August 2024 Prayer Letter
Thank you for your continued prayers for C.R.L. during this hurricane season. Although Antigua has only received some welcomed rain so far, Hurricane Beryl did go through the Caribbean islands on July 1st, as a Category 4 storm, and ravished some of the southern islands. The eye of the storm went directly over Carriacou Island, Grenada, about 340 miles south of Antigua, where former C.R.L. missionaries started another radio station, “Harbour Light of the Windwards”. Please pray for this “sister radio station,” which lost their AM tower and roofs to several buildings, that they will be able to rebuild and begin broadcasting again to the southern islands, many of which are outside our listening audience. Also, please continue to pray for safety during the remainder of hurricane season, which goes through November.
Everything seems to shift around during the summer months, as we had a couple staff members take vacation. In June, I was able to be a guest speaker via Zoom during the missions month of a supporting church on another Caribbean island. And in July, we had a mission team from the USA stay in our apartments and help with VBS and youth meetings at one of our local churches.
In 2016, I was contacted by a listener with an odd request. He asked if someone from C.R.L. would be the executor of his will, as he did not know who else he could trust. He would say that the staff at C.R.L. were his family, and he felt he knew them very well, even though he never met them personally. He was born in Antigua, but lived and worked in England for 28 years before returning to Antigua in 1986. When he returned to Antigua, he found and began listening faithfully to C.R.L. On May 24th, this listener passed away. As I began going through his personal items, I found notes upon notes that he wrote down in his Bible, some with names of C.R.L. broadcasters. I then found a log of his Bible Reading, which began with “26th Sept 1989, I read the Bible through for the first time.” The next entry said “and started for the second time 27th Sept 1989.” The final entry said “and started again the 100th time 6th March 2024”. I wish that I knew more about this man, but it was very evident that God used C.R.L. in the spiritually transformative years of his life. We had the funeral for this listener in June. Please pray as I continue to settle the remainder of his estate.
Please continue to pray for more individuals to serve at CRL both in the missionary and local staff positions. Please also pray for the finances of C.R.L. During COVID-19, we were pleasantly surprised with new donors! But in the past year, we’re seeing that we’ve lost many of these and other donors. CRL is now receiving about 79% of the $13,100 USD monthly support it needs from regular donors. Please help C.R.L. to be a tool God uses to transform lives of Caribbean listeners!
For the Lighthouse Staff,
Nathan P. Owens