Honoring Hal Frazier
In October, we celebrated our 60th year anniversary for World Radio. In doing this we honored the past and celebrated the future. Legacy and sacrifice cannot be talked about at World Radio without telling the story of our first Director, Hal Frazier, who lost his life while serving the Lord. His sacrifice will never be forgotten.
The Old Testament reminders in Deuteronomy 6 to Israel are still good for us today. When you drink water out of wells you did not dig and live in houses you did not build do not forget where they came from and be grateful. I am thankful to work in this ministry, drinking from wells I did not dig and working in efforts I did not build, but I praise God for men like Hal who sacrificed his life for the work of the kingdom.
With that in mind, I thought a trip down through World Radio history would be appropriate. Below are past articles concerning the events that took the life of Hal Frazier and two others who were on a mission trip for World Radio. May we honor the past by continuing the dream to reach every man in his own language, to the glory of God.
Our friendship and association with Hal Frazier began in 1966, when Gaye Hickey, our oldest daughter, went to work at World Radio as Hal’s secretary. During 1968-69, we did mission work in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. Hal wrote to us regularly, encouraging us in the work. When the opportunity came for a radio broadcast on Radio Ceylon, Hal worked with us in this endeavor.
Upon our return to the States, it was Hal that encouraged me to do the radio program. During the early days, when we had no equipment, I spent numerous nights in the Frazier home, enjoying their hospitality, so that I could record with World Radio equipment. After we were able to get our own equipment, they continued to work closely with us. Hal was always there to lend encouragement and advice.
On Thursday before the tragedy, I was at the World Radio studio, having new announcements made for our India programs. I wanted to see Hal, but learned that he was on this mission regarding a shortwave radio station. I wanted to share with him the good news of our new equipment and new studio in El Dorado. It was Hal Frazier more than any other one person, that is responsible for my foreign radio work.
The cause of Christ was the center of Hal’s life. He had unique talents and found a great and effective place for service as Director of World Radio, and as Editor of World Radio News. This paper has the largest circulation of any paper among us. He certainly will be missed. The work will go on, but there will be an empty spot in our hearts. The greatest thing about being a Christian is the hope we share of being together again with the Lord.
“Hal Was Always There.” John Wheeler, Speaker for World Radio India. March-April 1977, World Radio News.
Hal Frazier was a man who lived to live forever, and he, therefore, was not afraid of dying. And it was as though he were expecting to meet the Lord “in the air” that day that he, with two Christian colleagues, boarded a single engine Cessna 210 on the Caribbean Island of Barbados. After taxiing to the runway of the small airport and checking with the tower for final clearance, once airborne, they flew straight into Heaven. The plane never reached its destination, but they, because of their dependence on Christ, did.
His mission in the Caribbean speaks for the typical life he lived. In the hope of fulfilling his dream to preach the gospel by radio to every man in his own language, he, as a member of the three-man team, was searching for a possible site to build a shortwave radio station in the Caribbean.
His Conversion:
Hal Frazier was a convert of radio preaching himself. Not long after he married his French sweetheart, Ginette Bouchet, he moved to Salisbury, North Carolina, and worked as a disc jockey for Radio Station WSTP. As a rule, if there is anyone who hears a religious program, it’s the disc jockey. Frazier sat and listened to Brother P.L. Manning, the local minister, preach the word of God. The Gospel of Christ pricked his heart, and he obeyed it in 1952.
Afterwards, he immersed himself in a study of God’s word, and eventually ended up in France as a missionary to the French-speaking world. In the fall of 1962, the White’s Ferry Road congregation in West Monroe, Louisiana, accepted his oversight as the Frazier family worked in Nice, France. That was the beginning of a long-lasting relationship between Hal Frazier and the White’s Ferry Road congregation.
His Introduction to Evangelism:
Having been in love with radio for several years, Frazier and a Co-worker, Claude Francois, studied the possibilities of beginning a French radio program. To their delight, Trans World Radio, located in Monte Carlo, offered to sell them radio time. Excited about its possibilities, Frazier wrote in the December issue of News from Nice. “…it will enable us to reach into many thousands of homes that may never be reached otherwise with God’s truth!”
Yet, to their disappointment, only four programs were aired. Trans World Radio had canceled the program because of complaints from evangelical groups in France. Though the cancellation was disappointing, the responses from the programs whetted his appetite toward radio evangelism. And the words that emerged from his excitement were perhaps of paramount importance in setting into motion what later came to be known as World Radio. For in the March 1963 issue of News From Nice, Frazier discussed the potential of Trans World Radio, and then said, “Has it ever occurred to you that we could do the very same thing? Yes, we as God’s people can very easily unite our efforts and construct our own station—powerful enough to reach into every nation on the face of the earth with the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Of late several have voiced such an idea, and we would like to add our encouragement to such a plan. It would permit us to beam gospel programs into every nation, in all languages. This would be the open door to many nations who refuse us permission to enter to preach the Gospel…”
Beaming gospel programs into every nation in the native tongue was the dream he carried to his death, which is evident in the kindred slogan “Preaching Jesus Christ To Every Man In His Own Language,” which became a part of the masthead of World Radio News. These words written by Frazier in early March of 1963 were one of the major influences contributing to the World Radio dream in the minds of many.
His Association with World Radio:
It was a year after he wrote those words that Hal Frazier and his family left France and moved to West Monroe, where Frazier became office manager, announcer and producer for the World Radio U.S.A. program. It was almost a year later, in January of 1965, that Frazier assumed editorship of World Radio News, which was now being sent into over a quarter million homes bi-monthly.
Upon arrival in West Monroe, Frazier replaced Lowell Perry (who was killed with him in the recent crash) as announcer on the broadcast. From the beginning, these two men were close associates in their shared dream of taking the Gospel to the world by radio.
Many parts of the dream have become reality. Since its beginning, World Radio has broadcast the Gospel in 23 different languages and has been heard in almost a hundred nations located on six of the seven continents around the world.
Frazier’s editorship of World Radio News was deeply appreciated by the writers. We were constantly impressed by Brother Frazier’s dedication to keep the brethren informed. News is what he wanted published—news of the church and the work both here and around the World. He believed that if the church were informed, Christians would be enthused and would participate more in world evangelism, and world evangelism was his life.
It is no wonder, then, that because of his emphasis, World Radio News has constantly increased in size and its bimonthly circulation.
The Future of World Radio:
World Radio anticipates dynamic years to come! Brother Norman Rhodes, full-time elder who joined the World Radio staff over a year ago, is handling many of the administrative responsibilities of World Radio.
We have seen Brother Rhodes’ abilities already demonstrated, and we have confidence that he and the World Radio staff, as they work closely with the other elders of the White’s Ferry Road congregation, will depend on the Lord to help World Radio continue to preach Jesus “to every man in his own language.”
“Hal Frazier: He Lived To Live Forever.” Excerpts from World Radio News, Volume 4, Number 3. March 1997.