Alaska's 50,000 watt radio station

We toured KJNP (King Jesus North Pole) radio station two Saturday's ago...sometimes these weeks become a blur... this radio station is inside the longest log cabin in Alaska with a grass sod roof and is located in North Pole, Alaska.  A simple dream of sharing the gospel with the Alaskan natives in the 60's, went from a little strumming on the guitar and a gospel presentation as a guest on secular radio, to a full blown 50,000 watt AM Christian radio station.  Then in the 80's it added FM, and finally a TV channel. 

Out front of the radio station

Yes, there really is a North Pole, Alaska!

This building is half under ground and roofed with sod!

 Their broadcasting travels 6000 miles south to New Zealand and around the artic circle and as far as Norway, Sweden, and Finland.  Not to mention places in Europe like France and Germany.  They have little pins marking all the places that people have written or called letting them know they heard their station. 

Tempting to pull off...

Radio across the globe...

Russian gospel tracts they dropped from a plane along time ago and never did again...

God used Don and Gene Nelson, to build this "voice of the Interior."  I just read Psalm 50 and thought about how prophetic some of these Psalms really are, "And the heavens shall declare his righteousness..."  Radio waves go out into the heavens and truly declare the glories and praises of our God.  The story of this couple is quite amazing, having nothing but pennies in their pockets, God blessed them and took their faith and multiplied it just like the 5 loaves and 2 fishes.  Today the radio station is a thriving ministry.  They are in the process of installing high definition TV equipment and transferring all their music from CD's to digital storage on the computer. 

Love the door carpet!

 

TV broadcasting area

Walking into the station is like stepping back in time to the 70's.... green shag carpet and wood paneling on the walls to sound proof the rooms.  Our tour guide even pulled out an old record from their collection to show the kids.  They'd never seen one. 

The church building

Great sign out front of the church...

There's a little church on the property in a sod roof log cabin, as well as numerous cabins for the volunteer/missionary staff to live in.  We have a copy of the book written by Don Nelson and Don Leach entitled, "Shadows on the Arctic Snow."  It contains a detailed story of Don and Gen Nelson's lives and ministry and is so inspiring.  Don was a WWII hero and also prisoner of war.  He spent a lot of time drunk before he got saved.  One pastor after hearing about his previous life said about Don that, "He could make a black mark on tar paper..."  God can truly use anyone to spread His gospel His way. All it takes in one yielded heart in obedience to God's plan. 

Don was a bush pilot ministering to the Alaskan villages with his wife and daughter prior to building the radio station.  They lived in a remote village for several years and understood the loneliness of isolation and the need for these villages to hear the gospel and be encouraged with Christian music and "Trapline Chatter."  (A time on the radio that people could share personal messages to one another.) I would love to turn their story into a visual flashcard missionary story for Alaskan children.