The history of VA radio is a portrait of provision through prayer. God guided every step and gave solutions to every challenge one pool of light at a time. After receiving the surprising government offer of a radio license, Vision Africa first received help and guidance from HCJB, a global Christian-radio planting partner and from Houston Christian radio station KSBJ, whose expertise helped the fledgling station make its first broadcast in November of 2004. The first on-air program from Nigeria was simulcast on KSBJ, and two months later a grand opening celebration was held in Umuahia with visiting dignitaries from Africa and the U.S.
LOVE 104.1 quickly garnered a dedicated following from a population eager for its programming. Even early on, the station could be heard playing in shops and marketplaces in the surrounding villages, but the initial signal had a limited reach of only about 1 million people. The station’s personnel and its radio partners felt God’s call to widen that reach, so earnest prayer began about building a new 500-foot radio tower that could reach a population of over 22 million people! It took three years of galas just to raise the initial funding to build the tower, but that was just the beginning. The materials and manpower were yet to be in place, and no one was sure how obtain them. Focused prayer went up on two continents. God’s answer? Jim Hulse and Towers for Jesus.
HCJB, our partners in building the original station, connected Vision Africa with Towers for Jesus, a non-profit started by Jim Hulse in obedience to God’s call. Jim, a man of many talents, was a veteran, a firefighter, welder, electronics experts, and inventor holding four patents. But it was his work in erecting radio towers that brought him into full-time service of the Lord. At God’s direction, Jim closed his for-profit company to open Towers for Jesus, which builds radio towers across the globe for ministries including Billy Graham Crusades and Transworld Radio. Today, it is estimated that Towers for Jesus signals can be heard by a full third of the world’s population. Earlier this year, Jim went home to his Savior, but his legacy lives on along the airwaves of millions of listeners.
Follow Part 2 of this amazing adventure next month when we share the challenges of building the tower among circus tents, black mamba snakes, fire, ice, and the brave people of God whose faith overcame it all.
