How Epic Conversations Got Started
One day, I was ironing clothes in my bathroom and chatting with a young girl who was temporarily living with us. She was like family to me; and we often talked about challenging issues in life and how to use the Word of God to stabilize our footings and find answers to knotty problems. That particular day we were discussing aging parents whose health was failing them. How do we cope with this problem from a Biblical point of view? A lot of emotions are involved when one is talking about someone they love very dearly.
It was in our moments of intense conversation of sharing biblical insights that I got the idea that other people may enjoy listening in to find answers to their circumstances as well. Why not? I rolled the idea over and over in my mind for a while and then asked the Lord, “If this thought is from You, then You can give me a name for it, right?!” Sure enough, when I was alone later that night, getting ready for bed, the Lord dropped the name of “Epic Conversations” into my heart. Epic means very impressive; surpassing the ordinary; heroic or grand in scale or character; majestic; impressively great.
The “little” idea unfolded as two people discussing meaningful concepts in the course of ordinary life, much like me ironing and talking with Christina in my bathroom. A host with 1 or 2 guests would share biblical wisdom and personal stories about how they solved various issues in their own lives. Scriptures could be highlighted and come to life as valuable instructions in the midst of the conversation. There would be humor interwoven throughout an episode to entertain the audience.
“A merry heart REALLY does good like medicine.” (Proverbs 17:22)
I wanted to reach anyone (young or old) who is interested in the Bible about how God moves in our hearts to solve problems. He’s very wise, and has been around for an eternity… so, surely, He knows a thing or two!
How to Go From a Mere Idea to a Powerful Reality
With this bit of heavenly desire planted in my heart, I moved ahead, and wrote a Vision Statement, a Mission Statement, and a Business Plan. I contacted a radio station that Happy Caldwell owned called VTN in Arkansas, and the Program Manager gave me suggestions for writing a proposal for a radio show.
Then, my husband and I met with a local radio station and pitched our idea to them. They really liked our original concept of a younger and older person being on the show. Our hearts’ desire was to create an atmosphere of unity between generations. The older generation may have more wisdom; however, the younger generation has fresh, new and innovative ideas. Together they make an unbeatable team in sharing life.
We asked some young adults we knew that were between the ages of 20-28 years old and advertised at a local Bible college to recruit young adults. The “unepic” ad read:
But low and behold, we were not able to find even one young person who was able to commit to participate in our new show! (I wonder why with this “majestic” ad! Lol.) It was as if the heavens were brass, and we were getting nowhere. So, we asked a young married couple we knew to join us, and they were willing to give it a try. We took a trip to the local radio station and recorded a test session to see how it would flow. Unfortunately, in the process of time, the young couple graduated from a nearby college shortly after that recording and moved out of state. Well, that prospect ended.
Then, we faced another dilemma. The cost of the radio broadcast was actually out of our budget at the time. We didn’t realize that airtime would be so expensive, and we would need to get many sponsors in order to air one 15-minute show per month! I knew my mom would tune in to listen regularly, but
that was definitely not an effective marketing strategy in our book, for how to build a large, interested audience.
The idea remained dormant until July 2019. It was then that I “sowed” the Epic Conversations idea and business plan into a large ministry. I knew they had the resources and manpower to launch this type of program if, in fact, it fit into their vision. However, shortly after I gave my vision away to them, the ministry reorganized and they decided not to pursue the idea. The dream went to sleep once again.
But then, in September 2019, the Lord reminded me of how this all started in my heart years ago and the idea to begin Epic Conversations was awoken. This time instead of limiting it to an older and a younger person, we needed to interview guests of all ages. It needed to be marketed on social media by opening a YouTube channel. The costs were nominal compared to broadcast airtime and it had no limitations for where it could be seen.
I was getting excited by its potential! I contacted a dear friend who works in a television department and invited another friend to come to my house and film our first few episodes using my iPhone 7. So simple and quite uncomplicated (well, except for the iMovie editing part! Lol).
Had to Start Somewhere...
We started in my family room using my husband’s old sleeping bag for sound deflection and my patio wrought iron garden table and chairs for the “stage” with decorations we pulled from all over the house.
This took many steps of courage; but God was faithful, and I was determined to give it a go, despite my age and lack of technical expertise in REALLY knowing what I was doing. And there were many wonderful guests that made it a worthwhile trip!!
Epic Conversations was launched on YouTube in October 2019 with our very first episode on the topic of PURPOSE.
Pretty apropos, wouldn’t you say?!
