Bishop Thomas's Dream
In 1922, Missionary Bishop N. S. Thomas had a problem. How could he reach the vast territory of Wyoming with the gospel when there were so many miles between missions outposts, and so few people in most areas of this large Missionary District? The answer came to him in a way that he most likely never expected...through technology!
While out east in April, 1922, he was invited to preach at Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. And, there was something especially appealing about this invitation...for more than a year the church had actually broadcast its services on radio station KDKA...a station generally regarded as America's first radio station.
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Within days of the Bishop's sermon airing on KDKA he received letters from listeners in other states, several hundred miles away! This caused Bishop Thomas to begin to ponder "the miracle of words flying great distances in every direction from a central point" and the seeds were planted in his mind to use the new technology of AM radio to reach out into his Missionary District!
Upon returning to Wyoming, the Bishop began the process of learning what it would take to operate a radio station from his church, St. Matthew's Episcopal Cathedral in Laramie. He would need a government-issued license, equipment, a qualified operator to run the station, and much more. His persistence and hard work paid off and by October, 1922, he was ready to debut his 25-Watt AM radio station, KFBU!
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Over time the station grew, increased power, and many were reached with the gospel through its broadcasts. Changes in the regulatory environment caused the station to go silent by 1929. But, for most of the 1920's KFBU...the pioneering effort of Bishop Nathaniel Seymour Thomas carried the good
news of Jesus Christ far and wide over the airwaves!
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In 1922, Bishop Thomas embraced the latest technology...AM radio...to go to the highways and the hedges to compel people to come to Jesus! More than a century later, we have unimaginable technology through which WE can share the gospel with millions!
May God help us to have the pioneering spirit of Bishop Thomas, and give us the heart he had to press on with everything he had at his disposal to reach as many as possible with the gospel!
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"Then the Master said to His servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled." (Luke 14:23)