WAY-FM

On October 9^th, 1987 at 12 Noon EST I turned on the microphone in our studio at WAYJ in Fort Myers, Florida and said something like this..."The dream has become reality, WAY-FM is finally on the air...please join me in a prayer of dedication."

It all sounded so smooth and rehearsed but inside I was so excited my blood pressure was probably off the chart. But I also was saying to myself..."What have we done? We've hired three DJ'...two of them moved down here from the mid-west leaving family and friends...and we only have enough funds to run this station for a few weeks."

That day twenty years ago was filled with all sorts of emotions. That night when we finally went home I wondered how listeners would respond to the station. How would our first Sharathon go? Would Christian pop and rock music be accepted by the parents of the kids I knew would love this kind of radio? I knew we were pioneering something completely different in those days and I wasn't sure how it would be accepted.

Now, in 2007 looking back on the first 20 years of WAY-FM's ministry outreach, I can hardly believe that teenagers, college students and young families in more than 50 communities are being impacted every day. It is such a joy to read the scores of emails from kids and young adults whose lives have literally been transformed by listening to the WAY-FM in their area. Here's just one of those stories from a girl named Christine...

"My life has not been the way I would have liked it to have gone. I have had my family turn on me and was living on the street for awhile and then when I was on the street I chose to accept Jesus into my life. It was not an easy path and I had many obstacles to overcome. I got turned on to WAY-FM and since then I have not wanted to go back to the streets and I am doing good. I will be visiting my family next week too. Thanks WAY-FM for being there."

We are all so grateful to all of you who pray for this ministry and choose to support WAY-FM on a monthly basis. Together, we are seeing so many lives changed. It will be fun to see what God does in the next 20 years.

Thanks for all you do!

Bob Augsburg