Special message: Moving on

Monday, June 1, 2009

Bryan Fischer, Executive Director

MOVING ON

As you are aware, the IVA has served as the Idaho affiliate of the American Family Association since 2006. The AFA, under the leadership of founder Don Wildmon, has become o

ne of the most effective voices on the national scene for the promotion and defense of our sacred values of faith, family and freedom.

In pursuing its mission, AFA has created a nationwide network of 135 radio stations devoted to the talk format. In addition, AFA has created a television network which will simulcast its talk shows and which will feature the generous use of video clips, expert guests and calls from viewers.

The television network currently airs on Sky Angel, and discussions are underway with a number of cable companies to expand its broadcast reach.

AFA also makes both audio and video streaming of its programming available through its website, making its content instantly accessible to the pro-family community all over the country and around the world.

Here is where things get personal for me, and for the IVA.

Don Wildmon has invited me to join his AFA staff and host a live, two-hour talk show on AFA’s radio and TV networks, and I have accepted his gracious offer.

This will necessitate a move to Tupelo, Mississippi, where AFA headquarters are located. I will need to be in Tupelo by July 1, with the first show scheduled to go on-air on July 6.

Sadly, this means that June will be a month of transition for me and for t

he IVA, as I shift my focus to my new role with AFA. I will no longer be able to produce the Daily Updates, which have been a feature of the IVA since its inception. I will communicate occasionally with all of you in the IVA network over this next month and, of course, give you information about the talk show as things develop.

This means IVA will go into “whisper mode” on July 1, but the website and its information will remain accessible.

Hundreds of you have signed up to receive daily Scripture readings and prayers, and you will continue to receive these right on schedule.

THE FOCUS OF THE NEW TALK SHOW

Congressman Henry Hyde once famously said, “Politics is the extension of ethics,” an observation I find profoundly true. All people, whether they admit it or recognize it or not, have an ethical worldview which, if extended far enough, eventually intersects with America’s public life.

It is that intersection – the place where a Judeo-Christian worldview intersects with America’s public life – that fascinates and energizes me. It is that intersection I will have the privilege of exploring two hours a day with our listening and viewing audience.

AFA has discovered a deep hunger in its audience for programming devoted to this theme, particularly

since decisions are being made almost daily in Washington, D.C. that represent a departure from America’s historic values and traditions and a grave threat to our freedom, health and prosperity.

I hope to play a part in continuing to educate the American public on what it means to make a thoughtful application of America’s time-honored values to society’s contemporary challenges.

As you can imagine, this represents a remarkable and unanticipated opportunity for me, an opportunity to do what I have done with the IVA on a larger scale. I am honored and humbled by the chance to be a part of AFA’s new venture into broadcasting.

TIME OF RAPID TRANSITION

All of this has happened quite rapidly, as I had no idea on May 1 that this opportunity would present itself so suddenly.

My departure will create, at least for a time, a bit of void on the pro-family front in Idaho. Since 2005, the IVA has been able to be a voice for our shared values in public, in the media and at the statehouse, and we have played what I believe has been a necessary role in promoting and defending the sacred values of religious liberty and the sanctity of life and the family.

But I am also convinced that God cares too much about Idaho and Idaho families to leave this void unfilled for long, and I am sure that a new and effective pro-family voice will arise to carry on the work.

When that voice arises, I hope you will support it generously and faithfully.

Your generosity and your response to our Action Alerts have made it possible for the IVA to make a difference in Idaho, beginning with the marriage amendment at the very beginning of 2006, which was the very first issue the IVA took on, right up to the Tea Parties of April and May, which helped to stave off a tax increase which would have harmed Idaho families.

I cannot thank you enough for your kindness, your support and the many words of encouragement I have received from so many over these three and one-half years. Your kind words have offset the many hate messages I have received, including one that came just yesterday informing me that “there is a warm place waiting for you in hell,” no doubt from someone who fancies himself a veritable paragon of tolerance.

We have loved the city of Boise and the state of Idaho since we first moved here in 1980. Our children were born and raised here, and we will always be grateful for that.

But life is not a static thing, and all of us must follow what we sincerely believe is the direction of God when he prompts us to take on new challenges and pursue new adventures.

We covet your prayers as we pass through this time of transition, and in return we seek God’s highest blessing for you and for the state of Idaho.