This is a little bit lengthy, but I wanted to let you know exactly where we are, and our heart in making this move. So when you have time, please take a few minutes to read it. And keep us in your prayers - we love you all, and are so thankful for your prayers and support!
For over 30 years, the "Heart of the Word" radio program has been heard on KPDQ in Portland at 9:00am, Monday through Friday. But on May 14th, we will be moving to 1:30pm, and we wanted to give you a little information as to why we have had to make this decision, and where we believe the Lord is leading us.
9:00am is the prime timeslot on KPDQ, and as such, is very costly. In fact, the airtime cost on KPDQ alone (coupled with the cost of editing the program, which is minimal) is nearly half our overall monthly budget. Thankfully, to this point, we have been able to maintain this 9:00am time. But as we have mentioned on the air over the last year and a half or so as our reserve fund has dwindled, we have operated at a deficit most months, and we have had to draw on those reserves to make up the difference. Over time, this has reduced our reserves to the point that we must make a change in order to keep the program available to people five days a week - which we are committed to, and which we believe is still the Lord's plan.
Over that last year and a half, we have had an AMAZING response from you, our listeners. Many people have come alongside as monthly donors, and many more have given one time donations. This has cut that monthly deficit an incredible amount, and has allowed us to stay on at 9:00 as long as we have. But although we have cut costs on our end, and we have more donors than we ever have, and our deficit is the least it has ever been since my dad passed away, we have unfortunately still never quite reached a point of equilibirum, and we have continued to draw on reserves.
Given the high cost of the program at 9:00am, and that our reserves are almost depleted, the CM board prayerfully considered all our options, and we decided that we needed to be open to a program time change as there was no other apparent way to cut our costs any further than we already have in a signifcant enough way to maintain 9:00. So we spoke to Dennis Hayes, the station manager at KPDQ, and Joe Gonzalez, our rep there, and through their gracious efforts we are excited to announce that we are going to be able continue on KPDQ, five days a week but simply in a different timeslot, as opposed to moving to weekends or internet only.
Moving from 9:00am to 1:30pm will cut our airtime costs by more than 50%... we will be saving over $3000 a month - which is roughly what our deficit has been over the last couple years. And while we have always been committed to the 9:00am slot, even leaving KPDQ for another station for a couple years when it was not available, at this point we have no other choice but to move. And in fact, we believe this is the Lord because we had no other timeslot available even to consider. And, miraculously, the 1:30 slot is being made available to us at exactly the price we had figured our budget could handle going forward. So even though it is not our desire to leave 9:00, we can see that the Lord has gone ahead and ordered this change, and we believe it is His will for this time.
In fact, we are excited about this move not only for the fact that it will prayerfully allow us to maintain the program 5 days a week, but also because it will also open the door to even more new listeners at 1:30 who have never heard the program! And we are always, always excited about reaching new people who can benefit from the Lord's principles as set forth through my dad's simple yet incisive sermons.
Now... If you are a listener for whom it is not convenient to listen at 1:30, we will do all we can to facilitate you continuing to hear the program. First of all, please remember that you can listen to the daily message at ANY time (9:00 or otherwise) through this website. Simply go to the home page and click on "Listen to Today's Broadcast"... this is free, and updates daily at midnight to the next day's sermon. If you have an iPhone, you can listen through your phone, and we are working on Android phone based compatibility as well. Also, in addition to the new 1:30pm time on KPDQ, the program will continue to be re-broadcast at 1:30am, if you're a night owl like me.
And if you are someone who absolutely cannot listen at 1:30, and does not have a computer or a "smart phone", please call me at the number below and we will try our best to work something out for you.
If you are one of our supporters, monthly or otherwise, we ask that you prayerfully consider continuing to be a part of CM. In making this move, we hope to reach that point of equilibirum, but we obviously have no idea how making this move will affect our base of listener support. We pray this will bring us to a point where what we have coming in each month is the same as what goes out, or maybe even a little on the positive side so we can put some back into our reserves... and that in doing so we can stay on the air indefinitely. But this is based on those who support us continuing to do so, and so we hope that you will prayerfully consider this. So if you are a partner we ask that you please keep us in your prayers over the next couple months as we see how the Lord moves in this situation.
We do, most of all, want all of you to know that we firmly believe this is God's plan for CM, and we are looking at it as a positive thing... a chance to reach financial stability, to reach new listeners, and continue to make Heart of the Word available 5 days a week, year round, on KPDQ.
If you have ANY questions, please send me a message through this website (click on "contact" at the top of this page) or call me at (503) 626-0101. Thank you SO much for your prayers through this time, and Lord bless you all, we love you!
Ron Mehl Jr.
Director, Compassion Ministries / Heart of the Word Radio