It's May, and a radiothon is underway at San Antonio's KJMA, 89.7. The phones are ringing.
"Are you making a pledge?" asks a call-taker. Meanwhile, a priest in the familiar black shirt with white collar talks into the large studio microphone. "I'm asking our Catholics in South Texas to support this station today by helping us to not only reach a goal, but go over the goal!"
KJMA has brought out the big guns for this hour of money raising: Monsignor Patrick Ragsdale of St. Padre Pio church.
"I dedicate this hour to Archbishop Jose Gomez," says Ragsdale.
The goal for today's show isn't just money for the radio ministry, although the station is supported solely by listeners. No, the goal reaches much higher than that.
"Because we're all trying to get to heaven, we're all want to share the truth," said Richard Reyna, KJMA's General Manager. "This is one of the largest Catholic radio stations in the nation. It's a 100 watt, FM station. And I don't think there's too many more out there like it."
Through a combination of local and international programming, Catholic radio has made inroads into what was once a Protestant-dominated medium.
San Antonio is blessed with two stations: KJMA and its Spanish-speaking sister station, KWMF. The English-language KJMA is one of a dozen stations in the Guadalupe Radio Network.
Vice president Toya Hall was there at the network's inception in Midland, Texas, in 2000. The network has spread its wings in ten years, to Lamesa, Van Horn, Wellington, Austin, San Antonio and beyond.
Hall said, "We prayed about it. And we asked the Lord which market he wanted us to go to next. We would always tell the Lord, 'We want to go to Houston, next, or El Paso.' So, we quit telling the Lord where we wanted to go, and we started asking him, where do you want us to go?"
Hall said God recently answered them with a radio market outside Texas: Washington,D.C. Guadalupe Radio has spent the last month blasting gospel teachings at politicians, with 50-thousand watts on D.C's WMET, 1160 on the AM dial.
Hall said, "I think it's definitely God's timing, because we are seeing things erode away from our strong, Catholic values and our Christian values here in this country. And that's what built us, and we need to hold onto those."
Reyna says he's on a mission. As he puts it: if St. Paul -- that prolific writer and messenger of Christ -- were alive today, is there any doubt he'd be in broadcasting, spreading the word of God?
Reyna said, "They're listening. Everybody's listening. So, I love that."
Source:Texas talk radio is talking salvation | kens5.com | San Antonio News, Weather, Sports, Traffic, Entertainment, Video and Photos http://bit.ly/93Wm0s
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