Rick Abma, ministry associate and youth pastor at Woodynook Christian Reformed Church in Lacombe, Alberta, has spent Sunday mornings for the past five years tying together his love of radio with his love of ministry.
Before Abma entered the ministry as a youth pastor, he spent five years in broadcasting. Now he gets to do both.
Sunday mornings at 8 a.m., his radio show called Sunnyside Up is heard all over central Alberta. His station receives the top ratings in the area on Sunday mornings.
Together, Abma and the owners of the station decided to use the power of story, particularly the parables in the New Testament, as the show’s theme.
“It is the parable form that teaches, inspires, and engages the listener,” Abma said. “It is a privilege to be on public radio and to use parables and stories that speak of God's kingdom and the hope we have in Christ.”
Listeners tell Abma about stories in their own lives and let him know how the stories he tells affect them. One listener said that she pulled her car over when she heard Abma’s story about a monkey who reached inside a heavy container to pull out some food and was trapped because his fist wouldn’t fit back through that hole and he wasn’t willing to let any of the food go..
“The listener told me that she immediately thought about the things in her life that were holding her captive,” said Abma.
