Kveðja frá Reykjavík, Iceland — “Greetings from Reykjavik, Iceland!”
by Matthew Crouch
Laurie and I, along with our TBN team, just finished up with a three-day visit to Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, and we are excited about what God is doing in this small Nordic island nation, and about the future of Christian television here.
Nearly twenty-five years ago my father planted a simple seed for the Gospel here, and when we came back a few days ago to visit we were amazed at how that little seed, sown in faith so many years ago, has grown, and the awesome potential that exists for sending life-changing Christian programming throughout Iceland, Scandinavia, and Europe.
First a little history …
My parents, Paul and Jan Crouch, along with the TBN team, Laurie, and I, began stopping in Iceland back in the late 1980s as we were flying through to Russia and beyond. It was during one of those many stops that my dad found himself paging through Iceland’s only newspaper in English and saw a story about Erik Erikson and a Christian television channel he had started in Reykjavik, Omega Television.
Naturally my dad was curious, and after a little digging he found the phone number for Erik — who actually thought someone was playing a practical joke on him when he got the call. “Could this really be Paul Crouch Sr., a pioneering leader in Christian television, calling me?” he wondered. “How could he even find my unlisted phone number?”
According to Erik, after some small talk, dad inquired about the station and the transmitter. Upon hearing that all they had to send out their signal was a muffled, ten-watt transmitter, dad didn’t miss a beat and told Erik matter-of-factly, “You need a bigger transmitter — and TBN is going to help you. In fact, I think you need a thousand-watt transmitter!”
A few weeks later TBN’s Chief Engineer, Ben Miller, flew to Iceland, met with Erik, and placed an order for a brand-new thousand-watt transmitter — and the seed was planted. We later found out that the transmitter TBN helped Omega Television with was the most powerful one on the whole island of Iceland. In typical Paul Crouch Sr. fashion, my dad reminded Erik of Zechariah 4:10, not to forsake “small beginnings.”
Over the next few years we didn’t have much opportunity to make it to Iceland, and so we more or less lost contact with Erik Erikson and Omega TV — until just a few days ago.
Our reconnection came about earlier this year as we began talking and wondering about Iceland and the little station my dad had connected with in Reykjavik. So as we were planning our Spring international trip to check in with TBN’s networks and projects overseas, we e-mailed Erik and Omega Television to see how things were going. He immediately responded to our e-mail, telling us: “This is unbelievable! We were just talking about TBN yesterday, and praying how we could get connected with you again somehow. It’s amazing that today we came into the office and here is an e-mail from you!”
We decided that the first stop on our trip would be Iceland, where we met up with Erik and he told us the miraculous backstory of Omega TV. Back in 1991 Erik felt a clear leading from the Lord to build a Christian television station in Iceland. He applied to the government for a broadcast license and nine months later, in July 1992 — equipped with that little ten-watt transmitter — Iceland’s “Gospel Channel” was on the air.
However, Erik was certain that the Lord wanted to do more, and thus came that first call from Paul Crouch. In short order the thousand-watt transmitter was put in place to send out the message of God’s grace throughout Iceland — and nearly 25 years later Omega Television is reaching not just the nation of Iceland, but also millions of households throughout Scandinavia and Europe via satellite.
But that is not all! As it approaches its Silver Anniversary, Omega Television is preparing to add an “English only” Christian channel, a move that could be approved by Iceland’s government in the next couple of months. Erik said that once this happens, they would like to use the cable channel to broadcast TBN 24-7 throughout all of Iceland! That means many more individuals and families throughout the island will have access to life-changing Christian programming.
My dad always had great discernment for the “good ground” into which TBN could plant the precious seed of the Gospel, and it is certain that God led him straight to Erik Erikson and Omega Television those many years ago. And it’s just as certain that God gave us this miraculous re-connection for a new chapter in an amazing partnership to send the Gospel to many more people.
As we listened to Erik, his wife Kristin, and the small Omega Television staff during our visit to Iceland, three things became clear to us: their solid commitment to God, their deep humility, and their passion to share the life-changing message of Jesus’ love with as many people as possible. The four guiding principles Erik laid out for Omega Television sum it all up: Love God— Pray Hard — Do What He Says — Have Faith.
That’s the kind of ground that will bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God. We have witnessed it first-hand. Nearly twenty-five years ago Paul Crouch and TBN’s faithful partners planted a simple seed with a thousand-watt transmitter broadcasting Christian television to Iceland’s capital city of less than 200,000 people. We returned a quarter-century later to find Omega Television broadcasting the Gospel throughout all of Iceland, as well as to millions of households across Scandinavia and Europe.
We look forward to going back to Iceland soon and telling you the rest of this incredible story of God’s faithfulness.