

Thanksgiving weekend, at the campmeeting in northern Georgia, a series of meetings was broadcast by Caleb and Joshua. In an amazingly short period of time, God’s people raised a quarter of a million dollars toward the goal of $400,000 that must be raised by January 17, 1994, the balance of $4.6 million to be paid by May 16, 1994.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.” Mathew 28:19, 20

“And Jesus said unto them,…If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20. This mountain of expense for the station is to be met with the demand of faith.

As the Lord impresses your heart to give to the support of this station, you can be a vital part of the proclamation of the Loud Cry by sending your contribution, marked “Shortwave Station” to Prophecy Countdown, Box 1844, Mount Dora, Florida, 32757.

The End