New Christian radio station debuts at Gospel Light Church
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, February 1, 2017
David Gehman celebrates the new radio station’s debut with his mom, Vernie, father, Martin. | andrew garner/atmore advance
With the afternoon light shining through Gospel Light Church’s sanctuary windows, the birth of a new ministry hit the airwaves.
A new radio station, WGYJ-LP 93.5 FM “The Light” began transmitting from its temporary location just after 1 p.m. on Jan. 26.
David Gehman, who helped get the radio station up and running, couldn’t hold his excitement while debuting on air.
“This is a ministry to share the light,” Gehman said. “’The Light’ is the station name.”
Gehman, and those who helped him, had a short time to get the station up and running. The Federal Communications Commission gave the station a construction permit deadline of Jan. 31, 2017.
The radio station is the brainchild of Dale Gehman, Gehman’s older brother, who died a couple days before Thanksgiving.
Gehman said WGYJ-LP wouldn’t have been formed without the generosity of others.
Dale’s work as a radio engineer led him, along with his brothers, to construct the WASG-AM radio station in Atmore.
“We went on the air Nov. 12, 1981,” David said previously. “We operated on south Main Street, where the weather radar tower is.”
David said in an archived story that the weather radar was an acquisition from Fort Smith, Ark., and it was a purchase officials with the National Weather Service took notice. It helped lead to the practice of the current emergency management system notifying residents of bad weather.
“The state of Alabama was so impressed,” David said. “At that time, it wasn’t the (emergency management system) EMS, but they actually put up signs along Interstate 65, saying for weather information, tune to AM 1140 or AM 550.”
Gehman said Huxford Pole and Timber donated a pole for the antenna, Escofab Inc. fabricated a bracket to be able to mount the antenna on the pole, Southern Pine Electric Cooperative erected the pole and antenna and Power 88.5 FM loaned essential pieces of equipment to get the station going.
Gehman’s mom, Vernie, who was a part of the debut broadcast, said this station was everything to Dale.
“Everything he wanted to be done was for the Lord,” she said. “I believe in heaven he is rejoicing.”
