Adventist Radio on Kauai

IT'S A MIRACLE!

     Monday night, September 15 at 7:05 pm, Tim Kochis, LifeTalk engineer, threw the switch from the computer to the transmitter tower behind Grinds Cafe in Eleele and for the first time in history Adventist radio could be heard all the way from Koloa to Kakaha--with the potential of soon reaching the entire island!

Tim Kochis in KZZV Studio

     Check it out! Tune your radio dial to 94.3 FM and you can hear LifeTalk radio--the North American Division Adventist radio network. It's just a low power station at the moment, but when we can locate a mountain-top tower it has the potential of being a strong 100,000 watt commercial station that will reach the entire island and beyond.

    The miracle was that the station had to be on the air by 3am Sept. 16 or the license would be terminated by the FCC. AND, praise the Lord, we made it. Here's the amazing story of how it happened!

Pastor Doug Naa and Bob McNamara

  On Sabbath, July 26, Pastor Doug Naa sat down by a group of us at the Lawai Valley church fellowship meal and asked, "How do you think is the best way to evangelize Kauai?" Without any hesitation, I responded, "Radio!" Five days later, the pastor received an email from Pastor Maurice Vargas from New York saying that two years ago he had purchased a license for a radio station in Kauai, but could not find anyone interested in purchasing it. Pastor Doug emailed back that we were very interested in having Adventist radio on Kauai, but had no means to purchase the station. So, Pastor Vargas decided to move ahead himself, and with God's blessing, see if it were possible to get the station on the air by the FCC deadline.

Tower at Grinds Cafe in Eleele 

 

Rich Teter putting up KZZV antenna

Janie and Tom Eisendrath

 Finding a tower was a challenge. Then just one week before the deadline Kirk Marois, owner of Grinds Cafe, said we could use his tower, and Rich Teter--who was willing to climb the tower to put up our antanne--was located. Immediately equipment was ordered, Tim Kochis from Collegedale TN who is the radio engineer for LifeTalk radio got a plane ticket and arrived in Kauai on Wednesday night--with just four days left to get KZZV up and running! With help from Tom and Janie Eisendrath and Bob McNamara in putting up a small 4-8 building for a studio, and the prayers of many, the deadline was met. As soon as the switch was thrown at 7:05, we ran to the car radio and tuned into 94.3 and there we heard coming over the radio waves the song, "Our God is an
Awesome God." He really, really is!

     Thank you, Pastor Maurice Vargas, for the incredible gift of Adventist radio that you have given to us here on Kauai!

Kirk Marois, owner of Grinds Cafe

    And to all our KZZV listeners: When you're hungry and in the area, stop by Grinds and tell Kirk how thankful you are for allowing KZZV to be on his tower!

     LifeTalk Radio is a network of approximately 62 radio stations in 26--now 27--states featuring Christian music, Bible teaching and other religious programming. To learn more go to http//lifetalk.net