3ABN Today

Strong Tower Radio

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: TDY

Program Code: TDY190040A


00:02 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people
00:12 I want to spend my life
00:19 Removing pain
00:23 Lord, let my words
00:30 Heal a heart that hurts
00:34 I want to spend my life
00:40 Mending broken people
00:46 I want to spend my life
00:51 Mending broken people
01:09 Hello, and welcome to another 3ABN Today
01:12 Family Program.
01:14 We thank you for being with us.
01:15 My name is John Dinzey,
01:16 and it's a joy for me to with you
01:18 along with my wife Idalia
01:19 and to tell you, Jesus loves you.
01:22 Amen.
01:23 Well, during this hour we're gonna have the pleasure
01:27 and the blessing of hearing some miracles stories
01:30 and how the Lord is working in our guests' lives
01:36 and also their ministry.
01:38 If you have a request from the Lord
01:41 and you're waiting for an answer,
01:43 don't give up, our guest will share with you,
01:45 how long it took and what the Lord has done,
01:48 where they were and where they are today.
01:51 God is willing to transform your life
01:53 and fill you with blessings forevermore.
01:56 That's right. That's right.
01:58 And we are grateful to the Lord for His blessings,
02:01 and we like to introduce the Strong Tower family,
02:05 part of the Strong Tower family...
02:07 Yes.
02:08 A Strong Tower Radio family, that is here with us.
02:10 Would you like to introduce them?
02:11 Oh, sure.
02:12 It's my pleasure to introduce to our friends at home...
02:16 Bethany Bolduc.
02:18 Welcome, Bethany.
02:19 Welcome. Thank you.
02:21 So you're visiting from which state?
02:23 Michigan. From Michigan.
02:25 And next to you we have David Bolduc.
02:28 Welcome, David. Oh, thank you.
02:29 Welcome. Good to see you.
02:31 You guys are keeping busy as Strong Tower Radio?
02:32 Very busy. Yes.
02:34 Praise the Lord. The Lord keeps blessing.
02:36 Amen. Amen.
02:37 We look forward to hearing those blessings.
02:40 And, of course, we have with us Jilane Fenner.
02:43 Welcome, Jilane.
02:44 It's good to be here.
02:45 It's wonderful to have you with us.
02:47 Thank you.
02:48 We're in for a treat this hour, aren't we?
02:50 Yes.
02:51 You know, I think that we can say
02:54 from this moment that it's...
02:56 We may not have enough time to peruse
02:58 all of the great things the Lord has done
03:01 to Strong Tower Radio.
03:02 This is taste and see that the Lord is good.
03:04 Taste and see. Taste and see.
03:06 I don't know who'd like to answer this question.
03:09 Before we get going,
03:11 what area the Strong Tower Radio,
03:15 and I know you also have TV,
03:16 what area of the country do you cover?
03:20 We cover half of the State of Michigan currently,
03:22 and we have a TV station there in Cadillac,
03:25 and we'd serve 50%,
03:27 about 4 to 5 million people in Cadillac.
03:30 And we also, through the Lord's providence
03:32 have a translator in Decatur, Illinois as well.
03:35 Wonderful. Praise the Lord.
03:36 Well, we're going to hear more about this,
03:39 and the background to this, because, you know,
03:42 when you try to do something for the Lord,
03:44 it seems like the devil tries to bring
03:47 problems and obstacles to discourage us.
03:49 So we're going to find out
03:50 how the Lord blessed in such a wonderful way as well.
03:53 Definitely.
03:54 So before we continue... Yes.
03:56 We would like to go to the Lord in prayer.
03:58 And we want to ask you to remember
04:01 to pray for the prayer requests
04:03 that you see on the screen or hear on the radio.
04:07 Because we receive a lot of prayer requests
04:09 here at 3ABN,
04:11 and we praise the Lord for the pastoral staff
04:13 that prays with you when you call.
04:16 And people are sending prayer request
04:19 via phone call, email, and they go on Facebook,
04:23 I mean, they're coming from in different directions.
04:26 And we are grateful for all of the prayer partners
04:29 we have all over the world.
04:31 And if you are not a prayer partner,
04:33 you can register on the webpage
04:36 but, or you may just want to say,
04:39 "I'm just going to pray for those requests I see."
04:41 And you know what happens?
04:43 When you pray, you get close to the Lord.
04:45 Amen.
04:46 And you also receive a blessing,
04:48 so there's blessing after blessing after blessing.
04:50 So we encourage you to pray for the request.
04:52 So at this time, we're going to go to the Lord in prayer,
04:55 and ask Him to bless this program
04:57 and bless everyone that is with us
04:59 all over the world.
05:00 How about that? Let's pray together.
05:02 Our loving Heavenly Father,
05:04 we are grateful to You, Lord, because You love us so much.
05:09 We thank You, Lord, for taking care of us
05:11 even when we went our own way,
05:14 even when we turned our backs on You,
05:18 You were there,
05:19 You were taking care of us.
05:22 And we thank You, Lord, that as we pray now, Lord,
05:24 You are getting close to everyone
05:27 that has paused to pray with us.
05:29 We pray for Your blessing upon them,
05:31 and we pray that You will consider
05:33 every request that has come to 3ABN.
05:37 We thank You, Lord,
05:38 for the privilege to pray for others.
05:40 And we ask You Lord to consider each need
05:44 those that have been presented
05:46 and those that
05:47 they thought about calling
05:49 and they thought about writing in
05:50 but for some reason, they hesitated,
05:52 consider that request as well.
05:54 And we pray, Lord, even for those
05:56 that are tuning in,
05:57 perhaps for the first time
05:59 and are watching this program, listening.
06:01 We pray that You will touch their hearts as well.
06:04 And we ask and plead with You
06:07 that You will bless us with Your Holy Spirit,
06:09 that we may speak the words
06:11 that will bring Your honor and glory,
06:13 but also draw people to You.
06:15 We ask You, Father, for these things
06:17 in the holy and blessed name of Jesus.
06:20 Amen. Amen.
06:22 Amen.
06:24 Well,
06:26 we now go to a part
06:28 that is also a marvelous part of our program,
06:32 and that is to read the scripture.
06:34 And one of the scriptures
06:36 that has been a part of Strong Tower Radio
06:39 is Proverbs 18:10.
06:41 Is that right, Proverbs 18:10?
06:42 That's right. Yes.
06:44 Let's go to Proverbs 18:10.
06:45 I'm going ask Idalia to read that for us.
06:46 Yes.
06:48 Proverbs 18:10 says,
06:49 "The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
06:52 The righteous run to it and are safe."
06:55 Praise the Lord. Amen.
06:57 Amen.
06:58 And this Bible text was picked
07:00 by the staff of Strong Tower Radio,
07:03 3ABN affiliate, right?
07:05 Yes.
07:06 David, why is this Bible text so special to you, guys?
07:09 One of the things we've run into,
07:12 you know, here at 3ABN there's always controversy.
07:15 The enemy is always trying to block us
07:16 no matter what way we turn.
07:18 There's always that controversy.
07:20 And so we look at that text,
07:21 and we see that God is our strong tower.
07:24 And that we can run to Him,
07:25 and we know that with our Father in heaven,
07:27 we're going to be safe.
07:29 And so we just cling to that.
07:30 And we encourage our listeners to do the same,
07:32 to go to the Lord in prayer and seek Him.
07:35 It's not Strong Tower Radio, it's not 3ABN,
07:38 but the message you're carrying is a message
07:40 to a lost and dying world, like Danny says.
07:43 And so we're just trying to get people to see
07:45 that God is a strong tower that He will never fail them.
07:48 That's right.
07:49 Amen. Amen.
07:50 How has this personally impacted your life, Bethany,
07:53 this Bible text?
07:54 Well, we probably need to start,
07:57 you know, we're here to talk about the ministry today,
07:59 and we probably need to start with our son, Seth.
08:04 And kind of maybe share a little bit about
08:07 what has happened with him.
08:08 He was...
08:10 We see him on the screen, right?
08:11 Yeah, we see him.
08:12 And he's smiling. Yeah.
08:14 Talking to grandma.
08:15 Please share the story about it.
08:16 Yes.
08:18 So, Seth, when he was two and a half months old,
08:19 he started having seizures.
08:21 And the picture
08:23 where he's on the floor in front of the couch,
08:25 he was trying to learn to crawl,
08:27 and he gave himself a bloody nose
08:29 because he started having a seizure
08:30 and banged his head into the carpet.
08:33 And so we very soon had to start going
08:36 through a lot of medical procedures.
08:38 There's a picture of him with the LED the EKG,
08:44 excuse me, the EKG leads on his head.
08:47 We had several stints in the hospital.
08:50 We were very, very fortunate to be at an incredibly good
08:54 children's hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio,
08:56 with a very wonderful staff,
08:59 and the specialist that could really see
09:04 into what needed to be done for him.
09:07 And, of course, it was a trying time in our lives
09:12 and we turned to God, we turned to the scriptures.
09:18 Years ago, I started writing dates in my Bible,
09:21 so when I would find a special verse,
09:22 I would highlight it or underline it,
09:26 and then I would put the date there,
09:27 because then I can look back
09:29 and I can remember what God did for me in the past
09:33 and not forget.
09:35 And so we ended up having brain surgery for our son
09:40 at 11 months old.
09:42 And they removed the focal point of his tumor.
09:46 It was a tumor, non-cancerous tumor.
09:48 He has medical condition called tuberous sclerosis complex.
09:53 It is a genetic mutation
09:55 that causes non-cancerous tumors
09:56 to grow in any organ of his body.
09:59 And so it's not something
10:01 that he'll ever be cured of until heaven,
10:04 it's something you manage.
10:06 And so they removed the tumor that was causing those seizures
10:10 that he had as a baby.
10:11 So if you see him today, he's running around and...
10:15 Praise the Lord.
10:16 Climbing and getting into things.
10:18 And you know, he's a little developmentally delayed,
10:21 probably two to three years behind someone of his age.
10:25 But that's okay.
10:26 You know, he's tracking along and he's growing
10:28 and developing very nicely, and we're very pleased.
10:31 And he's the poster child of tuberous sclerosis,
10:34 of all the children that have had
10:36 the doctors talk to us about, he's done the best.
10:40 He had one surgery, that is it.
10:42 Most children have had to have multiple surgeries,
10:44 life flies the whole thing.
10:46 God has really blessed him. Amen.
10:48 Praise the Lord.
10:49 You know, I have to think that you have seen
10:53 that the Lord is present help in times of trouble.
10:55 Amen. Yeah, yes.
10:56 Absolutely. Absolutely.
10:58 So after our faith experience with our son,
11:01 we had an opportunity,
11:03 my husband has always had a heart for radio.
11:05 So...
11:06 So we were looking at that time
11:09 for an opportunity to build a radio station.
11:11 And we've looked at low power FM several years before,
11:15 but that opportunity wasn't available.
11:17 But about the same time our son had the operation,
11:20 the FCC announced a filing window
11:23 for non-commercial education radio stations.
11:26 So I started looking in the area
11:27 around our house there by Decatur, Illinois,
11:30 and I couldn't find anything.
11:32 And so we looked all summer, couldn't find anything.
11:37 We came to camp meeting, I talked to Jay Christian.
11:39 And Jay said,
11:41 "Why don't you look one more time?"
11:42 So we went back home,
11:44 and I found a frequency not in the Decatur area.
11:49 But I decided the Holy Spirit prompted me
11:51 to look in Michigan,
11:52 because my wife Bethany's parents lived in near Cadillac.
11:56 So I looked up there,
11:58 and there was a frequency available
11:59 in the Cadillac area.
12:01 So we just move forward on that
12:03 in faith, we didn't have the money.
12:05 But we knew from our son's experience with this surgery
12:09 that the Lord would provide, and so we applied.
12:11 We got together a board, long story short,
12:15 we got everything together.
12:17 And the FCC accepted our application,
12:19 and the Lord has been blessing ever since.
12:22 Amen. Amen.
12:24 It's incredible how the Lord works.
12:26 And so the experience of your son,
12:28 you saw that as a faith builder
12:32 to lead you to believe that the Lord is able to provide,
12:37 you know, you went out in faith,
12:39 and you've seen that the Lord has provided.
12:41 Yeah.
12:43 How long ago was that there, remind us again of that?
12:46 Well, the surgery was in 2007,
12:49 and the opportunity to build was in October,
12:56 in late October of 2007.
12:59 And so then we eventually moved to Michigan in 2009.
13:04 So we've been on the air in the Cadillac area
13:07 since 2009.
13:08 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
13:10 You know, there are so many things
13:12 that take place during this process,
13:14 you know, when you talk about a filing window,
13:17 the Federal Communications Commission, FCC,
13:20 it's every so often that they do this.
13:22 And this was an opportunity, they call it a filing window.
13:25 Window, yes. It's our great shot.
13:27 So the opportunity was there,
13:28 and did you know at the time you were applying
13:32 how much this would cost?
13:34 No. No?
13:36 No. We didn't know.
13:37 So looking back, can you tell us
13:40 how much it cost to put the station on the air?
13:43 Well, we built a Cadillac station in Cadillac,
13:46 and it cost us, well, for the transmitter is $25,000,
13:51 and for the antenna, it was another $25,000- $30,000,
13:54 because it had to be specially suited
13:56 for the area to protect other radio stations.
13:59 So we just did the transmitter
14:02 and the antenna cost over $50,000,
14:06 and that's not even including the studio equipment
14:08 we had to purchase.
14:09 Okay.
14:10 So tell us about the money
14:12 that rained down from the sky
14:14 or they grew from the ground.
14:16 Where did the money come from?
14:17 Well, one of our initial board members
14:22 was impressed by the Lord.
14:23 Early one morning in July of 2008,
14:29 and if you remember what happened in 2008
14:31 with the stock market, and the housing...
14:33 Oh, there was chaos, economic in the whole world.
14:36 Yeah. Financial problems.
14:38 Just a few weeks, right? Yes.
14:40 Before that,
14:43 this person who was impressed by the Lord
14:46 to basically clean out all of their stocks,
14:50 their whole portfolio
14:52 and give it to the radio station.
14:54 Wow! Praise the Lord.
14:55 So they did.
14:57 They followed the leading of the Holy Spirit.
14:58 And they gave that in
15:01 because the housing collapse hadn't happened yet.
15:04 The family says, "We made out like gangbusters."
15:08 They gave us...
15:09 How much was it?
15:11 I don't know an exact figure. Yeah.
15:13 But it was in the range of $100,000.
15:14 Hundred thousand dollars.
15:15 Wow! Praise the Lord!
15:17 Enough to cover the needs to purchase all the equipment
15:19 for the radio station,
15:20 and then the housing market collapsed.
15:23 But the money was safe, because it had been taken out.
15:26 And we had enough to cover all the needs,
15:28 all of our needs were provided.
15:30 Amen.
15:31 I think is admirable
15:33 how the Lord has provided for your son,
15:37 you know, how you've come across,
15:39 because a lot of times
15:40 we hear how big and good God is.
15:43 And He's a physician of physicians,
15:45 that to trust in the Lord
15:48 and our brethren will say,
15:50 "Just trust in the Lord, just trust Jesus."
15:53 But we trust Him.
15:54 But we feel the pain
15:56 and agony of watching our sons
15:58 or children going through some much.
16:00 And it's amazing how the Lord comfort you,
16:03 and He reveals His power and His attention,
16:08 undivided attention to you as you pray,
16:12 and you see
16:13 how He is answering one prayer after the other,
16:16 and after the other and you end up saying,
16:19 "He answered it way better
16:21 than what I ever had even imagined or asked."
16:25 So this built your faith up and say,
16:28 "Hey, we can do anything with God.
16:31 You know, through Christ, we can do anything."
16:33 So here you're encouraged
16:35 to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit
16:38 to go into ministry through radio.
16:41 So you just let the Lord work.
16:45 You took that step of faith, and here we are,
16:48 how many years later?
16:49 Ten years.
16:51 Ten years! Ten years.
16:52 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
16:53 Well, we've been on the air for 10 years.
16:55 Yes.
16:56 We started 12 years ago with actually
16:57 making all the applications and forming our board
17:00 and stuff.
17:01 And that's where Jilane comes in.
17:03 Jilane was one of our original board members.
17:05 Amen.
17:07 She's been an amazing cheerleader
17:08 along the way and a help.
17:10 And we have a picture of our first building
17:13 that we used for our studio.
17:16 Right.
17:17 And a picture of some of our people
17:20 back in those early days.
17:21 Yeah. Amen.
17:23 This building, the total building 1600 square feet,
17:27 but we started with only about half of that building
17:30 when we started.
17:32 And then we kept growing
17:34 because we started just
17:36 thought was going to be little Cadillac on the map.
17:39 And now we have 12 radio stations and a TV station.
17:43 And a couple years ago
17:45 we realized that building was too small
17:46 'cause we started a remodeling to go to 1600 square feet
17:50 before we were done remodeling.
17:52 It was too small.
17:53 Well, you know,
17:56 we know where the scripture that you have used
18:00 for Strong Tower Radio, we read Proverbs 18:10.
18:04 But how did you come to the decision
18:08 that the name of the ministry will be Strong Tower Radio?
18:13 Well, one of our founding board members was George Corless,
18:20 and he was looking on a shelf of his books,
18:23 bookshelf one day,
18:24 and he saw a book entitled "Strong Tower."
18:27 And he thought...
18:29 You know, George's really,
18:30 to say he was good at marketing is an understatement.
18:33 He could put things together really good.
18:36 And he saw the name strong tower
18:38 and he thought, "Strong Tower Radio."
18:40 And then he remembered the verse we looked it up
18:42 and all these, and it just fit, Strong Tower Radio.
18:46 And so we stuck with that, Strong Tower Radio.
18:47 Amen. Praise the Lord.
18:49 Praise the Lord. Amen.
18:50 It's a lot easier to say
18:51 than the actual name of the ministry.
18:54 The name of the ministry is
18:55 West Central Michigan Media Ministries.
18:58 West Central...
18:59 Michigan. Michigan.
19:00 Michigan...
19:02 Media... Media...
19:03 Ministry. Ministry.
19:05 Because our focus we thought would be West Central Michigan.
19:06 Right.
19:07 So, we just thought there.
19:09 But you must go to other lands
19:10 and so you're growing and going.
19:12 Lord said, go.
19:13 That's good.
19:14 We had the privilege of meeting George
19:16 and he was a kind, genuine, dedicated...
19:20 He's very dedicated. Dedicated.
19:22 I mean, he had Strong Tower Radio in his veins, right?
19:25 Yes, he did.
19:26 And love for ministry, love for the Lord.
19:28 So we had that privilege of meeting him.
19:32 So your staff has grown and your ministry is growing,
19:36 and all of this because you were willing to heed
19:41 to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
19:42 Yes. All of this.
19:44 Much of this is the direct answer to prayer.
19:46 Amen. Amen. Amen.
19:48 Back in the dark days,
19:49 when we were struggling with our son's diagnosis...
19:52 Yes.
19:53 Struggling with the seizures on a daily basis,
19:55 keeping a log of the seizures,
19:57 writing down every seizure on a log.
20:00 You know, I went to the scriptures,
20:03 and I, you know, trying to find that comfort,
20:05 that encouragement.
20:06 And you know, we have such an awesome Heavenly Father.
20:10 And He encourages us to wrestle with Him
20:13 over our struggles and our needs.
20:16 And so one day,
20:17 I kind of got in God's face almost.
20:20 And I said,
20:21 "We live in a bad world, I know that,
20:24 the devil is going to do horrible things in this world."
20:28 But I don't want the devil to play with my baby.
20:31 And so I said, "Lord,
20:33 if you choose not to fix this, okay.
20:36 But the devil is not going to have my baby.
20:39 You are going to turn the situation for good.
20:42 You are going to cause people
20:44 to be saved in the Kingdom of Heaven,
20:46 because of what we are going through
20:48 because I'm not going to stand for it any other way."
20:51 That was very prompt. Amen.
20:53 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
20:56 It's really incredible.
20:57 Well, Bethany and well... Praise the Lord.
21:00 Tell us a little bit about some of the response.
21:02 I don't know if anyone
21:04 who received the first phone call
21:06 from one of the listeners,
21:08 tell us one experience from a call or a letter,
21:12 email you received
21:14 people listening to the programming?
21:17 Well, we received several calls.
21:20 One interesting call
21:22 and maybe Jilane could give us
21:24 a little bit more information about.
21:26 There was a lady driving down the road,
21:28 and she called to the station, she talked to George.
21:32 But...
21:34 Well we've two different stories
21:35 about the radio, car radio.
21:37 Yeah.
21:38 The first one was a few years back,
21:42 and she was on I-75 in Michigan,
21:45 driving
21:46 and listening to her favorite Christian radio station.
21:50 And it happens to be 99.7,
21:53 where she lives.
21:55 And then all of a sudden,
21:56 her radio went down to 91.9,
22:00 where Strong Tower Radio was.
22:02 Interesting.
22:03 And she's like, turns it back.
22:06 It went back, hopped again back down to that.
22:09 She was irritated, did it again,
22:11 went back down.
22:13 And she's like, "Okay, Lord,
22:14 you want me to listen to something,"
22:16 'cause that was her favorite station for 50 years
22:18 that she'd been listening to
22:20 Doug Batchelor was the air
22:21 and we talking about the Sabbath.
22:23 And when she was a young girl, about 12 years old
22:25 reading the scripture, Sabbath,
22:27 wondered why she went to church on Sunday.
22:30 But you know, never went anywhere,
22:32 'cause Sunday is the day you go to church.
22:34 But she started listening to that,
22:36 she became a baptized member
22:37 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
22:38 Amen. Praise the Lord.
22:40 And then another time, so our lady had called
22:43 and talked to George
22:44 and accusing George's Strong Tower Radio,
22:49 manipulating her radio station in her car.
22:52 Oh, really? Yeah.
22:53 Oh, wow!
22:55 She said, "How are you changing my radio station?"
22:57 And George's like, "Lady, it's the Holy Spirit.
23:01 It's not us." That's right.
23:03 Amen.
23:05 Well, I think at this time,
23:06 we'd like to listen
23:09 to a musical offering to the Lord,
23:11 and because of the things we've heard,
23:14 this is very appropriate,
23:15 as Idalia mentioned to me a moment ago.
23:19 We have Pastor John Lomacang,
23:21 that recorded a song
23:23 that speaks of what we should do,
23:27 I would say
23:28 and the title is "Be still and know."
23:53 Be still and know that He is God
24:01 Be still and know that
24:04 He is holy
24:09 Be still oh restless soul of mine
24:14 Bow before the Prince of Peace
24:18 Let the noise and clamor cease
24:25 Be still and know that He is God
24:33 Be still and know that
24:35 He is faithful
24:41 Consider all that He has done
24:46 Stand in awe and be amazed
24:50 And know that He will never change
24:56 Be still
25:04 Be still
25:08 And know that He is God
25:12 Be still
25:16 And know that He is God
25:20 Be still
25:24 And know that He is God
25:28 Be still
25:32 Be speechless
25:38 Be still and know
25:41 That He is God
25:47 Be still and know
25:49 He is our Father
25:55 Come rest your head upon His breast
26:00 Listen to the rhythm of
26:04 His unfailing heart of love
26:08 Beating for His little ones
26:12 Calling each of us to come
26:20 Be still
26:29 Be still
26:45 Amen. Amen. Amen.
26:46 Yes, we have to do it.
26:48 From time to time, we have to be still
26:50 and know that God is God
26:52 and He will take care
26:53 of whatever situation or problem we're facing.
26:56 I like to ask you a little bit.
26:57 We're talking to our Strong Tower Radio family.
27:01 Tell us a little bit about the programming you use
27:04 and how many hours a day you're actually on the air?
27:08 We're a 3ABN radio affiliate,
27:10 but we also do carry programs from 3ABN TV,
27:14 and from Dare to Dream.
27:16 And we just try to reach a wide variety of people and children.
27:22 We're always focused on children, 24/7.
27:26 Like I said, before we reach about
27:28 half the state of Michigan currently.
27:31 We're just getting now to the point
27:35 where we are producing some more of our own programming.
27:39 We're working on doing live programming.
27:42 Excellent.
27:43 Just trying to ease into
27:44 even though we've been on the air for 10 years,
27:46 we're still growing.
27:48 And like Jilane said,
27:49 the Lord has really blessed as far as
27:51 where we have started.
27:53 Amen. Amen.
27:54 I've heard the name, George.
27:56 Tell us about George.
27:59 He was part of the ministry? Yes.
28:00 He was part of the ministry.
28:02 Unfortunately, his health he's passed away.
28:05 And we do have a picture of George and me.
28:08 Because of 3ABN Today program,
28:12 George and I started doing a Strong Tower Radio
28:15 Tuesday program.
28:16 There you are. There's George.
28:17 And so we would interview people like 3ABN,
28:20 you know, with ministries.
28:22 And one thing, especially starting out,
28:24 you know, so many years ago,
28:26 there's in Cadillac
28:28 there's not a lot of Adventist ministries going on.
28:30 So we reached out to the community,
28:32 to the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church,
28:34 Dutch Reformed.
28:35 And so we would bring them in and find out
28:37 what their ministries are doing around.
28:40 Missions, missions,
28:41 they were going to different islands in the Caribbean,
28:44 in different places around the world after that.
28:45 Yeah. Do wells and yeah, just do.
28:47 And then that got the community
28:49 listening to Strong Tower Radio.
28:51 Amen. Amen.
28:52 Excellent.
28:53 Well, we praise the Lord for technology,
28:55 but we praise the Lord for people that
28:59 listen to the Lord into launching
29:02 into ministry
29:03 through technology.
29:05 Because a lot of harm can do, be done with technology,
29:08 but for God's glory, and for His honor,
29:13 here stands Strong Tower Radio, strongly serving the ministry.
29:18 You know, and I've got to mention something about that
29:20 because, you know, radio,
29:23 a lot of people associate radio with music,
29:25 and that is one of the very first things,
29:28 we'd only been on the air for three weeks in 2009.
29:31 And I had a friend that saw me in this parking lot.
29:34 And she come to me, she said, "Oh, Jilane,
29:37 I love your radio station."
29:39 And she said, "I love the music."
29:41 And I was standing there trying to think
29:43 how like,
29:44 the only thing I could come up with,
29:46 "Yeah, I know it's different."
29:47 And she kind of touched my shoulder,
29:48 she said, "No, Jilane, it's reverent."
29:51 Because it's not the Christian rock and pop
29:54 that most of Christian stations play.
29:57 And I just thought, "That's right.
29:58 We play reverent music."
30:01 One of the music programs actually was instrumental
30:05 in bringing one of our baptisms.
30:08 We have some pictures with baptism.
30:10 Oh, great! Praise the Lord.
30:11 And the first picture is Chris.
30:13 Praise the Lord. Here we have Chris.
30:14 Chris.
30:16 And she was having trouble sleeping,
30:19 listened later in the evening.
30:22 We have a program that we play
30:24 that has very soft music that helps with,
30:28 you know, kind of soothing,
30:29 and that got her hooked,
30:31 and she started listening.
30:33 And after while she came to church,
30:34 she heard about some meetings at the church
30:38 and she came to church,
30:39 and she gave her life to the Lord.
30:41 And now she is one of our cheerleaders
30:43 and our volunteers, and she comes in regularly.
30:45 Volunteer?
30:46 It's wonderful! Amen.
30:48 She helps with the front desk,
30:49 she helps with screening programs
30:51 and all sorts of other stuff.
30:53 It's amazing.
30:54 We've had several other baptisms as well.
30:56 Yeah, we've had.
30:58 Like we said, we moved from Decatur, Illinois area
31:01 up to Michigan,
31:02 through the Lord's providence
31:04 and a very long story, really quick.
31:06 He opened up to us an opportunity
31:08 to purchase radio station in Decatur,
31:11 a translator in Decatur.
31:12 And there was a gentleman in Decatur that was listening,
31:16 but he was outside of the Decatur area,
31:17 but the signal is still reaching him.
31:19 You know, many times here
31:21 where the Lord allows the signal to go way
31:22 beyond we're supposed to be going.
31:25 And so we have a picture of Pastor Joe Lewis
31:28 and this gentleman is one of the deacons now
31:31 in the Decatur Church.
31:32 Oh, praise the Lord! Amen.
31:33 Lord is so grateful
31:35 that he is so faithful in church there.
31:36 Amen. Yeah.
31:38 Yeah, and it's just amazing
31:39 to see how the Lord is using that.
31:41 And where we left we thought
31:42 we weren't going to have a presence,
31:44 and now the Lord opened for us
31:45 to have a presence in Decatur.
31:46 Amen, amen.
31:48 Isn't it amazing how the Lord works?
31:50 And you know, it's by the fruits,
31:53 you shall know them, right?
31:55 So it's a fruitful ministry,
31:57 the Lord is in this ministry for sure.
31:59 Our next picture is Mark and Mary.
32:02 Oh, Mark and Mary.
32:03 Yes. Okay.
32:04 And I think Jilane's gonna share their story.
32:06 And that's George with them.
32:08 And Mark had a fairly new car
32:11 that had radio, satellite radio,
32:12 I believe.
32:14 But it wasn't working.
32:15 So he got just scan the dial and the only thing
32:18 he could get in happened to be the Strong Tower Radio.
32:20 Isn't that something to that? Yeah.
32:24 And so he started listening
32:25 because he travelled a lot for his job.
32:28 So, anyways,
32:30 he would come home and he would sit in his car
32:32 to finish hearing a sermon or maybe one of the stories.
32:36 And his wife's wonder, "What are you doing?"
32:38 You know, and he started listening.
32:40 And I don't know, David,
32:41 how long did he listen, do you remember?
32:43 It was several weeks. Yeah.
32:44 And then all of a sudden, he decided
32:46 he needed to find a Adventist Church.
32:47 Right. And so he went.
32:50 And then we've heard these stories too,
32:52 people come into Seventh-day Adventist Church
32:54 in the parking lot sit there,
32:56 and then leave.
32:58 And that's what he did at first.
32:59 But then he came,
33:01 and he was the first one there,
33:03 one morning at 9 AM,
33:06 almost everyone else...
33:08 He greeted the greeter. Yeah, he greeted the greeters.
33:10 And he never left.
33:12 Wow! Praise the Lord. Oh, praise the Lord.
33:14 And then his wife,
33:15 "Just go ahead, do whatever."
33:17 But then when the pastor started talking to him
33:19 about being baptized,
33:21 she was encouraged to come in
33:23 and support him at his baptism,
33:25 and she's never left either.
33:27 Amen. Praise the Lord.
33:28 Amen. Praise the Lord.
33:29 You know, Jilane,
33:31 you touched on something that
33:32 when somebody is greeted or received into the church,
33:37 it just shows you that it's teamwork, right?
33:40 Yeah.
33:41 The Lord does His job, He calls us to what?
33:44 Go ye, right? Right.
33:46 So we obey, we go in whichever direction,
33:49 whichever way the Lord wants us
33:53 to share the gospel.
33:55 And then there's the congregation,
33:57 the local congregation.
33:59 So as you received the visitors
34:02 that are coming in to visit your church,
34:04 that leaves a lasting impression,
34:07 and they need to be received as family.
34:10 That's right.
34:11 Because that is very important for someone
34:13 to have enough courage to go to a congregation
34:19 all by themselves not knowing anyone,
34:21 that could be intimidating.
34:23 It was very intimidating.
34:24 Well, that's one thing we've been talking about
34:25 with marketing again,
34:28 is that we want to have a sign
34:30 out in front of that church
34:31 that, you know, like a Strong Tower Radio.
34:34 So they know that church is associated
34:36 with Strong Tower Radio.
34:38 And we're working on getting
34:39 some more marketing things like that,
34:41 because we'll have yard signs for people putting their yard,
34:44 you know, tune in or listen Strong Tower Radio
34:46 in their local radio...
34:50 Station. Station...
34:52 Frequency. Yeah, frequency.
34:53 That's the word. I'm sorry. Frequency.
34:54 Because the 12 stations
34:56 we have 12 different frequencies.
34:57 That's right. That's right.
34:59 Oh, 12 stations!
35:00 We've 12 stations. Yes.
35:02 Wow! Praise the Lord.
35:03 And just as our signal has grown,
35:04 our staff has grown.
35:06 We have a picture of our mostly current staff.
35:10 One of them has, is moving away.
35:14 But we have...
35:17 I know Keyen. Yeah.
35:18 Hello, Keyen, yeah. That's right.
35:20 I see you have a dog on the staff.
35:21 Yeah. Yeah.
35:22 He's our mascot. That's my dog.
35:26 Yeah.
35:27 And our past chairman of the board is there
35:31 and our current chairman of the board is there.
35:33 Oh, wonderful.
35:34 And all the different areas,
35:37 we have our IT person
35:38 and we have a maintenance person,
35:40 that's a volunteer
35:41 and we have our mascot.
35:43 So tell us something
35:45 how does supported financially Strong Tower Radio?
35:51 How does it work?
35:52 Donations.
35:54 So listeners supported.
35:55 We followed the model that 3ABN has established, and it works.
35:59 We see where it's done here. Yes.
36:01 And so we do not run any commercials anything for,
36:06 you know, even though we're non-commercial station,
36:08 we could still run commercials
36:10 like most Christian stations do.
36:12 Paid commercials. Paid commercials, yes.
36:13 We don't do that.
36:15 We do prayer requests,
36:16 we do PSAs,
36:19 public service announcements for local Christian groups.
36:23 As long as it's for a Christ centered ministry
36:26 we will air those.
36:28 But it's all listener supported,
36:30 whenever people are touched
36:31 by the Holy Spirit to support us,
36:33 and that's where we get the funds
36:35 to purchase more radio stations.
36:37 Grow, going grow.
36:38 Yeah. Yes.
36:40 Amen.
36:41 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
36:42 Now is everyone a paid staff on that staff picture?
36:45 No. No.
36:47 Please tell us about, how that works too?
36:49 Well, there's three full time staff,
36:52 myself, Thomas Jerry, and Dan Bailey.
36:54 Tom does marketing, Dan does the audio editing.
36:57 And then we have two part time people,
37:00 Joy Corliss, George's, his widow,
37:04 and then John Doman, who does our IT work.
37:08 Everybody else in the pictures is volunteer.
37:10 Everyone else's volunteer.
37:12 Praise the Lord.
37:14 And now I mention that the full time
37:15 and part time staff,
37:17 they're being paid missionary wages.
37:20 In one of our newest volunteers happens to be Jay Gallimoore,
37:26 who was the president of the Michigan Conference
37:28 of Seventh-day Adventist.
37:30 And he always mentioned that it is missionary wages.
37:34 You know, so God is providing.
37:36 Amen.
37:37 Just what we need, right? Yes.
37:39 The Lord always provides just what we need.
37:42 And then when you're in ministry even more.
37:45 That's right.
37:46 He gives us more because... Yeah.
37:48 We don't see the whole picture, but He's leading you...
37:50 Yeah. Right.
37:51 To a greater picture. So...
37:53 I like to say that before we continue
37:55 and told you that,
37:56 "Let it go, let it go,"
37:58 that we will soon be sharing the contact information
38:01 for Strong Tower Radio.
38:03 So we want to let you know
38:04 to prepare for that opportunity to write it down.
38:08 And I'm going to give you a hint that has helped me
38:11 and that is, "I can't find the paper,
38:13 I can't find the pen."
38:14 You know, these phones that you have now,
38:16 we can record audio or even just video, so that...
38:18 Take a picture.
38:20 You can take a picture of the screen.
38:21 So find these different ways
38:23 to get the contact information to write to them.
38:26 Send them a word of encouragement.
38:28 And also, if the Holy Spirit impresses you
38:30 to support Strong Tower Radio.
38:33 You're reaching how much of Michigan you say?
38:34 Half of Michigan.
38:35 Half of Michigan,
38:37 and I don't think they're happy with just half.
38:39 They want to reach all of Michigan and beyond.
38:41 So now we encourage you to pray for them as well.
38:44 Yes.
38:45 But it's just amazing
38:47 how God can set things up ahead of time.
38:48 Yes, that's right.
38:50 So in 1995,
38:51 there was a highway that was being expanded,
38:54 Highway 131,
38:56 that was two lane through Cadillac.
38:59 They wanted to make it four lane
39:00 going around the Cadillac.
39:03 So a gentleman had built a Fox affiliate studio.
39:09 And he had checked with the state engineers
39:12 to make sure that they put it in the right spot.
39:15 Well, there was a wetland that they hadn't counted on.
39:18 So they had to move the highway path
39:21 right through the middle of his studio.
39:22 Literally. Literally.
39:24 So he had to move the building, they had to rebuild.
39:27 So he convinced a lady,
39:29 a Seventh-day Adventist lady in the Cadillac Church
39:32 to sell him 10 acres of ground.
39:34 And in 1995, he built a roughly 20,000 square foot building.
39:39 Has a garage, it has a pole barn,
39:41 it's amazing.
39:42 Well, as time went on,
39:45 the Fox affiliate merged with another local station,
39:49 and the studio no longer fit their needs
39:52 or where they wanted to be,
39:54 how they wanted to run their business,
39:55 so they decided to sell.
39:57 And through the Holy Spirit
40:00 and just amazing, amazing answers
40:03 to prayer,
40:04 we were able to purchase this building.
40:06 And we have pictures of the building
40:07 that will be shown.
40:09 Well, look at that!
40:10 This is the front entrance.
40:11 It's a beautiful facility.
40:13 And then we have an aerial view
40:15 that shows kind of the whole infrastructure of the campus.
40:18 It is incredible what God has done.
40:21 And it had everything we needed.
40:22 We needed faster internet connection,
40:24 it has two fiber optic lines coming in.
40:26 They made it a taller tower.
40:28 It has 140 foot tower, we needed a backup generator,
40:31 it had a 100,000W generator.
40:34 Oh, Wonderful!
40:35 We were, like Jilane said the building we were in before
40:37 we had 1,600 square feet,
40:39 this has 20,000 square feet.
40:41 Everything that we needed, God had already put in place.
40:44 And He helped us on the last day
40:46 to get the last bit of money, which was $224,000,
40:50 and He provided for that.
40:53 It's just, God's timing is amazing.
40:55 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
40:56 You know, as I saw more and more of the building.
40:59 I say, "We've been in that building."
41:01 So this is a tremendous blessing
41:04 the Lord has given to you all of the needs
41:06 and maybe needs you haven't looked at
41:09 are there already for you.
41:11 Plus, we have TV studio in there.
41:12 TV studio in there.
41:13 Tell us about the idea of TV studio.
41:15 Why is that interesting to you?
41:17 Well, it's the Lord who gave us a TV building,
41:19 and we have a TV station.
41:21 And so as He opens the door for that
41:23 we're going to launch into TV as well.
41:26 I mean, we went from 1,600 square foot building
41:29 to a 20,000 square foot building,
41:31 not knowing why do we need this.
41:33 And we've had it now for two years.
41:36 But we're filling it up with more part time staff,
41:39 more volunteers,
41:40 where we just keep expanding.
41:42 You know, God knows,
41:43 we don't, we're just following His lead.
41:45 Amen. Amen. Amen.
41:47 So you have seen the Lord provide through
41:50 over 10 years.
41:52 You have seen the Lord
41:54 lead you to be able to get more frequencies,
41:58 and you've also seen people coming to the Lord
42:01 and that's the blessing to be able to see that.
42:04 You know very well that
42:07 the Lord is planting more seeds
42:09 than you may be able to see the fruits immediately.
42:13 This will come later, perhaps even more,
42:15 you'll see more and more.
42:17 Some people will make decisions
42:18 and never even tell you that's what we discovered with 3ABN.
42:21 And you may be in a church someday,
42:23 "Oh, you're from Strong Tower Radio.
42:25 You know, I was listening to Strong Tower Radio,
42:28 and that's why I'm here."
42:29 You know, these things happen. That's right.
42:32 And it's just marvelous the way the Lord works,
42:34 and we would just encourage everyone
42:36 to pray for Strong Tower Radio.
42:39 We're part of Strong Tower Radio as well.
42:40 Oh, yeah. Yeah.
42:41 And we want to encourage you to continue going forward
42:45 as the Lord leads because the Lord is leading.
42:48 The Lord is leading.
42:49 Tell us what you see in the future coming ahead?
42:52 We are looking at some possibilities
42:55 in the Detroit area.
42:57 So the very last picture
42:59 that we have is a picture of our coverage map.
43:04 So these are conservative,
43:07 you know, coverage estimates.
43:10 And as you can see the thumb
43:14 and the lower part of Michigan is very much not covered
43:17 by Strong Tower Radio.
43:19 And we are looking at some possibilities.
43:22 We're not at a point where we can really explain
43:25 or expand on that.
43:26 But it is, in our experience
43:29 purchasing radio stations in the past,
43:32 if a population is say,
43:36 1 million people in a coverage area,
43:39 it would be like 1.5 million to purchase a station.
43:43 So it's about $1.50 per potential listener,
43:46 when we go to purchase a radio station.
43:49 So when you go into some of the bigger
43:52 metropolitan markets,
43:54 you find that your price tags go up.
43:57 So we're hoping
43:59 that the Lord will bring us something
44:00 that will be amazing and wonderful,
44:04 but we're still exploring.
44:07 David, as you look back
44:09 and see what you can now understand
44:12 as the Lord impressing you to do something.
44:16 Tell us a little bit more about that experience
44:18 that the Lord impressed you to do something,
44:20 and then what I would like,
44:22 what sometimes people call verification,
44:24 you know, you'd have something,
44:26 "I wonder if the Lord wants us to do this."
44:28 And then later you see, like a verification of that...
44:30 Confirmation.
44:31 Confirmation. Thank you.
44:33 Proverbs 3:5-6, really says it all.
44:34 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
44:36 lean not on your own understanding.
44:38 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
44:40 and He will direct your paths."
44:41 There are many times
44:43 even like with the purchase of the building,
44:44 or these stations in Lansing, or Grand Rapids,
44:47 up until the end,
44:49 it looked like it wasn't going to go through.
44:50 But you see where the Lord has blessed with our son.
44:55 And we know that God is faithful,
44:56 and we know the enemy.
44:58 Whenever he speaks a word into your mind, it's a lie.
45:01 Somewhere in there, there's a lie in there.
45:03 And so when the enemy whispers
45:05 this is not going to go through and,
45:06 but you see where the Lord has been blessing,
45:09 then you know, you can trust that God is going to provide.
45:12 And so you just hold fast, and it's not easy.
45:15 There are times where your faith is just,
45:17 "Lord, I don't know where this is going to go."
45:19 But you know that He is faithful,
45:21 and He's going to provide,
45:22 and so you just move forward in faith
45:23 and trust that He will provide.
45:25 Amen.
45:26 You know, I want to mention about this building.
45:28 David had a dream.
45:30 That was on Thanksgiving.
45:31 And he had a dream that
45:33 we were going to move into a different building,
45:35 we didn't know what it was,
45:37 and the people were going to move that had it,
45:38 we're going to move across the road and something.
45:41 Anyways, he come out to my house with my husband,
45:44 and we're sitting there and he starts telling us
45:45 about this dream.
45:47 He hadn't said anything to the staff before.
45:49 But the day before we had went to look at the building
45:52 because I'm a realtor, and he asked,
45:54 "Let's go look at this building,
45:55 that's for sale."
45:57 He's telling this dream.
45:58 And what he said
46:00 how a realtor brought us into that building
46:01 was this long hallway.
46:03 That was his dream of these doors...
46:05 And my husband said right then after David left,
46:08 that was confirmation.
46:09 This was of God.
46:10 Praise the Lord. Amen.
46:12 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
46:13 We just go where the Lord leads and He will provide.
46:15 But it's not us.
46:17 It's definitely not what we're doing,
46:18 it's Him being,
46:19 you know, were Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord."
46:23 Amen. Amen. Amen.
46:24 And you're being faithful as the Lord is prompting you,
46:27 you're listening, and that is our responsibility.
46:30 And we can sit and see the glory of the Lord, right?
46:34 It's inspiring.
46:37 Life has changed once you enter into the ministry.
46:41 How has been in ministry impacted you guys' lives?
46:47 Everything changed.
46:49 We've moved from a little town to the farm.
46:53 We've got three little guys.
46:55 We moved up when our third son was 3 months old,
46:58 and now he's 10.
47:00 And it's just everything is changed.
47:02 But you see how the enemy attacks
47:05 but yet the Lord provides.
47:07 And like Jilane said, we live on missionary wages.
47:11 We're just pressed from every side
47:13 but we know that we have a faithful God.
47:15 And you just try not to repeat the enemy's lies.
47:19 You know, you just try to keep on focusing
47:22 and remember that this is not yours,
47:25 and this is not our home, our homes' somewhere else.
47:27 Doing ministry brings you so much closer to God.
47:31 Amen. Unbelievable.
47:32 Yes, amen.
47:33 I remember meeting some young man at your anniversary
47:37 when we were there in 2017.
47:40 And that he was sharing his testimony
47:41 of how Strong Tower Radio was a blessing to him.
47:46 I don't recall his name. It's probably Dustin, yeah.
47:47 Dustin? Yeah.
47:48 Tell us a little bit about Dustin?
47:50 He was listening...
47:51 Do you remember that he's listening
47:53 to Strong Tower Radio at...
47:54 WGCP, I think.
47:55 Yeah, there in Cadillac.
47:57 And we just expanded our coverage,
47:58 because before we only read reached out
48:00 to the Cadillac area,
48:02 but again through the Lord's providence
48:03 we expanded much further.
48:05 And so he was listening to it, now that he can hear it,
48:08 where before he couldn't really hear it.
48:09 And when he was into rock and roll eventually.
48:13 And he was just hearing things that are truth,
48:16 and he just, he started studying it.
48:19 And then he was sharing with it at work.
48:21 And they were each of the guys,
48:24 his work could listen to the radio,
48:25 whatever they chose.
48:27 And so he was listening to us
48:28 and people would ask him questions,
48:29 and he would start doing, like Bible study work.
48:32 Bible study... Yeah.
48:33 Wow!
48:35 It's just, you know, the Lord was leading him
48:36 and then he hasn't stopped,
48:38 you know, the enemy has attacked him,
48:39 but we were at his church a few little month or so ago.
48:43 And his wife was there
48:45 and the Lord is still using them
48:47 and blessing them.
48:48 Amen. Amen. Amen.
48:49 So the Lord is reaching people...
48:51 Yes.
48:52 In different walks of life,
48:54 and people have made decisions...
48:55 You know, and when a person makes a decision,
48:59 I guess, I'll call it every person
49:01 has a circle of influence.
49:04 They have been impacted, but others know all.
49:07 "You're Seventh-day Adventist now."
49:08 So there's a circle of influence.
49:10 You never know how far this would go.
49:12 And so we just encourage you
49:15 to continue going forward in faith,
49:18 and the Lord will bring in the people.
49:21 You know, and part of this as well is praying
49:26 for the people.
49:27 And I'm sure
49:29 you know the stories you have told about the lady,
49:31 especially the one that was listening to her
49:33 favorite radio station.
49:34 And it was like the Lord was saying to her,
49:37 "No, this is what I want you to listen to."
49:39 "No, no, I got to go to my favorite radio station."
49:41 "No, this is what I want to listen to."
49:43 "My favorite radio station is this one."
49:45 And Lord says, "This is what I need you to listen to."
49:47 And the Lord takes control sometimes of these things.
49:52 Surely, she could have said, "I'm turning the radio off."
49:54 But she didn't.
49:55 She came to the conclusion,
49:58 "Seems like the Lord wants me to listen to this."
50:00 So the Lord gets involved in leading people
50:04 to listen to the programming,
50:06 and people find in the stations in different ways.
50:09 This is just the beginning.
50:11 You have just heard the beginning of the stories
50:14 that the miracles the Lord has already done
50:18 and will continue to do.
50:20 Amen. So I just praise the Lord.
50:21 At this time we are preparing you
50:23 for the contact information for Strong Tower Radio.
50:28 Remember, get your phone ready,
50:29 if you don't have a pen,
50:31 and for you to copy down the information.
50:33 Contact them, so that you can pray for them.
50:35 And if the Lord impresses you to support them financially,
50:38 we encourage you to do that.
50:40 As well, after the contact information,
50:43 we will share news and information
50:45 and blessings that are coming through 3ABN.
50:48 We'll see you in a bit.
50:51 Strong Tower Radio does not rely on commercials,
50:55 but rather on the prayers
50:56 and financial support of listeners
50:58 and people just like you,
51:00 who feel impressed to give,
51:02 so that others may find Jesus Christ.
51:04 If you would like to find out more about their ministry
51:07 or if you would like to support them financially,
51:09 please visit their website strongtowerradio.org.
51:14 That's strongtowerradio.org.
51:17 You may also call them at (231) 468-2087.
51:22 Or write to Strong Tower Radio,
51:25 PO Box 567, Cadillac, Michigan 49601.


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Revised 2019-08-01