In January, 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt, his staff and America’s military leaders were preparing for the Yalta Conference which was to be held in the small town of Yalta in the southern part of the Soviet Union. The conference began on February 5, 1945 and concluded on February 11^th with some decisions being made that changed our world in many ways.

A young 2^nd Lieutenant was ordered to provide the communication equipment making it possible for President Roosevelt to communicate from Yalta to the White House, halfway around the world. That equipment was designed to use the ionosphere to deflect what were known as short wave signals, making it possible to broadcast actual voices for thousands of miles.

The young officer began to think, "if it’s possible to send the president’s message that far, why can’t we use the same equipment and technology to send the Word of God around the world?" He presented his idea to lots of people - many of them "nay sayers" - but, finally he took his idea to an Abilene Christian College professor by the name of Lowell Perry. Dr. Perry said, "It will work. Let’s do it."

After many, many difficulties and tragedies, including the death of Dr. Perry and two others while searching by plane for a transmitter site, World Christian Broadcasting sent its first broadcasts to China and Russia on July 23, 1983.

A veteran Christian missionary named Maurice Hall was that young 2^nd Lieutenant. It took more than 38 years for his idea to become a reality. He’s 82 years old now and he and his wife, Marie, still work for World Christian Broadcasting.

But, that’s not the end of the story. A few weeks ago Dr. John Tyson, Vice President of World Christian Broadcasting’s Board of Directors was in California and visited the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. One of the first things he saw was a display relative to the Yalta Conference.

Tyson relayed that information to the office in Franklin. On his next trip to California WCBC Vice President Andy Baker visited the Nixon Library with the Halls. On display were photographs of the Yalta participants, Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin. The black cape worn by Mr. Roosevelt and so prominent in the famous pictures of the conference was prominently displayed.

But, the most exciting article on display was the short wave receiver Roosevelt used. It was the actual equipment Lt. Hall had sent to Yalta some 57 years earlier.

Even though no pictures were supposed to be taken of the display, when the story was told to the curator, several pictures were made of this historical event. In fact, Hall had brought the commendation he had received in 1945 for his excellent work. And a picture was made in front of the display holding that commendation.

Maurice and Marie Hall may be reached at 11730 E. Whittier Blvd. #39, Whittier, CA 90601 and email: MCHNMCH@AOL.COM.

This story courtesy of WBTC.  Would you like to visit World Bible Translation Center on the internet, or would you like to return to the home page?

                     KNLS International, © 2001/2002 - Mike Osborne webmaster