Getting ready to spread the Gospel

High Pointer stumps for Lord in Belize
By: Jimmy Tomlin, STAFF WRITER
12/27/2004

When Don Palmer talks about wanting to broadcast the message of the Gospel, he's not just speaking figuratively.

Palmer, a High Point native who 3 1/2 years ago gave up his job as a mortgage broker and established a ministry in Belize, plans to build a Christian radio station on the southern coastline of the Caribbean nation.

"It's going to be awesome," says Palmer, who's in High Point for a few days visiting with his mother, Peggy Alexander, and other family and friends. "Our signal should be able to reach all the way into Guatemala."

The interdenominational Ministries of the Son of God – the ministry run by Palmer and his wife, Cindy – obtained a license for the new radio station in July.

The ministry already has purchased land and a 200-foot tower for the station, But another $110,000 is needed to build the station itself and buy the necessary equipment, including a 15-meter satellite dish, according to Palmer.

He says the station will be a concrete structure, built to withstand the powerful hurricanes to which southern Belize is vulnerable.

The ministry also wants to buy and distribute solar-powered radios to distribute to the locals, the majority of whom do not have power, says Vincent Townsend of Kernersville, a volunteer supporter of the ministry who is speerheading the fund-raising campaign to build the radio station.

Palmer says the radio station is another exciting chapter of the work that God is doing through his ministry in southern Belize.

"Last year we had two churches there, and now we've got seven, with an eighth on the way," he says.

"And now we're going to have this Christian radio station. I'm telling you, God is really in this – He's moving."

Palmer is hoping to get satellite transmissions from the Moody Broadcasting Network, an Illinois comapny that provides a wide variety of Christian programming.

There will also be some locally oriented programming, which was a requirement for obtaining the license, Palmer says.