Journalism - Simply and Powerfully

Journalism - Simply and Powerfully

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST News Service

LAKE FOREST, CA (ANS - June 30, 2016) -- This week is a special focus for ANS as we are holding our first ever ASSISTNEWS-A-THON. Please go to www.assistnews.net and give today! Your support empowers us to bring news stories from a Christian perspective and vital updates on the persecuted church.

Your gift of $25, $50, $100, or more, will help us in our goal of raising $25,000 to keep this vital news service free to all our subscribers.

All week long, friends of ANS are bringing messages about why ASSIST is so important to them. Today we hear from our good friend Chuck Pollak, Ph. D, who is known to many Christian TV and radio broadcasters as a veteran NRB committee member. He is also President of Sharing International (http://www.sharingonline.org/), as well as a dedicated educator and visionary. Here’s what Chuck Pollak has to say about ANS:

It is exceedingly rare to have access to a news source that covers stories critical to the Church International, done with sensitivity, grace and accuracy, and one that is free of charge to all who care to understand current issues. Such a publication is the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).

For many years, I have been a loyal reader of this fine service, and part of the reason is that I am is I personally know the publisher and lead reporter, Dan Wooding… and I trust him.

During my service as a broadcaster and reporter in the Middle East, Dan and I met in Israel just after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and I was instantly struck with his curiosity and the professionalism in which he held himself.

Dan had recently entered the field of Christian media after a successful secular career in London, England, and had just come from Uganda where he, and his friend, Ray Barnett, had researched and written the best-selling book, “Uganda Holocaust,” which graphically told the story of Idi Amin’s terrible eight years of misrule, during which an estimated 300,000 Christians were slaughtered by Amin and his henchmen.

As he travelled throughout Uganda, Dan was tireless, interviewing victims, soldiers, family members… always looking for the truth that often times becomes hidden by the glaring headlines… stories that are harder to do, but bring greater understanding to the audience.

He was just the same when he visited me in Israel and also at the Voice of Hope radio station in southern Lebanon, where I was working at the time. Little did either of know that not long after, in October 1985, the station would be attacked by four terrorists -- during which they were killed, -- along with two Lebanese employees of the station. Also the buildings were blown up. The station has been operated since 1979 by George Otis' High Adventure Ministries and amazingly, less than 12 hours after the raid, the station was broadcasting again, using borrowed equipment set up in a shack. Fortunately, I was not around when this all took place.

This kind of reporting is what Dan Wooding and his loyal staff bring to each story they do, and his stories on the persecuted church bring to his readers the sacrifices made by many for the profession of their faith. The mainline press rarely covers these stories. The benevolent, peaceful basis of the Christian faith makes them a target, especially in countries where they are in the minority…this is less interesting to the market-driven press than those who make much more noise and commit ever greater heinous crimes to get the attention they so crave.

ANS does journalism “the old-fashioned way”. This means it does good research, reportage and analysis, simply and powerfully. But, how does one “monetize” this altruistic form of truth-telling? For Dan and his crew, what they do and the danger often times they are in because of it, is a “calling”.

For them this means believing God for their personal support. There is no doubt that this is difficult, as many other Christian organizations have found other ways to raise funds by commercial means for travel and staff salaries and other vital costs to keep going.

Dan and the ASSIST staff give their talent, creativity and efforts, freely to the Body of Christ… giving knowledge and perspective so that Believers will know how to pray… and prayerfully… know how to act!

We read that “to whom much is given…. much is required” and we (the Church) have received greatly from the hundreds of unique stories that ASSIST covers. They deserve our thoughts… our prayers… AND our support!

I heartily endorse the efforts of ASSIST News Service and ask you to join us in providing the financial support they need to fulfill this great work!

(Chuck Pollak can be contacted by e-mail at: ctp@sharingonline.org ).

So, how you can help?

Well, it’s quite easy. Just log onto www.assistnews.net and click on the “DONATE TO ASSIST NEWS” button to make your gift of any amount. In fact, it could be a figure that the Lord lays on your heart. You can also send a check made out to “ASSIST” and mail it to: PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609, USA.

Every dollar your send will make a huge difference for persecuted believers -- our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Remember, also, in the US, all of your gifts are tax-deductible.

I hope that we can depend on you today, and thank you on behalf of the ANS team!

Photo captions: 1) Sharing God's Love in Africa. Vision Africa Radio (VAR) Station Manager, Ohakah Uche Ama-Ohakah, Sharing International’s Chuck Pollak, and VAR Founder & President, Bishop Dr. Sunday N. Onuoha, with a new transmitter. 2) Chuck Pollak speaking. 3) Dan Wooding with Ray Barnett in Uganda while researching their best-selling book.

** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).