The ministry’s growth has “gone way beyond our wildest imagination,” says Dan Johnson, president of Christian Radio for Russia (CRFR) which operates New Life Radio (NLR). By transmitting over the Internet and two satellites, the station has access to 45 million homes across Russia and Europe, reaching from France to Japan as well. People of Russian descent living in the United States also are able to tune in to the programs. To learn more about accessing programming, visit streaming radio. Russian-speaking individuals can have access to the programming by visiting the New Life Radio website.
The ministry began when delegates to the 1993 Annual Meeting voted to open Russia as a mission field and asked Johnson to develop a Christian radio station in the country. It would be three years before a license could be secured, but in 1996, 102.5 FM went on the air in Magadan, becoming what Johnson believes was the first Christian FM radio station in the country.
The denomination ended its supervisory role of the radio station in 2000, but Johnson and other Covenanters formed the nonprofit CRFR to continue the work. More than 90 percent of the $15,000 monthly operating budget comes from Covenanters, Johnson says. The station also has worked to have satellite dishes placed in more than 40 prisons and orphanages so that they can receive the signal.
The success of the station has come despite setbacks largely related to repeated conflicts with the government – the most intense efforts coming during the past five years. In 2005, the government forced the Magadan station to close while it reviewed NLR’s license.
The following year, the Russian Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications denied the license, permanently closing the station. That year, the government also blocked access to the popular satellite NLR was using, which greatly reduced the station’s broadcasting reach. In response, the radio station began sending its programs across the Internet and eventually was able to secure rights to use one of the most popular satellites in Europe.
The government continues to legislate against all missionary efforts and has denied licensing to all Christian radio stations as their renewal dates approach, Johnson says. In December, Covenant project missionaries Leonid and Leanna Regheta were forced to leave their home in St. Petersburg due to a new regulation on visas. Regulations now force most missionaries in Russia to end their work, or at least confine themselves to a 90-day stay in the country before being forced to leave. They must reapply to enter the country, Johnson says.
The crackdown on religious groups other than the Orthodox Church comes as the government reduces freedom for its citizens, Johnson observes. “No alternative points of view are allowed on the radio or TV,” Johnson says. “Journalists who criticize the government are fired.”
Johnson says the station remains committed to operating. “The mission of New Life Radio is to build the church,” he states. He foresees the day, however, when it may have to move to Ukraine, where the pressures against evangelism are not nearly the same as in Russia.
