Wisconsin—On March 11, 34 participants gathered for the first Annual Wisconsin Adventist Radio Convention in Rice Lake, Wis. The operators of nine low power FM stations from Minnesota and Wisconsin gathered to pray, to learn, and to share. The stations have a combined potential listening audience of 310,000.

Don Martin, a Seventh-day Adventist attorney from Washington, D.C., who specializes in FCC (Federal Communications Commission) statutes, was the featured speaker at the conference.

Len Fast, from Rice Lake, convened the meeting. Fast has provided expert consulting and support services to Christian radio operators throughout the area. Although his livelihood comes from health care administration, his heart is in Christian radio.

Attendees were instructed about FCC regulations, rules, and the possibility of inspections. Many indicated it was good they did not know everything about running a radio station before they began or they might have been overwhelmed.

The most thrilling time of the conference came during a sharing time. The Superior (Wis.) Church had no money for a radio station. Gerry Carlson won a concrete pump at a trade show. He tried to run a business with it, but the business was a "no go." Carlson decided to dedicate the pump to God for the radio station, and it sold the next day. This sale brought in thousands of dollars for the radio station.

In Moose Lake, Minn., a family was baptized after listening to the station, and the lady of the house is now the station manager.

Stanley Gustatson had recently become a Christian and was enthusiastic to grow in the Word. One day, he noticed a sign in front of the Tomahawk (Wis.) Seventh-day Adventist Church and tuned his radio to try out the church's Christian radio station. (The station is a low power FM station and part of the Adventist network, Radio 74. Church members erected the station in 2003 with guidance from Ron Myers, director of Radio 74.) As Gustatson listened to the station, he rediscovered Amazing Facts, a program he had heard a few times before, and other programs which helped him to grow in the Word.

In Fall 2005, Gustatson attended the Tomahawk Church a few times. Then in Spring 2006 he attended an evangelistic series conducted by Chuck Kohley, Tomahawk Church pastor. He was baptized, and became the first baptism in Wisconsin as a result of radio ministry. Gustatson is now one of the Sabbath school teachers in the Tomahawk Church and actively shares his faith in the community.

Chuck Kohley, Tomahawk Church pastor, and James Fox, Wisconsin Conference communication director