Mission Assessment Response

Leilani Dahilig -KTWG

I appreciate the opportunity to sha re a bit of the ministry of KTVVG, so thank

you very much. If I may, first I will share a little background, both of the
ministry and of how I came to be involved.
KTVVG went on the air in 1975. It was fi rst operated by Trans World Radio and
turned over to Mr. and Mrs. Poppe in 2002 after 1WR decided to focus
exclusively on their short-wave ministry t o Asia. The Poppes own several
commercial stations on Guam, but purchased the rights to KTWG's license as a
personal ministry which continues to be run as a 'not for profit' ministry,
supported by listeners.
I became a believer in September of 1999 and one of the first blessings I
received was the advice to surround myself with the things of God, and besides
church attendance, the greatest source of the 'things of God' I surrounded
myself with was the radio ministry of KTWG. I was blessed to hear strong, bible
based preaching and teaching which fed my spirit and allowed me to flourish and
grow in knowledge and understanding of God's Word, as well as to uncover and
encourage a desire to serve Him with my life. My only regret was that the station
was only broadcast from Sam to midnight.
In 2001 I was invited to come up to the station by a missionary of 1WR,
Maggie Fuller, who also happened to attend Agana Heights Baptist Church. I was
thrilled with the opportunity to see how the ministry worked, and even more so
to be invited to volunteer! I had never even touched a computer before and as
the station was in the process of transitioning from 'reel to reel' program delivery
to digital computerized programming, I was a bit intimidated to say the least! I
began volunteering at KTWG in May of 2001 and dove in to the learning
experience.
Not long after, in late 2002, the station was set to 'go dark' (radio talk for going
off the air) as 1WR no longer desired to keep up the expense and work of
running the station on top of their short-wave ministry. When God sent the
Poppes to purchase the building and the surrounding land, He also knew that
they would n()t allow His work at KTWG to cease, and they decided to take over
the license and keep the ministry going. I was still volunteering at the time and I
figured that if anything, I would be allowed to continue to help out even though
the station was changing ownership. I was shocked when one day Mr. Poppe
and the newly formed KTWG board asked if I would consider becoming the
Operations Manager of KlWG! God has surely been in all of this from the
beginning, and I am grateful and amazed that a ministry that has meant SO
much to my Christian growth and walk is now a ministry that I am serving Him
in! I can testify from both sides of the ministry that it is and has been invaluable
to myself and many others in it's outreach of bible based teaching and the
encouragement of the music of praise and worship lifting up the Name of our
Savior, Jesus Christ! Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for

you," declares the lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
pla ns to give you hope and a future."
..
I believe in the work of KTWG, and pour myself into it, even supporting the
ministry financially since I became the station manager (how ca n I ask that
others give to a ministry if I am not willing to do so myself?). I share this, not to
say that my support is tremendous, as it is not, nor to shine the light on myself.
I want to emphasize how very much I am committed to this ministry because I
understand the vital need we as Christians have to be able to connect to a
resource where GOD'S WORD is the standard of counsel and discussion and
encouragement. I also believe that folks that have never had a relationship with
Jesus come to do so when accidentally happening upon (led by the Holy Spirit)
Christian radio, and even those who have assumed that they are Christians are
frequently made aware of their lack of said relationship by the power of the truth
of God's Word unwaveringly taught. Hebrews 4: 12 -For the word of God is
living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the
division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning
the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
In reference to the above paragraph, may I share that the Pastor who records
our bible teaching in the Japanese language, Pastor Ken Matsumoto, came to
salvation in Jesus Christ through the ministry of KTWG. He, a former alcoholic
and confessed bar-hopper and womanizer, came to Guam and met a gentleman
who volunteered at KTWG and one night invited him to come up to the station .
He decided to drive to KTWG with just the thought of checking it out and passing
time until the bars were open and going at full swing. Pastor Ken soon started
listening to the station and was greatly convicted by the teaching of scripture he
was hearing. He began asking questions and not long after gave his life to Christ
and has in the years since become a Pastor and now even teaches on the very
station that God used to draw his own heart to Christ! I am always encouraged
upon reflecting on Pastor Ken's telling of his testimony to me about the special
place that KTWG has in his heart.
As I review the 8 pOints under the 'Mission Assessment' heading of our l'v1ission
Support Statement, I offer these responses

1. There is no way for me, or anyone, to know how many people have
experienced salvation and subsequently been baptized as a direct result of
the ministry of KTWG. Because of the nature of the ministry, being radiO,
results of this kind are usually not assessable. At the least, allow me to
express my philosophy of KTWG's purpose as a means of understanding and
quantifying the intangible results of the ministry - KTWG serves as an arm
of the local church. Its mission is to support the church in providing a
constant source of connection and continued discipleship through solid bible
teaching. This is done, on the one hand, at an 'entry level' with programs
which provide the gospel message (Somebody Loves You, A Word With You,

etc) and those with a focus on the power of the gospel to change lives
through the personal, dramatized testimonies of people who have
experienced God's transforming salvation (Unshackled, Free Indeed, Stories
of Great Christians, etc). Then, t here are deeper, 'meat-filled' teaching
programs designed to grow and feed the Christian . We have many of these
types of programs, as the greater part of our focus is on the growth and
discipling of believers (Let My People Think, Renewing Your Mind, Living on
the Edge, etc). We also offer programs designed to focus on the needs of
singles, families, men, women, youth and young children. Speaking of
young children, one of my great j oys is the writing and producing of 'Christ
4 Kids', a program I developed and created to draw children into worship, in
order to prepare them to do so in the church setting on Sunday mornings. I
have had many wonderful responses to this program, although I'm sure the
greater blessing is to me as God's word ministers so much to me as I
prepare the lessons!
2. Since becoming the manager of KTWG, one thing that I have been able to
do is to change somewhat the blend of programming we air. Prior to my
management, KTWG had about a 50/50 balance of teaching programs and
Christian music. That was also with our being only on the air from Sam to
midnight. Now we have a mix of approximately 85% bible teaching and
15% Praise and Worship music and we are on the air 24 hours a day. My
desire was to have a station that has, as it's entire focus the precious word
of God. Music is certainly not left out, and it, too, must be reviewed against
the standard of God's word, but indeed ttie power, the need of our hearts is
the word of God. Ephesians 5:25-26 "Christ also loved the church,
and gave .himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word." I also decided to change our
slogan. It was previously 'The Cornerstone', and while I believe that we
must indeed stand on the Cornerstone of Jesus Christ, it seemed that with
our mission and focus of ministry being targeted upon God's WORD, we
needed a slogan to reflect that. God is SO wonderful, that as I thought
about how we could possibly create a slogan out of our call letters, He
allowed a conversation between myself and one of our volunteers to reveal
the obvious choice - Knowing The Word of God! He is truly good all the
time!
3. The fruits of the ministry of KTWG are many and varied. The comments of
folks who are constantly tuned in to catch their favorite daily programs are a
blessing to me and help me keep in mind the reason that I am serving God
here in the first place. Because of the nature of this media, feedback is not
always immediately available, but I do receive telephone calls from listeners
and emails telling of how the radio station has been a blessing to them and
many even saying that they would be lost without the daily nourishment
they are receiving through the bible teaching. Several pastors and
missionaries are regular listeners to KTWG and have commented how they

are refreshed and fed by our ministry. Examples of the diversity of the other
ministries and churches I hear from on a reg ular basis that relate how they
are being blessed by the ministry of K1WG include Pastor Kenny Bourgeois
and his wife Carmen (Island Praise Fellowship), Pastor Neil Culbertson (Faith
Church), Pastor Steve Fukawa (Calvary Chapel Guam), the missionaries of
Trans World Radio, Pastor Tom Larmore (Christ's Bible Fellowship), Pastor
Tony Smith (Calvary Baptist Church), Pastor Roy Burk and his wife Buffi
(Life In the Son), Bob Dames (Prison fellowship Guam), Pastor Jeff Johnson
(Lutheran Church of Guam) among many others. Mr. Jeff Nelson from Faith
Church recommends listening to KlWG to the inmates he ministers to in his
Prison outreach ministry. I deal with these spiritual leaders in our island
community on a regular basis. I assist their ministries by providing
announcement space on our Community Calendar, providing copies of
available resources to them to be used to assist those they are ministering
to through their church or ministry. I also utilize these contacts in my efforts
to refer to the appropriate church or ministry those frequent callers to the
radio station asking me for spiritual counselor prayer support. In these and
so many other ways I see the mission of K1WG (being a support arm to the
local church) being fulfilled. I am sure that a call to any of these would
result in overwhelming support and appreCiation of the ministry of KlWG.
Another fruit of being involved in the ministry of KTWG is the immense
blessing it continues to have in my own life. As the station manager I
monitor the radio station 24 hours a day, with 2 radios in my home
broadcasting the station continuously so that if there are any problems I am
immediately aware of them. Because I am surrounded by the station being
broadcast at work, in my car and in my home, I am constantly being fed,
grasping truths as they are revealed to me, and being encouraged by the
sense of continuous flow of spiritual enrichment. I have also grown in the
aspect of being a problem solver and in utilizing resources. Mr. Poppe has
several times commented to others that he often has to come up to Nimitz
Hill to deal with various issues involving one or another of his commercial
stations (we are all located in the same building), but he never has to worry
about KTWG, This is mostly because I have learned to deal with operational
problems by seeking out solutions myself, only requiring his help when no
other option is available. Yes, you've guessed it - I pray a lot! This is growth
for me, as I have come to understand that God will reveal the solutions to
problems if I turn to Him and ask for guidance - He has done this so many
times! 2 Corinthians 9:8 \\ And God is able to make all grace abound
to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,
you will abound in every good work."

6. The challenges I encounter in this ministry are usually of a spiritual nature,

as I have had to grow in my own spiritual life to deal with the variety of
personalities within the office envi ron ment. There are two other radio
stations in the building and they are both secular, commercial stations. I
constantly have to remember that I need to be different from them and be
mindful of not shaming the God I serve by trying my utmost to be above
reproach in their eyes. On another level, I deal with challenges related to
equipment, as most of our computers are several years old and I require
them to work continuously to meet programming deadlines, etc. Currently
we air more than 47 different programs daily from Monday through Friday
and over 23 programs each Saturday and Sunday. All of these programs
must be downloaded or ripped from CD into computers and then converted
to playable files and later moved from storage computers to the air
computer for airplay. Another challenge related to this effort is a very small
core of volunteers helping with these tasks. It can mean I am sometimes
required to work until the work is done, rather than a set eight-hour day.
As I mentioned earlier, I have had to become quite resourceful at times! I
also face the challenge of financial issues, as support can vary from month
to month and that brings it's own difficulties. In spite of all the challenges
though, I can honestly say that the blessings far outweigh any hardship! 2
Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show
that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."
7. I mentioned earlier that one blessing of my working in this ministry is the
constant exposure to Christian teaching and discussion, well, this can be a
double-edged sword! Having the constant teaching surrounding me can also
serve to create a nurnbness, or deafness to the teaching! It can become a
i
'droning on in the background of my mind if I allow it to. I am often
reminded by the Lord that the ministering of the Word is as much a need
for me as it is for the listeners. Ministry is also taxing on the mind and
spirit. At times it can seem that you are giving of yourself to excess, and not
receiving to the point of ernptiness. It has required me to try to maintain a
balance in my personal and family life, as in the beginning I was dedicated
to the point of excluding all else. I believe that the Lord is constantly
working to keep me within His boundaries, and perhaps the blessing of little
Molly serves that purpose in that I must make fruitful use of my time at the
station in order to mother a tiny dynamo on top of everything else that my
life requires of me! I have to work harder to maintain my relationship with
my husband, as he can easily fade off into the background if I am dealing
with an especially difficult season of ministry. I don't know everything, but I
an) learning th~t I can't DO everything! Richard is such a bl,sing to me, as
- ~ he takes on more than his share of cnildcare and househo!d tiuties if thi~S
....a~e demandingClt the.statio"n. He alstl'makes sure that we sit dollrilto~etner
. ~very day to 'have a time of devotion and prayer, which is like a'ri\'@f to
parched ground to me! I in no way have it 'all figured out', and I ask for

your prayers on my behalf to help me most of all to 'abide' in the Lord. I

cannot give out what I do not have myself. Galatians 6:9 "let us not
become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a
harvest if w e do not give up,"
8. Please let me know if there is anyth ing I can fu rther offer as testimony to
how vital the ministry of KlWG is to so many, myself included. So many
times I have heard this from listeners and can testify of it myself - the Lord
often has you listening at just that certain time that the program being aired
is dealing with (perhaps admonishing, often encouraging), in His wisdom,
just the issue you are facing in your spiritual life at the time! He works in
and through the ministry of KlWG - may His Name be praised forever!