Our top priority in 2009 is renewable energy. 

During the past eight years, we have worked extensively in remote villages in developing countries where no electricity is available.  Imagine delivering a baby or performing emergency surgery with only a lantern or flashlight in a tiny rural clinic.  That's reality in many remote locations.  We've worked with local folks to install solar electricity at hospital clinics and schools, extending the range of services they can offer.  We have been thinking long and hard, and praying, about how we might make it easier for local folks to access electricity from renewable resources themselves.   The cost of rigid solar panels -- rooftop and ground-mounted -- is too high of a barrier for most remote villages we have visited.  And the deep-cycle batteries reach end-of-life within 8 years, then they are toxic waste. As a global community, we need to build upon what we've learned to innovate some new and better solutions.  With God's help, all things are possible.

So this year we are working on low-cost renewable energy solutions for remote and rural hospitals, for vaccine refrigerators, for schools, for our educational audiobooks being distributed on MP3 players, for our educational projects in Ethiopia and Tanzania.  By partnering with several universities, we'll be exploring research technology for generating and also storing energy.  By partnering with several commercial manufacturers we'll be exploring emerging R&D.  We'll be testing and running trials of various solar, wind, and kinetic-based energy sources. 

Stay tuned for updates about our renewable energy work this year.

FAQs:

Will you continue producing educational audiobook and Gospel music content in the studio?  Yes, we'll do this while we work on renewable energy.  When all the pieces come together, we anticipate that this will be a far-reaching combination.  For example, we'd like to make some of our educational audiobooks available in developing countries.  If recipients can use solar energy to recharge the MP3 players that contain our audiobooks, then the audiobooks will be much more useful to the community.  

What about Winter Coats?  Will this program continue?  Yes, by the grace of God, we've been able to distribute new, warm Winter Coats at homeless shelters annually for eight years.  We plan to continue doing that for as long as we can.