Twenty four years ago this month, the first edition of the Good News Journal was published. It was only 8 pages with no advertisements. We printed only 500 copies. Most people would have been discouraged with such a ridiculously small beginning, especially one with zero income generated. But by that point in time I was completely convinced that this was what God had instructed me to do and because of that it wouldn’t fail. I had heard it said many times that when God gives a vision He provides.
The reason I was so sure that this was a God inspired mission was because of several events that took place months before the launch of this publication. The first event happened while I was sitting in an office of the cable TV company where I was employed. My job was to sell advertising for that company. I really didn’t like what I was doing so that day I stopped working and prayed for God to fix that situation. At that point in my life, God had fixed a number of things, including a broken marriage, so I didn’t see why He wouldn’t fix my employment situation. I had expected Him to improve the work conditions there but He led me in a completely different direction. As soon as I finished praying I began to write on a legal pad. When I stopped there were 6 pages of notes. I had to go back and read them because it was like my hand was writing but I was not in control of it. When I read what I had written I was stunned. It was a plan to start a Christian paper.
My first reaction was to laugh. My second was to tell God that He had made a HUGE mistake. I then preceded to give Him two very good reasons why His plan would not work. It is a good thing that we serve a loving God because if I was God and someone had asked me for help and I gave them a solution and then I was told I made a mistake…well that might have been a lightning bolt moment. But our God is not only loving, but patient. Over the next several days I could not get God’s plan out of my mind. As hard as I tried I could not stop thinking about it. But the two reasons that I presented to God were pretty major and I saw no way to overcome either.
The first obstacle was that my wife, Kathy and I had been in the publishing business twice in this area previously. The first, a paper called The Money Saver, was seven years of hard work that produced very little income. The second paper was called the Surry Times which came to such a bitter end that we swore that we would never, ever, get back in the publishing business. So for me to approach my wife with this new plan to start a new paper was something I really didn’t want to do. But God would not let up and on a Thursday after work I told her about the plan and took a step back. Amazingly, her response was not to throw something at me or call me names as I had expected. She responded simply,“I think that is a great idea.” Our God does work miracles! He also has quite a sense of humor. He must have been chuckling when she and I proclaimed that we would never go back into the publishing business, when He knew exactly what lay before us. Kathy went on to contribute greatly to the success of our publication by serving as our office manager until her death in 2016.
The second reason was that we were broke after the disaster of the failed paper. Yet, since my first objection had been so easily overcome, I went to the bank the next day and pitched this wild idea to my banker while standing in the lobby. Instead of the anticipated rejection I heard words I never expected from a banker, “Come back to my office and let’s pray about it.” In all my years before and after that day I have never had a banker suggest prayer over a loan. But that day we did pray. Then he asked if I had a business plan. I told him about my 6 pages of notes and he said that those would be fine and to come back Monday morning for his answer. Then came the second statement I never expected to hear from a banker, “After looking at your poor financial situation, I think you will need twice the funds that you are asking for.” Again, Our God does work miracles!
So with those two major obstacles having been overcome, I quit my job and put all my efforts into launching the Good News Journal with no doubts of it being a success. Those initial 500 copies grew steadily and we have now published over 3,400,000 papers and have expanded our territory to include an area from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina to Wytheville, Virginia. We have been blessed with many loyal advertisers whose support has allowed us to expand and most importantly to keep our paper free to all who wish to read it. This has all happened at a time when many local newspapers have had to scale back tremendously or have gone out of business altogether.
I sincerely thank all of the businesses that have supported us over these 24 years and have trusted us with their advertising dollars. May God bless your businesses abundantly now and in the years ahead!
To say that the last 24 years has been all smooth sailing would be totally false. We have met many obstacles and had many trails but with each one God has remained faithful and provided for our every need. When we were discouraged, He put people in our path that prayed for us or offered a word of encouragement at exactly the time when we needed it most. Fifteen years ago when we were in need of more income, He sent us a great sales person, Starr Poplin, who greatly increased our sales and has been a valuable contributor to our success ever since. Then two years ago He sent another sales person, Lewis Leek, whose efforts made it possible to expand our territory into Virginia and reach people that we never thought possible.
Thank you to all our readers for your prayers and kind words of encouragement over the years. And a special thanks to Starr, Lewis, Kym Gates (our talented Creative Director who has been with us from the beginning and makes our paper look great through her graphic skills) and all of our talented writers, especially local contributors Frank Huffman, Ronnie Miller and Joyce Gail for your hard work and dedication to helping us spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Most of all I thank God for the vision and provision to start and grow a Christian paper in an increasingly hostile world. I also thank Him for His patience, His grace and His guidance. It has truly been a joyful and humbling experience over the past 24 years. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us in the years to come!
I believe today, more than any time in the last 24 years, it is vital to have a Christian perspective available to the citizens of our community. We at The Good News Journal are more committed than ever to spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, giving our readers a Christian view of current events and providing inspirational articles that are spiritually uplifting.
May God Bless You All Abundantly!
David Ball, Publisher