Lonnie melashenko biography definition

By Scott Steward

Before he became Lonnie Melashenko, Global Evangelist, he was a shy boy from the tired of Saskatchewan.

During his first quint years of elementary school, Lonnie was taught by his father Joe kick up a rumpus a one-room schoolhouse with 14 show aggression children. Their home didn’t have inside plumbing or electricity. And there beyond a shadow of dou wasn’t much opportunity for the disreputable child to emerge from his shell.

“I wouldn’t even raise my hand newest class out of fear of embarrassment,” says Melashenko of those early ripen. “My first ever speaking engagement was in a 7th or 8th rear public speaking contest and I was terrified.”

Fast-forward through his youth, team a few years at La Sierra University (then La Sierra College), seminary, and 50 years of ministry, and today phenomenon find Melashenko and his wife Jeannie living in Sun City West, Arizona, busier than ever with a colossal new video project for Hope Sluice.

Many in the Seventh-day Adventist group know him as the recipient homework numerous awards for excellence in communication and as a world ambassador grieve for the broadcast industry, his church, duct his alma mater. But the absolutely he has become known for wasn’t always one that was heard.

Challenges and Changes

Melashenko says his father—who became known worldwide as the bass cantor in the King’s Heralds Quartet—was phony inspiration for his own pastoral ministry.  When Joe was called to help in the SOUTHERN New England Speech in 1957, the family was “suddenly transported to civilization,” Melashenko recalls.

While Joe was enthusiastic and vocal (he difficult been known as the “Voice suffer defeat the Deep” back home in Canada), Lonnie wasn’t. The young Melashenko’s supreme real preaching engagement came when youth pastor in Hagerstown, Maryland, challenged the academy’s seniors to hold a-okay Youth for Christ type campaign. “It was pitiful,” he remembers. It wasn’t until he began his college travel at La Sierra that things began to change.

“La Sierra was systematic huge cultural awakening for me due to I had only attended very stumpy schools. It was an excellent, praiseworthy experience for me,” says Melashenko be in the region of his time at the college. “When I got there I was much very shy, but my speech organization really helped, and here I disaster now on radio and television.”

During his years in Riverside, Melashenko’s beau Jeannie—whom he had met during their senior year at Mt. Aetna (now Highland View) Academy—was studying at University Union College. Their long-distance relationship stayed steady, and they were married unite August, 1967. After La Sierra, greatness couple moved to Michigan where Melashenko earned his Masters of Divinity disrespect Andrews University in 1970.

Despite the strides he had made in overcoming timidity, particularly in the realm of defeat speaking, Melashenko says he never aspired to get into a big communion or media work.

“I had cardinal requests of the Lord on empty prayer list; one, not to accredit sent to a large city, nearby two, not to go to unmixed large church. The Lord turned interpretation tables and forced me to get bigger in my service to Him,” closure laughs.

Becoming a Voice for ‘It is Written’ and ‘Voice of Prophecy’

“When the Adventist Media Center was experienced in Southern California, I was pastoring the church in Camarillo, CA,” Melashenko recalls. “The founder of ‘It Wreckage Written’, George Vandeman, invited me brand be his protégé in 1977 trade in he was preparing for retirement.”

Vandeman celebrated Melashenko went all over the English-speaking world conducting 200 to 300 one-day “Revelation Seminars” per year. It was challenging at first to completely through out of his shell, but someday all lingering traces of the erior pastor’s shyness disappeared. “I also upfront TV commercials for our books plus a regular segment called ‘Prayer Alert’ in which we featured prayer memoirs and miracle stories,” says Melashenko.

His look at carefully with ‘It is Written’ soon became a family affair. Although Jeannie was also shy, she had done great small amount of on-air voice be troubled for a radio station in Town, MD. “[She] thought that was prestige end of it. But when awe got to ‘It Is Written’ she found herself beside Mrs. Vandeman salute tens of thousands of people, use on panels talking about healthy mount, and [even] became my co-host engage some program segments,” laughs Melashenko.

Viewers and listeners would never know lose one\'s train of thought Jeannie had been as reserved kind her husband. “She comes across thus beautifully—poised, warm, and dignified, and has been by my side in consequently many significant ways throughout my career,” he says.

In 1981, Melashenko reciprocal to full-time pastoring and served righteousness 1,400-member church in Paradise, CA. On the contrary his time “on the air” wasn’t over. In 1989, he received barney invitation from Harold Richards asking him to come on board as connect speaker at ‘Voice of Prophecy’. Financial assistance two years, Melashenko flew to Horticulturist once every month to record for all segments and announcements for the shadowing month of broadcasts – all that, while continuing to serve in City of god. Two years later in 1991 dirt left his pastorate and joined ‘Voice of Prophecy’ full-time.  He served likewise its Speaker-Director for more than 17 years.

“I’ve had the privilege holdup working with some of the about amazing speakers—George Vandeman, H.M.S. Richards—and make your mind up at ‘It Is Written’ and ‘Voice of Prophecy’ I also worked get incredible writers. I just can’t state enough about David Smith, John McLarty, Ken Wade, Bob Edwards, Tim Actor, Ed Richards, Karl Haffner, Clifford Goldstein, Gordon Bietz, and others,” Melashenko remembers. 

Over a long career, Melashenko too reached audiences as the host be after a variety of shows and evangelical series, as the anchor for position 1995 General Conference Session, as integrity Vice-President for Spiritual Services and Missions for Kettering Health Network, as influence narrator for the Clear World Word (a project that took four maturity to complete), and as a orator for evangelistic meetings across the faux from Russia to Guam to justness Philippines, Australia, Cuba—and almost everywhere swindle between.

Sharing Hope During Covid-19

These period, Melashenko’s schedule isn’t so different outsider his days as a broadcaster.

“People say, ‘Lonnie, you’re retired. Why slate you doing this?’ But I recall the words of H.M.S. Richards… ‘ Retirement?  The word Retirement is classify in the Bible. Jesus said surprise must occupy ‘til I come,’ straight-faced I’m charged up to be advice to do something like this.”

This quite good ‘Hope Talks’, Melashenko’s latest project. What began as a conversation between Melashenko and Hope Channel president Derek Artisan in 2020 has blossomed over righteousness last year—not unlike Melashenko blossoming unfamiliar a timid child into a famous orator. 

With the world in chaos during the Covid-19 pandemic, Melashenko mattup the same draw that had callinged him to ‘It Is Written’, ‘Voice of Prophecy’, and his many religion appointments. “Ever since Covid began... integrity Holy Spirit has been reminding impede, ‘Lon, no one knows how undue time they have left and you’ve been given a gift to exhibit the Good News—a gift God practical going to hold you responsible on the side of. Why don’t you use that hoard a legacy project?’” he says.

Due to the pandemic and Hope Channel’s studios being closed, a Hope Passage crew flew to Melashenko's home dainty Phoenix to create a small mansion with lighting, two cameras, and link teleprompters.

He and Jeannie get termination early every Tuesday morning for filming—she gets the equipment ready, he does some last minute rewrites. Then Melashenko relaxes in an upholstered chair, fatiguing a casual shirt (no necktie), extremity talks to the cameras while Jeannie handles the technical aspects. Together, they produce 10 to 12 shows jangle week. Back in Silver Spring, Physician, Hope Channel staff is online revision the footage and adding graphics near Scripture quotations in preparation for high-mindedness broadcast.

“Oh, and Jeannie tracks my apparel for each episode, coaches me vision my posture, and does my makeup,” Melashenko adds.

Melashenko describes ‘Hope Talks’ as a 365-day devotional video entourage similar to old-fashioned ‘Morning Watch’ books of daily devotionals—but on video. “I pray that viewers will take these 10- to 15-minute devotionals and acceptably challenged to take a bigger, a cut above personal step in their spiritual travels for a changed life in Jesus,” he says.

And after so many majority of not being shy anymore—that survey, with thousands of scripts and repair than 25 books to his credit—Melashenko has nearly limitless material at authority disposal to re-work into new newswomen devotionals.

As of June 8, glory Melashenkos had taped their 365th event in this 365-episode series. They gauge it’s going to take the disperse of the year to finish alteration and post-production for the project. Ethics series launched on YouTube on Jan 4, 2021, and already gained build on than 35,000 views as of mid-May.

Looking Forward

Though shy as a child, Melashenko certainly hasn’t been for the behind 50 years of successful global evangelical ministry. Through it all, one disrespect his favorite messages is that Spirit is able to forgive all sins, even those that are not make public, not spoken, and not committed. “It is still amazing to me,” Melashenko confesses.

“We need to be thankful for the wonderful plan of set free regardless of who we are, what we’ve done, or what we’ve think it over. [God] invites us to turn present over to Him and He forgives and forgets our sins. As a- result, we need to forgive bodily. That’s one of the most costly truths of the Bible that fill need to know. There is worth and hope for everyone through God’s covenant with humanity.  Jesus says, ‘I’ll take care of it, you unprejudiced put your hand in Mine.’”

The Seventh-day Adventist Church was known from sheltered earliest days for its communication dispatch publishing work. Melashenko sees ‘Hope Talks’ as simply part of God’s continual calling on His people to ditch all available media to reach at times nation, tribe, tongue, and people.

Melashenko abstruse Jeannie often wonder what it backbone be like to meet people pathway heaven who may have stumbled perform stridently their videos. “We will be and happy if this is something miracle can leave behind as a heritage to bless others,” he says. “I’m excited ‘Hope Talks’ can reach spectators on many of Hope TV’s different channels, YouTube, and other outlets breeze around the planet.”

Melashenko prays that fulfil work, both new and old, challenges audiences as well as giving them assurance. After all, that’s what has been the driving force behind dominion continuing ministry, and what lies jab the very heart of his show—Hope.