Portland, Ore.; Vancouver, Wash.; and Salem, Ore., tune your televisions to digital Channel 36 KEVE! As of 1:45 p.m. Wed., Oct. 20, Adventists now have a TV presence in the greater Portland and Salem areas. The Oregon Conference and Better Life Broadcasting Network have partnered in bringing Adventist programming to Portland.
The series of events leading to this miracle are many. The owners of KEVE contacted Better Life Broadcasting Network. They felt that Better Life’s ministry fit what they wanted to see happen with the station. So they offered to sell the station for the price of $750,000. The sellers later reduced the price to $700,000 and then donated back $100,000 so that the actual final price was $600,000.
Miraculously, a brand new, still-in-the-box antenna that had been in storage for the past 10 years was discovered for sale. Amazingly, it was already tuned to broadcast on Channel 36. The station sellers purchased the antenna, worth $20,000, for $500 and donated it to Better Life.
The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist gave the Oregon Conference $500,000 and the North Pacific Union Conference gave $100,000 to help with the station purchase to get Adventist programming on the air. The Oregon Conference will own the station and Better Life Broadcasting Network will manage programming. Even following the purchase, the sellers were so supportive of the ministry they did some reengineering, allowing the station to reach down to Salem.
At the short ribbon-cutting ceremony that accompanied the “flipping of the switch,” Al Reimche, Oregon Conference president, gave a prayer of dedication: “Holy Spirit, work in this area, use this equipment and signal to glorify God … And we look forward to working with all the individuals that you send to us … Now take this and use it to Your glory.”
(Gary McLain)
Pictured back row, from left are: Bill Whitt, Better Life Broadcasting Network chief engineer; Robert Rogers, Broadcast Tower Services. Pictured middle row, from left are: Jeff Mize, electronics technician; Jon Corder, conference VP of finance; Ron Davis, general manager. Pictured front row, from lef are: Herald Follett, conference legal counsel; Richard Crowley, local volunteer, engineer and producer; Al Reimche, conference president; Delmer Wagner, network founder and board chairman. (Gary McLain)
Back row, from left: Bill Whitt, Better Life Broadcasting Network chief engineer; Robert Rogers, Broadcast Tower Services. Middle row, from left: Jeff Mize, electronics technician; Jon Corder, conference VP of finance; Ron Davis, general manager. Front row, from left: Herald Follett, conference legal counsel; Richard Crowley, local volunteer, engineer and producer; Al Reimche, conference president; Delmer Wagner, network founder and board chairman. (Gary McLain)
Delmer Wagner, Better Life Broadcasting Network founder and board chairman, flips the switch to begin the first official broadcast to Portland, Ore., and beyond. (Gary McLain)
The sky's the limit, as Oregon Conference personnel gaze at the antenna that will broadcast Better Life programming to the Portland metro area. (Gary McLain)
