RCR

ministry

Preaching the Gospel in the Russian Language since 1946

Make disciples of all nations... (Mt 28:19)

History

"Millions of Russians for Christ" was the dream of his father, inspiring our founder, Earl Poysti, to broadcast the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to the Russian people - and these words remain a challenge for Russian Christian Radio today.

Russian Christian Radio (RCR) began as a radio ministry in 1946, as the "Iron Curtain" was cutting off Russia and the other countries of the Soviet Union from the rest of the world, and atheism was imposed on the Russian people. Nikolai Poysti, the father of our founder Earl Poysti, had been a missionary and evangelist in Russia. God gave him a vision of "Millions of Russians for Christ!' which gave him the idea to continue to spread the Gospel to Russians via radio. So in 1946, he and his son Earl made arrangements and began sending their radio programs to a shortwave radio station in Quito, Ecuador to be broadcast internationally, with the hope that every Russian-speaker would hear about Christ and his love and sacrifice for them. That vision was but a dream back then, and yet the Lord showed the Poystis that one day the cult of Communism would be destroyed and they would be able to freely proclaim the message of salvation through Christ alone. No doors will remain closed to God, and radio became the method through which Nikolai and Earl were able to reach the Russian people with the Gospel message.

Within one year of his first radio broadcast, Nikolai Poysti passed away and was ushered into eternity, and although his son Earl was only in his mid-twenties, he took over the ministry and became the founder of Russian Christian Radio. By 1957, Earl was broadcasting a weekly program to Russian youth over five shortwave radio stations (Manila, Philippines; Inchon, Korea; Lisbon, Portugal; Quito, Ecuador and Alaska) which covered the whole Soviet Union from all sides - all 11 time zones! He didn't know it at the time, but many people began to recognize his strong, deep voice cutting through the jammed signals and listened to his clear, easy to understand messages of salvation. In 1962, Earl began his well-known program, "Word of Life," which was broadcast by Trans World Radio. Shortwave radio allowed millions of people in the Soviet Union to hear the Gospel, and only God knows how many of these people came to faith in Christ through the ministry of radio broadcasting these many years. In the late 1980s when Earl was allowed back into Russia, large crowds of people awaited him and wanted to hear him speak. Some people called Earl Poysti the "Billy Graham for Russia."

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, our ministry was incorporated as two separate entities:
1) Russian Christian Radio, Inc. (RCR) in Estes Park, Colorado, where founder Earl Poysti recorded sermons for radio programs and planned evangelical meetings across Russia, and
2) Russian Christian Radio - Moscow (RCR-Moscow) in Moscow, Russia, where Earl's son, John Poysti, gathered together the staff needed to expand this ministry within Russia. (Its official name was later changed to "Gospel Call" for official government purposes.) We continue to work very closely together to accomplish the joint ministry God has given to us.

With RCR-Moscow in place, RCR's radio programming was able to be broadcast directly all over Russia through the government network for a few years. The programs produced by Earl Poysti were broadcast over "Radio - 1" and other government-owned radio stations. When broadcasting over the government network became too expensive to continue, RCR turned its attention to broadcasting over regional and local stations in Russia. Programs were also developed that focused on Russia's children and youth, to answer questions for everyday people, and to provide programs for those behind bars.

Today, the emphasis has moved from radio to video programs, which are available worldwide via the internet on various platforms such as YouTube, Spotify and Yandex Music, and on our Russian website, www.rcr.ru. Earl's original sermons are also still available for listening on our Russian website.

The ministry of RCR has expanded such that we are now involved in much more than just radio and video programs. Through God's guidance, in 1995, RCR developed a Christian magazine designed for Russian-speaking prisoners known as The Gospel Behind Barbed Wire, which is distributed throughout Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union, Germany, and even the United States. There is no other magazine like this anywhere in Russia and possibly the world! From the Moscow office, we also answer many letters that are sent to us asking for spiritual help and counsel. About the same time, we expanded our ministry to include a halfway house for Christian prisoners being released from prison, which grew into a network of Christian rehabilitation centers for those with addictions, known as "Pirkko Homes," which offer a solid foundation in how to know Christ personally and how to grow spiritually.

What began as a dream and a seemingly unreachable goal has grown into a ministry that is clearly experiencing God's blessing and direction. Our ministry methods have changed with time, but the same Gospel message of life in Jesus Christ continues as our principal focus and we continue to proclaim that message to all those who will listen and come to faith in Christ as Savior and Lord.

Chronology of the life and ministry of Earl Poysti

1920 - Born Earl Poysti, Nikolsk-Ussuriysk, Russia, the son of Nikolai Ivanovich and Martha Ivanovna.

1935 – The family moved permanently to the United States.

1938-1945 – Earl Poysti studied at the National Bible Institute of New York (graduated in 1943) and New York University - (graduated in 1947).

1943 – Earl Poysti became U.S. citizen.

1943-1945 - Earl Poysti served as a pastor in a small Swedish Pentecostal Church in Arlington, NJ. He was ordained by Independent Assemblies of God - 1943

1946 - Nikolai Ivanovich Poysti began to broadcast from New York over a local radio station to the one million Russian speakers in the area.

1946-1947 - N. Poysti expanded radio ministry and transmitted radio programs from the station "Voice of the Andes" (HCJB) from Quito, Ecuador. Earl joined his father in this ministry.

1947-1955 - Earl Poysti worked with the East European Mission in New York, editing the magazine "The Way of Faith", started by his father in 1931, and preparing radio programs.

May 1949 - Married to Pirkko Suomela from Finland.

1955-1957 - Earl Poysti served as pastor of Baptist Church in Pasadena, California. Ordained by California Baptist Conference Churches – 1955. During this period he was not involved in the radio ministry.

Period 1957-1960 - Earl Poysti cooperated with the radio station Far East Broadcasting Company, which broadcast his radio programs.

May, 1957-1960 – Earl Poysti joined the mission Gospel Furtherance Society, Inc. Moved to the town of Buchen, «Sonnental», Germany and worked there with his brother Daniel with refugee children. At the same time he was weekly broadcasting to Russian youth through the five short-wave radio stations (Manila, Philippines; Inchon, Korea; Lisbon, Portugal; «Voice of the Andes" - Quito, Ecuador and Alaska - if you look at the map, it covered the whole Soviet Union from all sides) and also preached on weekends in many churches in Poland, Finland, Czechoslovakia.

1960 – Earl Poysti visited the Soviet Union; he was not allowed to preach there.

1961 - Earl Poysti went back to the USSR with Jack Wyrtzen, director of Word of Life.

January 1962 - Earl Poysti’s program ‘Word of Life’ began to be regularly broadcast from Trans World Radio, Monte Carlo, Monaco.

1962-1969 - The Poysti family lived in Monte Carlo, Monaco, with Trans World Radio.

1971-1984. – Earl Poysti joined and operated under the Pocket Testament League organization.

1984 - Earl Poysti started his own mission Russian Christian Radio.

1971-1977 – The Poysti family lived in Austria, continuing the radio ministry.

1978-1983 – The Poysti family lived in Stockholm, Sweden, continuing the radio ministry.

1983-2010 – The Poysti family lived in Estes Park, Colorado, USA continuing the radio ministry till 2000.

1991 - The beginning of the mission RCR in Moscow, started by the son of Earl - John Poysti.

May 1994 - The death of Earl’s wife - Pirkko (66 years).

October 1995 – Earl’s second marriage to Natalia Makarenko from Russia (born in KZ).

March 2010 - The death of Earl Poysti (89 years).

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