This Week in AG History -- February 17, 1957

Revivaltime, the weekly radio broadcast which aired from 1953 to 1995, was one of the best-known Assemblies of God ministries of its era. However, many may not be aware of its substantial global impact.

The Feb. 17, 1957, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel shared how Revivaltime came to the Philippines — one of the countless nations in which the program was rebroadcast. 

Assemblies of God missionaries Paul and Violet Pipkin began ministering in the Philippines in December 1948. Soon after they arrived, the president of the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) approached Paul about hosting a radio ministry.  He eventually worked on staff at the FEBC for seven years and worked for more than 50 years in broadcast and evangelistic ministry. 

By early 1957, Paul Pipkin was broadcasting Revivaltime at a radio station in Cebu City, Philippines.  He also had a contract with the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) to air Revivaltime at the FEBC station in Manila, Philippines. As one of the directors at FEBC, he oversaw the PM (Portable Missionary) and Extension Department. 

In a report to FEBC, Pipkin declared, “Besides our ten broadcasts a week, we have the interesting task of assigning hundreds of portable radios to Filipino families on a loan basis.” Before the days of transistor radios, the PM and Extension Department manufactured battery-operated, pre-tuned radios known as “Portable Missionaries” or “PM’s” and loaned them out to hospitals, prisons, and people in remote villages.  Through these PM’s thousands of people were able to hear the gospel. 

Pipkin sent out a questionnaire to members of the PM club he had organized, and asked what they thought about Revivaltime. One member wrote, “Revivaltime is helping us very much. The sermons of Brother [C. M.] Ward are just what we need for our day. We won’t miss it for anything.” 

In addition to English messages of C. M. Ward that were broadcast on the radio, Pipkin would translate the messages into the Ilocano dialect for one group of Filipinos who lived in the mountains. 

Pipkin reported that “Requests come constantly for Revivaltime to be released on more stations. Who can measure the number of actual homes reached each week as Revivaltime finds its way into the most unlikely places?” 

While Revivaltime originated in the United States, its audience members spanned the globe. Creative missionaries and national church leaders adapted the radio broadcast for use in the Philippines and numerous other countries. Revivaltime was a prominent manifestation of the Assemblies of God’s commitment to take “all the gospel to all the world.” 

Read “Revivaltime in the Philippines,” on page 20 of the Feb. 17, 1957, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel. 

Also featured in this issue: 

• “A Servant of the Church,” by Gayle F. Lewis 

• “Hindu Priest Finds Christ,” by E. E. Shaffer

And many more! 

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel achieved editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Glenn W. Gohr

Glenn W. Gohr is the reference archivist at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center in Springfield, Missouri.