but I’ll share some words with you soon, too.  🙂

STACEY GAGNE –

Today Yosef and our new friends Michi and AJ from Compassion Ethiopia took our group on a tour to the top of Mt Ntoto and parts of the city.  I could have ridden around all day taking in the culture and different sites.   On the way to the top of the mountain we passed many market stands, government buildings and tons of people walking along the streets, selling various items or begging.  I would have called it a very busy day on the street, but actually most people were not out today because of the holiday.  Today is Meskel, a major religious/cultural holiday celebrated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.  One of the legends they celebrate is that Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great found “the true cross of Christ”.  It is celebrated with dancing, feasting and lighting of bonfires.  (we saw some of those last night).

In the pictures below you will see views from Ntoto (you can see the heavy fog over the city), an art gallery with beautiful cultural paintings that was in a shack at the top of the mountain, and sites we saw as we drove through the marketplace and the city.   There were eucalyptus plants in the woods on Mt. Ntoto that smelled amazing when you squished the leaves between your fingers.  There were children that followed us while we wandered around on the mountain.   They were VERY diligent in trying to find ways to get money from us and unfortunately I couldn’t take the picture of the following (because they would have wanted me to pay them for it):  they were very creatively  “skateboarding” and sliding down the road on a piece of a smashed up plastic bottle.  There were also women carrying bundles of sticks they had gathered.  Many many people approached the van asking for money including a group of children who sang lines from the chorus “This is the Day” and then said “no program”.  Wow, that was tough for me.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get a better “group in the van shot”.   Although we were pretty full, with 14 of us in a 10 passenger van,  we passed many many vans with way more people crammed in them.

Tomorrow the plan is to visit Sadamo Guenet Student Center and Addis Ababa Gospel Deliverance Church Student Center as well as some home and office tours.  I’m excited to meet and spend time with the children!!!

Stacey Gagne

Experiencing Compassion in Ethiopia

Greetings from Addis Ababa Ethiopia!  Thank you for your prayers, I made it!

My connection at Dulles went off without a hitch.  I took the shuttle to my terminal and found the gate for Ethiopian Airlines.  I wasn’t there long before I ran into my friend Mark Hollingsworth from Compasssion International; the leader of our trip.  Soon , the rest of the team of other radio people started showing up from their various locations.  We quickly began to get to know each other and joke around.   This will be such an experience to have together.  There are several of us that are new at this.

While we waited for the last few radio people to arrive, we sat around, looked at a map of Ethiopia and talked about the upcoming trip.  Soon after that we had dinner and boarded the plane for our 14 hour flight!    The descent and departure in and out of Rome (our fuel stop) was beautiful.   I peeked out the window every once in a while to see mainly water or dessert.   I was able to see the sun set as we made our descent into Addis Ababa and it looked like the sky was on fire!  So gorgeous…thank you Lord!   I can’t believe I’m across the world!

The airport experience and drive from there to the hotel we are staying at was already eye opening and definitely affected me.  I am looking forward to seeing the hope and the provision that Compassion is providing to so many (and through many of you!) and I know that they can provide for so many more like those I saw today!  It will be great to hear the first hand accounts from the children and families.

Looking forward to sharing more of my experiences with you in pictures and reports.

Stacey  Gagne

-Experiencing Compassion in Ethiopia

STACEY GAGNE – We received an email from a listener going through some difficult times.  She shared with us how God used WJTL to help her….

“Dear WJTL,

I just wanted to take the time to thank you for the impact you have
made in my life, and especially in the last week.  I moved into this
area a little over a year ago, and have been hooked on your station
ever since.  So, now to the point of this e-mail.

Last Monday, we were informed that my grandfather, who had been a
relatively healthy 74 year old up until a couple weeks ago, has a
tumor on his pancreas, and that it’s cancerous.  To top that off, I
got a call Thursday that my sister-in-law was diagnosed with breast
cancer at the age of 32.  We don’t know what stage either of them
are at yet, we are still waiting for the many test results.  All our
family can do right now is pray that God’s will be done and for
peace in the midst of this storm.

That is where you come in.  You have no idea how God has used you in
the last week to bless me.  As I drive to and from each work each
day, I tune into your station, and God always does his work.
Whether it’s a song about how great our God is to how awesome his
healing power is to just the right song to make me laugh when I’m
feeling down.  You let God use you, and it has made a terrible week
bearable.  I have laughed, I have cried, and spent may commutes
singing along, making your songs my prayers.

So, I said all that to say a giant thank you!  And encourage you to
continue to allow God to do His awesome work through you.  I’m sure
you get letters every day about how God uses you, but I really
needed to tell you what he is doing through you in my life.

Many blessings to you!
A Listener named Kelly

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Thankful that God is using us!

Stacey Gagne

STACEY GAGNE – Wow, it’s hard to believe that in less than a week I’ll be boarding a plane and heading to Ethiopia!  I received my Trip Guide put together by Compassion and it has a wealth of information to prepare me for my adventures.  I’m so thankful that they are already taking good care of me as I head to the other side of the world with them.

People have asked if I have a sponsored child in Africa and I don’t (yet).   I sponsor a (now) young man named Miguel from Bolivia.  I sponsored him during one of WJTL’s 26 Hours of Compassion several years ago.  He’s 15 now.  It’s so fun to receive letters from him and to watch him grow.  At first his letters were mostly pictures and now he sends thoughtful letters.    I know that at the center he is receiving Bible teaching, education, field trips,  and fun activities with people who desire to show him God’s love as they care for him.  He tells me about what he is learning and thanks me often.   It’s always amazing to me how his letters can be so encouraging to me.

Having never been overseas, I am sure that this trip will help me understand even more clearly why Compassion’s ministry is so important and even to relate better to my sponsored child!

Stay tuned for my live reports and blogs next week!!

You have probably heard the phrase “Christ, Community,  Music” mentioned on the air fairly often on WJTL.   These are 3 key elements to the ministry of WJTL.

We are looking forward to focusing on the Community portion of this phrase on Saturday,  October 9th from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm when we host our first WJTL Community Day at Manor Church in Lancaster.

Though we are still putting together all of the fun aspects of the day;  we know that there will be a variety of family yard sale type booths, ministries and businesses.  The Kids Cookie Break will be live and we have plans to have a variety of fun family activities available throughout the day.  Turkey Hill is planning to be on site with their fun mascot Bo.

Booth spaces are available for families, ministries and businesses.  Please contact Stacey by emailing stacey@wjtl.com or by calling 717-392-3690 x 301 with questions or to book your space.  The community is invited to come join us for a fun day!   Stay tuned to FM90.3 or wjtl.com for more details!!  Directions are available here

STACEY GAGNE – You may have heard on the air by now, but in case you haven’t … I’m going to Ethiopia!!!  I’m super excited to be heading to Ethiopia with Compassion International Sept 25 thru Oct 2nd.  Not only is this my first trip with Compassion and my first trip to Africa; it’s my first trip overseas!   I couldn’t think of a better first trip for me than to travel with Compassion, an organization I have loved and sponsored a child through for many years!

Though I don’t have all the specifics of my trip, yet, I do know that I’ll be traveling with staff from other radio stations as we learn more about what God is doing through Compassion in Ethiopia.  From what I understand, I’ll be visiting Child Sponsorship projects, Child Survival Projects, meeting with college students in their leadership development program and visiting with Compassion’s Ethiopia Country Staff.  I will be getting my more detailed trip itinerary soon.

I hope that my trip will allow you to see and hear the heart of what needs there are for children in Ethiopia and what can be done/is being done to meet those needs through Compassion International.  We’ll also be giving an opportunity for you and the rest of our listeners to get involved and sponsor a child during our 26 Hours of Compassion coming up at the end of October.

I invite you to listen in and read along while I’m on my journey, and please pray for me too!  Thanks!

– Stacey Gagne

Giddy WJTL Employee and Compassion International Child Sponsor

– STACEY GAGNE

Today we received an encouraging letter from an anonymous donor:

“I would like to thank you for your obedience to God’s unique calling.  I have not listened to Christian radio much until recently.  I have been so encouraged and strengthened by the music, testimonies and clips of sermons.  I appreciate so much your testimony of trust in God’s faithfulness.  I wanted to bless you with a small gift.  I only was able to put $10.00 in with my letter, but I have prayed over this money and I believe that God can and will multipuy this small gift to whatever amount athat you have been praying for.   “Ask and it will be given to you…”

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And to that I say Amen.  Thanks to all our listeners who choose to prayerfully invest in the ministry of WJTL.  You are an answer to our prayers.

Stacey M. Gagne

-Thankful for our listeners!

I’m excited.  2  weeks from today is Purple Door!!!  I’ve been involved with the festival one way or another since it started and I really love it.  This year I’m very excited about the line up.  You can check out the schedule and other details at purpledoor.com.    If you haven’t seen the artist line up yet… you might be surprised… since there’s a “Main Stage”, “HM Stage” and “Gallery Stage” there is something for a variety of tastes and a combination of  bands/artists/speakers you might not find at other festivals.   I, personally,  am usually found at the Gallery Stage in my free time… though you might be surprised to see me bouncing around to some of the heavier bands, too.  🙂  Leigh Nash, John Mark McMillan  and Paper Route are on my hope to see list… as are August Burns Red and Project 86…Oceans in Love and Family Force 5 and…. well o.k. everyone.   Plus I love just working together with my friends to put together this kind of event.

For those of you who can’t make it out, (well and also for you who are coming) please  pray for those attending and for the artists/speakers/youth leaders/staff/attendees, etc and their opportunities to impact each other in creative ways.  Many of our attendees might not be as apt to walk into a lot of other traditional settings,  might never turn on WJTL, or could be daily listeners, but we hope that either way that people make positive connections and most importantly to find Jesus in the midst of the music, teaching, art, and community at the festival.

Here’s a great email from a listener in Missouri!

“We just got DSL were we live (we hunt from our back porch) and I was going through some of my old links and came across WJTL from when we lived in Atglen Pa. 3+ years ago. I down loaded the link to listen over the internet and and the first song I heard was Trains up in the Sky.  This brought back memories like you can not believe.  Before we moved WJTL was the only station we listened to for over 20 years.  You were always a blessing and many years ago something Fred said saved my life.  Keep up the good work and we will be listening.  Can you tell all my friends at Sight & Sound I said HI over the air?

Thank You and god Bless
Jim Evans

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Thanks Jim!!!  So encouraging!!!

Speaking of listening to WJTL from out of the area… in a couple of months I’ll be FAR out of the area… using my passport… and communicating back to WJTL.  This is a teaser, more details to come… but let’s just say I think I will have new Compassion for children  and families on another continent and I’m very very excited and humbled for this opportunity.