With admiration for WBCI’s commitment to solid biblical teaching, Pastor Russ felt the holy Spirit’s nudge to package up a sermon series and present it to the station manager to see if God would open a door for a local ministry to be broadcast. An incredible opportunity arose for a prime-time slot and the station manager thought it would be a great fit for us. However, the cost of air time is pretty high and we were just a small country church. Pastor Russ began to pray and seek counsel from some trusted, spiritually mature, Christ-honoring friends and leaders. Confirmation came through a radio broadcast of a powerful Bible teacher who was teaching on Matthew 25:14-30 - the Parable of the Talents. Pastor Russ felt God whispering to his spirit, “Are you going to trust Me or bury and hide what I’ve entrusted to you?” And that’s all it took. Confirmation that the right decision was made came very quickly through a series of wonderful events. The grandfather of one of our church members, Dr. William Stoddard, a seasoned pastor for many, many years had visited here from California and loved the messages. It also happened that he was on the Board of the Lowell-Berry Foundation, an organization which financed the Billy Graham Schools of Evangelism. He had shared one of Pastor Russ’s messages with the other board members and decided that he would like to donate some funds for the purchase of some recording equipment to help us with the radio ministry. As it turned out, Dr. Stoddard made numerous contributions which enabled the ministry to get off the ground and on the air! Over the years Dr. Stoddard remained a great source of encouragement and mentor to Pastor Russ while they corresponded frequently until he went to be with our Lord in September of 1997. In fact, the name of our ministry, First Light, was chosen in honor of him, and taken from the title of his 3 volume daily devotional book series published just “days” before his passing.