On this date nineteen years ago, people turned on their radio and heard a new voice of truth pierce the airwaves. Nancy Leigh DeMoss stepped behind the microphone as the host of Revive Our Hearts for the very first time September 3, 2001, just as the Gateway To Joy broadcast with Elisabeth Elliot was going off the air.
On that first day in the studio, we never could have imagined how God would use Revive Our Hearts to impact the lives of millions of women around the globe.
In celebration of the start of our twentieth year, we thought you’d enjoy listening to that first broadcast, perhaps for the very first time. As you listen, consider Nancy’s reflections on surrendering her life to the mission of calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.
“It became an issue of surrender—obedience,” Nancy remembers.
If this is what God wants me to do, and believing that He can enable me, then am I willing to wave that white flag and say, “Yes, Lord”? I knew it would be hard. I didn’t know how hard, but it would be really hard. But Elisabeth, among others, had taught me that you can’t go wrong on the pathway of trust and obedience. That’s really what it came down to for me in that journey of deciding to pick up the mantle and start Revive Our Hearts.
For nearly two decades, God has used Nancy and the Revive Our Hearts team to speak to women about:
- Growing (or strengthening) their vertical relationship with Christ and horizontal relationships with each other.
- Spending time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer.
- Living a life of repentance, holiness, and surrender.
- Mentoring other women through Titus 2 relationships.
- Suffering with the perspective that Heaven rules.
- Harnessing the power of God’s Word to help them thrive.
We believe God would have asked us to serve for the sake of just one woman; in His kindness, He has impacted countless women through this ministry.
Thank you so much for your ministry. I have been a wobbly-kneed Christian for years, tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine because fear ruled in my heart more than faith. Your ministry is helping me surrender to Christ, to trust Him, and to enjoy the good news of the gospel! Thank you for your commitment to the permanence of marriage, to biblical womanhood, and to ministering to so many struggling, hurting women. My husband and I are going to try and work out our budget to become ministry partners because I believe in what God is doing in and through ROH.
—Revive Our Hearts listener in the U.S.
I am grateful to God and to this beautiful ministry that has changed my life and the life of my family. The joy that I have in my heart is immense; the Lord has done so many things, transforming me and transforming my family.
—Revive Our Hearts listener in the Dominican Republic
Every day I listen to Revive Our Hearts in order to gain further understanding of the scriptures and biblical truths in order to be better equipped as a women’s ministry leader. Although amazing things are happening with our ladies at church as we share, grow, and serve together, sometimes it can be tiring and discouraging—but it never fails that the daily podcast always has something applicable to help strengthen and support our efforts.”
—Women’s Ministry Leader
As we reflect on the lives changed these past nineteen years, it is clear that the impact of Revive Our Hearts was accomplished in God’s strength, not our own.
“What counts in ministry, what makes us fruitful and effective is not how smart we are or how gifted, talented, capable, adequate—none of us is adequate,” reflects Nancy. “But what we sought to do that day is to point people to Christ, to get them into the Word, to share out of our own personal journey with Christ in His Word.”
Today, in celebration of our nineteenth anniversary and the beginning of Revive Our Hearts’ twentieth year of ministry, we are still waving the white flag of surrender. We submit our ministry plans for the days ahead to His leading, trusting that He will always be faithful because He has always been faithful.
Whatever you’re facing today, whatever challenges and victories lie ahead, will you join us in waving the white flag and surrendering our will for His will and His glory until He comes?
Over the years our methods may have changed, but our message hasn’t. Revive Our Hearts still exists to help women thrive in Christ. In your car or on your phone . . . whether listening to your favorite station or streaming online . . . through radio waves or straight into your earbuds . . . listen to today’s program and let your heart be revived.
At Revive Our Hearts, we’re celebrating God’s faithfulness and leaning into the fruitful years ahead. Be a part of it by supporting the ministry with your donation of $30 or more, and be one of the first to receive a copy of Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, the new authorized biography of Elisabeth Elliot.
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