From Amazing Facts’ humble beginning in 1965 — recording radio programs in a basement! — our mission has not changed: to boldly proclaim the everlasting gospel to all people, in all places.
Now 45 years later, through our global television, publishing, and internet outreach, we are still seeing amazing transformations happen in people’s lives all over the world.
For instance, recently, a searching soul from the distant nation of Romania discovered our online 666 video, saying, “I would like to thank Pastor Doug for the effort he made to present the truth about 666 and the mark of the beast. I am now determined to look for the true church in this troubled world. God is so great! I have been born again, and now I am preparing to make it public in a Sabbath church. May God bless Amazing Facts to lead as many people as possible in the years to come!”
Discover Amazing Facts on Discovery
Yet of all our current outreach methods, most people get their first exposure to Amazing Facts through our television programs. This is often the gateway into more Bible lessons and, through the Holy Spirit, a lasting relationship with the Son of God.
Just how wide is this impact? Well, just in the last six months, more than 50,000 TV viewers have contacted this ministry to learn more about Jesus and last-day Bible prophecy. (Keep in mind, for every person who contacts us, there might be another 1,000 watching whodo not instantly call or write.)
God’s message through Amazing Facts programming is now being spread to all corners of the globe on 633 television and radio stations — reaching a potential audience of more than 250 million people.
But as incredible as this is, we now have the opportunity to increase that impact by — by broadcasting our programs on the Discovery Channel!
Arrows, Windows, and Opportunity
When Elisha was ill and about to die, Joash, the king of Israel, went to visit him. Fearing his people would soon be conquered by the brutal Syrians, he desperately pleaded with Elisha for help. Elisha had the young king shoot an arrow out of a window, and then the old prophet made it very clear that Joash had a window of opportunity to gain complete victory over his enemies:
“The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria” (2 Kings 13:17).
Then Elisha commanded the king to do something that might have seemed odd … to beat the remaining arrows on the ground. What happened next is very important:
“So he [the king] struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God [Elisha] was angry with him, and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.’ ”
Imagine the king’s regret when he realized the opportunity that had just passed him by for all time … instead of total victory over his enemies, he would still be subject to disappointment and defeat.
When it comes to Amazing Facts media, God is giving you and me a window of opportunity to use our arrows. It would be a shame to stop short of total victory now, wouldn’t it?
No Ordinary Network
The Discovery Channel is one of the most popular and easily recognized television networks in the world. It attracts a unique and diverse viewership with programs like “MythBusters,” “Man vs. Wild,” or even “The Universe.” They have a huge audience of more than 99 million in just North America. This represents a vast group of secular people we are not reaching with our current array of TV channels.
So here’s what happened…
In recent years, the Discovery Channel began providing a few hours each day for paid programming. But they are very discriminating about what programs they’re willing to share this precious time with … not to mention that it is greatly in demand and there are rarely any timeslots open. Still, Amazing Facts felt impressed this might be a divine opportunity, so we prayed and sent them one of our TV recordings.
After viewing our program, they not only agreed to air the Amazing Facts broadcast — but after talking with them, they cut the cost nearly in half and gave us a better timeslot! But we had to act fast, because several other groups wanted this opening.
I believed this was such a divine opportunity, to broadcast the truth on this national network, which can be seen in every major cable television and satellite market in America, I told them we’ll take it.
So on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, Amazing Facts began broadcasting our flagship program on the Discovery Channel.
The problem is, however, we did not build this broadcasting opportunity into our 2009/2010 budget. And to broadcast on this huge network will cost us close to $600,000 for a full year. But we had to act quickly, so we stepped out in faith, trusting that you would also believe this is too good of an evangelistic opportunity to let slip by.
I believe hundreds of thousands of new people are going to discover the ultimate Bible truth, the truth about God’s character, for the very first time. That’s simply amazing. Yet that means we’re going to need your arrows to keep shooting the words of life through this window of hope!
I want to do everything I can to take advantage of these miracle of God’s providence, to help people reach the harbor of heaven. We need to say “yes” to this golden opportunity to expand our media evangelism through the Discovery Channel — and back it up by shooting our arrows of support through this wide-open window.
Will you stand with us? Will you strike your arrows on the ground? A gift of any amount during this crucial time of year will make it possible to win the battle of souls over and over and over again.
And remember, as a non-profit ministry, your gift this month, post-marked by December 31, is tax-deductible on your 2009 tax return.
Your faithful evangelist, Pastor Doug Batchelor