2019-2021 Mission Grant 17
Christ for You, Anytime, Anywhere
KFUO Radio
$60,000
Using the latest technology, KFUO can video stream LIVE on Facebook reaching multiple generations, especially the Digital Generation, with bibles studies, chapel services, and informative interviews about organizations that are striving to spread the Gospel. Viewers can make comments, ask questions, and engage in conversations with hosts/guests as they learn about God's Word and what they can do to help share the His Word with others. (KFUO interviews Kelly Schumacher as she talks about her liturgical art and how she uses her skills and talent to spread the message of Jesus Christ, and encouraging listeners to use their own God-given talents to help share the Gospel.)
Along with sharing the Gospel around the world, KFUO also strives to bring to light the efforts of other organizations who are also dedicated to sharing God's love. By sharing information about these organizations, KFUO listeners, both young and old, can learn about the variety of opportunities to support these missionary groups as well as the expanding opportunities to take an active role in sharing the Gospel by joining and working with these groups. (Rev. Duane Meissner, missionary to Belize, greets students for lunch at St. Alphonsus School on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016. Rev. Meissner and his family spoke with KFUO about their unique and exciting mission to plant the very first Lutheran church in Belize.)
Since 1924, KFUO has been reaching people far and wide with the message of Jesus Christ by using the latest technology. In the last century, technology has advanced at an unprecedented rate and continues to develop with each new year. Incorporating the newest forms of communication methods into KFUO’s ministry, they can more effectively reach the younger generation and the generations to come with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even our Nation’s military can listen wherever they are stationed. Aging family and friends who are confined to their homes can still be gathered to the Word through an iPad or similar device. Prison Ministry also utilizes KFUO as an effective way of sharing the Gospel. This grant will assist the station in sharing the gospel and staying current in the digital age.
WHEREAS, Jesus speaks in Matthew 18:20, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them,” and in Romans 10:17, “so faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.”; and
WHEREAS, KFUO is the longest continually operating Christian radio station in the United States and owned and operated by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod; and
WHEREAS, KFUO.org continually provides on the radio, online, on-demand and mobile-app worship opportunities, bible studies, Christian education and conversation to those who many times are isolated around the world, in the military, prisons, nursing homes, or those frequently confined to their homes; and
WHEREAS, KFUO's programming includes Bible studies, theological and social commentary, and Lutheran sacred music, providing witness to all generations wherever located, included in countries where we do not have missionaries; therefore be it
RESOLVED, that delegates gathered at the 2019 Lutheran Women’s Missionary League Convention in Mobile, Alabama, vote the sum of $60,000 to help fund Christ for You, Anytime, Anywhere.
On December 14, 1924, during an evening broadcast from an attic studio, radio station KFUO, owned and operated by the Synod, was officially dedicated to the service of the Triune God. The broadcasting station call letters K F U O were assigned by the federal government to the project, later giving the slogan "Keeping Forward, Upward and Onward". Programming rapidly expanded to include The Lutheran Hour with Dr. Walter S. Maier as speaker and many other special guests. KFUO remains listener-supported.
KFUO invites schools, churches, and various groups to tour the station and studios in an effort to let them know how KFUO spreads the message of love, hope, mercy, and salvation found only in Christ to people all over the world. Children just like them in countries such as Japan, China, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, India and many more are learning about their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as a result of God's Word being broadcast through KFUO over the internet. (Joanie Harwell explains the purpose of KFUO and gives a tour of the KFUO Studios to a group of grade schoolers who are learning about various organizations that are dedicated to spreading the Gospel.)
KFUO knows the importance of engaging children and young adults with God's Word and providing daily basis nourishment for their spiritual growth. Our children and grandchildren of the Digital Generation listen and learn in vastly different ways from generations before them. With the growing technology, it is vital that KFUO stay up-to-date with the lastest advancements so that we can continue to reach each new generation with the message of Jesus Christ. (KFUO host Rev. Jonathan Fisk brings his children into the studio to get them engaged with Gospel outreach and so they can see how KFUO shares the Good News of Jesus with families just like theirs, but who live all around the globe, so that those families may have Christ at the center of their lives as well.)
Hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth post a selfie to Facebook and Twitter thanking KFUO's supporters and letting them know that it is them who are fulfilling the Great Commission through KFUO, one of the many instruments that God has provided to share the Gospel with God's children all across the world. 
In 1924, when radio was still a relatively new and experimental form of communication, the founders of KFUO knew there needed to be a signal over which the Gospel could be broadcast. Since then, KFUO has endeavored to stay at the forefront of communication technology so that the Gospel can continue to be broadcast, podcast, downloaded, streamed, tweeted, etc. to as many people as possible. 
