Many have called 2020 "the worst year ever," but on CHVN our audience (or the "CHVN family" as I affectionately refer to our audience) made it the best year ever for our ministry partners.

On Thursday CHVN wrapped up its final radiothon of the year, raising an incredible $200,728 for Adult & Teen Challenge. That means that in 2020, the audience donated a total of $579,783.00 across five radiothons. It's a fitting end for CHVN's 20th year.

Before our first radiothon in the spring (for Youth for Christ Winnipeg) we weren't even sure if we should go ahead with a radiothon as the pandemic had just been announced. "I know, being on so many phone calls, we talked about the optics of doing radiothons," says CHVN's station manager, Grant Smadella.

"We asked things like 'is it tasteful to be asking for money right now?' 'Is it respectful, or are we disrespecting the audience?' because of the unknown of people's employment situations. And, yet, I just remember feeling like, there's a cost to doing ministry, there's a cost to reaching people, there's a cost and we all have to invest. This isn't a gift, this isn't a donation, it's an investment in Kingdom causes, and so we decided to move forward, show up, do the work, and let God do His thing."

Each radiothon focuses on the stories of the people reached by each ministry partner: Youth for Christ Winnipeg, Camp Arnes, Siloam Mission, Operation Christmas Child, and Adult & Teen Challenge of Central Canada. The powerful stories of people experiencing the love of Jesus through these ministries connected deeply with the audience, and it's clear that the Holy Spirit was prompting His people to respond both in prayer and with financial gifts.

In the middle of a pandemic year, the CHVN family didn't just beat the annual record, they shattered it by $170,265.60

"The fact that in 2020 it's our best year ever, it's a testament to our audience, it's a testament to what God is doing in our city and our province, and it's a testament to these Kingdom investments. It's that important, even in the face of a global pandemic that is crippling economies, and shaking people physically and mentally, there's stress financially as well, God is bigger than all of that, and this year proves it."

From all of us at CHVN and our ministry partners, thank you to every one of you in the CHVN family. Your prayers, encouragement, and generosity never cease to amaze us! Let's enjoy this Advent and Christmas season and pray that we would continue to be willing to be the hands and feet of Christ, together.

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