RMCNews with Delbert Hayden – Pueblo, Colorado … The Pueblo First Adventist Church celebrated 13 years of reaching out to the community, on January 13, through their low-powered FM radio station.
The radio studio, equipment, and tower are located on the grounds of the church where church members have volunteered hundreds of hours to make and keep the radio station an option for the community. Currently, several volunteers fill various positions to make sure the station remains on the air.
The target audience for the station, according to their website, “is listeners in both the city of Pueblo as well as the suburbs where evangelism may not be present.” Anton Kapusi, pastor of Pueblo First church said, “We are working on surveying the city of Pueblo in different ways, but based on what we have right now, we estimate that several thousand people in Pueblo are regularly listening to our radio station.”
Hope Radio Pueblo is the second longest-running, low-power Adventist radio station to be put on the air in the United States. The station, according to Delbert Hayden, president of Hope Radio Pueblo, only survives by prayer, talent contributions and donations.
“At one time, by the sale of a car donated by a listener from the community, we were able to pay our bills and continue broadcasting. Truly, God works in many ways if our faith and trust is in Him and we are striving to do His will,” Hayden comments.
In late 2019, the church built a radio studio to program local broadcasts. At this time, prayer meeting, Bible study group, and Sabbath worship, along with locally-produced devotionals and book readings are available through the station.
Kapusi hopes for Hope Radio of Pueblo “to be completely self-sufficient” without the need to rely on other programs produced outside of Colorado to fill the gaps. When local programming is not available, the station airs praise and worship music along with programs from other Adventist-owned radio ministries.
The radio station has even brought visitors to church. “Through the years, we’ve had several people come to church through the programs. The most recent person was Becky McEvoy, a young mother of three who, convicted of the Sabbath through [programs] on the Hope Radio, was looking for a church.”
In 2020, the website states, they received interests from the community in Bible correspondence schools. “Our studio has a correlation with our Bible correspondence schools, through which our listeners can communicate with us at Hope Radio. We have received many phone calls, emails, and letters from our listeners this year.”
Hayden concludes, “We are very proud to be a part of this missionary adventure and are always looking to improve the station so it will present to the public the great God of heaven.”
The future looks bright, according to Kapusi. “Our finances are strong, the vision is strong, and we are moving to a digital platform where we can expend our influence all around the world.”
–RMCNews with Delbert Hayden, president of Hope Radio Pueblo; photo supplied
