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New Life Radio to Reach into Russian Prison
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (March 15, 2002) - New Life Radio (NLR) has recently expanded its ministry outreach to include a Russian federal prison, according to Dan Johnson, a missionary to Russia.
Johnson, who is being sponsored by a group of Covenanters through Christian Radio for Russia (CRFR), has received permission from the Kresti Federal Prison in St. Petersburg to install satellite equipment in its facility. It is hoped that New Life Radio will broadcast Christian programming for 18 hours each day into the 100-cell facility.
Satellite equipment that will be installed at the prison will include a speaker for each inmate, allowing each individual to turn the speaker on and off as they choose. New Life Christian Radio programming will be the only signal available, however.
Johnson has been working in cooperation with Galilee Prison Ministries representative Yan Volkov since last October. Volkov is a pastor who has made inroads with Kresti Federal Prison. Johnson believes that the chance meeting between he and Volkov last fall was his confirmation that God was affirming a radio prison ministry.
"One day last October, Pastor Yan (Volkov) and some of his colleagues came to visit me at the NLR office," Johnson recalled. "They explained the vision God had given them over the last two years to get into prisons, and that they had been praying for those two years to make a contact that could help that vision come true. After about 10 minutes of listening to them, I explained to them that I had been working two years to set up New Life Radio to effect their very dream of penetrating into prisons nationwide.
"There was a moment of profound joy and thanksgiving when everything came together at that meeting," Johnson continued. "I had the means to get into the prison with radio, and they had the means to get me the permission to get in, as well as the programming specifically targeted to prisoners."
Since getting permission from Kresti Federal Prison in January, Johnson has been attempting to obtain permission to place similar equipment in other federal prisons throughout Russia. He is also working with the Association of Christian Churches, based in St. Petersburg, and Galilee
Prison Ministry, which has made connections with more than 200 other ministry groups.
Christian Radio For Russia (CRFR), a not-for-profit organization incorporated in Illinois, has covenanted to support Johnson and Christian Radio For Russia, said Robert Larson, a CRFR board member. It is currently awaiting response from the Internal Revenue Service regarding its application for status as a 501c3 organization. Its United States headquarters are located at First Covenant Church in Jamestown, New York.
New Life Radio previously served as a cooperative effort between HCJB Radio and the Department of World Mission of the Evangelical Covenant Church. It is hoped that other sources of funding can be made available to NLR outside of HCJB and World Mission to support the satellite channel and salaries for those running the organization in Russia.
Additional information about the Christian radio ministries can be obtained by contacting Larson by email at RobertCLarson@cs.com.
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