"We've been able to minister to people over the radio with answers to questions that are coming in from the internet chat room. It's complicated, difficult, tiring, exhausting, wears me out, hard to do, costs a lot of money, and we love it!"

Heaven's Chat Room

Your on the air!

James and Donna Doughtery have developed an innovative way to combine chat and streaming audio via a Chattanooga radio station with a web simulcast. It is through a web-based chat room called "Heaven's Chat Room."

This is how Donna describes their unique ministry.

On Monday evening at 11 pm (EST), we are live on www.wjoc1490.com a local Christian AM radio station. We take calls, LOTS of calls - praise God!, and also have an internet chat going on at the very same time. I use the screen name: youareontheair@aol.com during the chat room time. It is truly an AOL chat room.

We chose a secular site, so those that normally wouldn't be coming into a Christian chat room would have the opportunity to drop in and even stay for a few minutes. Needless to say because it is secular, we get tons of hate mail, porno "click heres" and threats. Goes with the territory I guess.

We've been able to minister to people over the radio with answers to questions that are coming in from the internet chat room. Generally speaking, the internet chat room is full of young people. Some are listening to the station via their computer and the ones that call in are generally older and not using a computer.

The older teach the younger. We rarely have a caller that asks a question. Most questions come through the internet chat room. We don't have many people in the chat room that give answers either. It's very mutually benefiting on both sides.

Occasionally someone in the Internet chat will request/demand not to be broadcast on the radio and that's fine. I do the talking for them. If they ask a question, I ask it on the radio. If they make a statement I make it for them.

It's complicated, difficult, tiring, exhausting, wears me out, hard to do, costs a lot of money, and we love it!

I talk with my husband, the other DJ, during the show and as I'm asking the internet questions that are coming in. We are also using a question bank from our web site of questions that either haven't been answered yet from the previous week, people that have eMailed questions, directly asked them, suggested them for the help of others, etc.

James, my husband, takes the calls and is the MC of the show. When you go to the web site, you''ll see a place to sign up for the chat room reminder. You might just want to check it out one night because you really can't believe it til you are involved in it. The Spirit is with us and it's great fun! We laugh, joke, Praise God, have a good time, and get serious about The Word, all at the same time.

We have a contest going on right now where you can win to "Get your music played on the air," which will be during our break. Christian music of course :)

We have a person that calls in sometimes who is very anti-Jesus, there is a Bible School teacher that calls in almost every week that is very informed of the Bible, and then there are just lots of other people, all shapes and sizes in The Lord.

We pray at the end of every show and I type it into the chat room. Sometimes we have people in the Internet chat room that want more information, sometimes they just leave and never come back. We are just doing what we are called to do - and that is to spread the Word of God.

This is a very special ministry that meets people where they are and shares Jesus with them in whatever media they are comfortable with.

God bless you, James and Donna!

Update January, 2003: I've left this info online because this innovative way of sharing may provide ideas for others in internet/chat ministry. James and Donna are no longer doing Heaven's Chat Room in connection with a radio station. Donna writes:

We took Heaven's Chat Room off the air from that station and we do it from the internet right now at:
Power House Gospel Music. It also has Christian music ... and devotions etc. It's a station that runs 24/7 and the chat rooms will come up at intervals though not currently scheduled.