July 23, 2004, Tony Humphreys, Prestatyn, UK

Ministry via TCP/IP

Image Caption: Alice Holmes and Tony Humphreys with Z88's afternoon host, Lisa Williams

Alice Holmes and Tony Humphreys with Z88's afternoon host, Lisa Williams

Tim Wolf

Christian life is not at all easy, is it. I liken it to being in a foreign country and even though we try to speak English to everyone, it is almost impossible. We long for a fix of English on the TV – our language never sounds as good as when you get only 5 minutes in a foreign country. We even get by imitating the locals, and taking on some of their ways. Many Brits who have emigrated have taken on completely the life of their new country. Wouldn’t it be great to immerse us deeper into our Christian lives, not only in Church, but at home, in the car, at work?

We need Christian Radio, on FM, just like the Americans.

About a year ago Alice and myself started listening to Christian radio on the Internet. Granted, there are UK stations, UCB primarily, but we wanted a replacement for the popular stations that we like. We like listening to pop music, very little chatter, modern and vibrant radio. Something to compliment our lives so we could get on with something else and have the radio on in the background. Lo and behold, we found it, by the Gigabytes too – all over the internet, all from the United States. I may have cackled about this before, but the US have a fantastic music scene, a gigantic Christian music following which are a Godsend to so many people.

Radio stations have sprung up by the hundreds feeding this out to the entire population under relaxed licensing laws worthy of a decent democracy. One such station calls under the sign WPOZ on 88.3FM, or commonly known as Z88.3 Positive Hits, Orlando, Florida. The staple is modern Christian Hits, 24-7, interspersed with regular traffic updates, weather, doppler radar, and even the regional emergency alert system. If something happens in central Florida, Z88 pushes through all transmissions to alert the public. This station is no lightweight, nor a little back street entity catering for a quirky minority. This is mass market, taking Gods word to millions in the format that is not only true to the word, but exciting, lively and effective – whether you are at home, work, in the car – anywhere. While on holiday recently in ‘Z land’, Alice and myself made our way to an outside broadcast from a local church, and the reception we got was out of this world. Three days later, on invitation, we were toured right through the studio complex, and even met some of the presenters. I went on air and talked about Christian Radio in the UK (or the lack of), and our gratitude to the internet.

It all brought home the fact that we need less regulation here so stations like this can set up. It is not all about money too, Z88 has no paid advertising on air, it is completely supported by its listeners, which makes it all the more amazing what God has done in a Florida, sending it around the world on the Internet.