A Christian asset in the Greater Twin Ports area, KDNW (97.3 FM)/KDNI (90.5 FM) radio has been reaching out to believers and unbelievers with the life-changing love of Jesus Christ.

Submitted Photo Paul Harkness helped create KDNW 97.3 FM, which began broadcasting Christian music for Twin Ports listeners 25 years ago. Sister station KDNI 90.5 FM offers talk/teaching programs.

Paul Harkness, the 53-year-old manager of KDNW/KDNI radio, leaned back in his chair inside his comfortable office on Central Entrance in Duluth, Minn., his face beaming as he talked about the work that Jesus Christ has done at the Christian radio station for the past 25 years.

His down-to-earth, warm manner gave no indication that he has one of the most-recognized voices and faces in the Twin Ports area. Even when the thrifty Harkness is out shopping at rummage sales, he can’t speak without drawing attention and questions. People ask him wherever he goes, “Are you the guy on the radio?”

Harkness laughed at the suggestion that he is a local celebrity.

“I don’t want that to ever change me, because I’m not defined by this job or by being on the radio,” he said. “I just want to be faithful to Jesus, whatever I’m doing.”

Raised in a Christian home in Northfield, Minn., Harkness had a Scandinavian great-grandmother who prayed for him by name every night and often told him, “Paul, you be a preacher.” He started at a secular college in electronics engineering, but when he transferred to Northwestern College, a Christian school, in his sophomore year, he became interested in the technical side of its broadcasting program. But being reserved by nature, he had no intention of being “on the air” or managing a station. But God was calling Harkness to something much larger than he imagined.

“God often does that,” Harkness said. “Look at all the reluctant leaders in the Bible. And God uses what you have and sometimes for some pretty incredible things that in our flesh we’d say, “No way!”

After graduating from Northwestern with a degree in communications and marrying his sweetheart, Nona, Harkness spent six years at Northwestern’s sister radio station in Fargo, N.D. At 28, he received the call to start a station in Duluth, Minn. But as months went by, with leadership indecision and delays threatening the Duluth station, Harkness found himself in limbo while he waited for the final go-ahead.

“We were so excited about coming out here and helping to start this work,” Harkness said. “I remember this point of just releasing it to the Lord and saying, ‘Well, Lord, we’re surrendered to You. If You have something for me in missions or somewhere else in the world for our family, I guess we’re available.’”

After that, things began to move quickly. By the next week, Harkness received the final permission from Northwestern to proceed, and only days later he moved his family to Duluth in the bitter cold of January 1983. During the next few months, Harkness hired the staff and helped set up the new station.“God was just opening doors left and right,” he said.

Over the years, God has blessed KDNW/KDNI’s ministry as the staff developed six translator stations, built a permanent studio on West Central Entrance and added the 97.3 FM frequency, which can be heard within a 70-mile radius of Duluth. The current programming offers adult contemporary music on KDNW (97.3 FM) and teaching and talk radio on KDNI (90.5 FM).

Harkness said a public ministry like KDNW/KDNI, which reaches a weekly audience of almost 30,000 listeners, is often a target for spiritual opposition. Harkness and other staff members talked about their priority to keep their station, and most importantly their lives, Christ-centered and above reproach. Although Harkness arrives at the station by 7 a.m., he is committed to spending time reading God’s Word and praying before work each day.

“I’ve got to be personally connected to Jesus constantly, because if I’m not, I’ll fall,” he said.

The KDNW staff meets once a week to pray and discuss any conflicts or concerns. One of the most difficult situations they faced recently, Harkness said, was a budget shortfall that led to the loss of two beloved staff members — Gordy Mesedahl and Tina Korte.

Although the station is completely dependent on listener donations to meet their financial needs, the remaining staff members continue to trust God for their future. They are quick to point out the blessings, rewards and personal convictions that keep them at KDNW/KDNI.

Eric Svoboda, 29, the station’s afternoon host and production director, was a weekend TV meteorologist when he joined the staff five years ago. He still fills in occasionally as a weatherman, but said he has no desire to return to television. Svoboda said he is humbled when he knows that the songs he plays or the words he speaks on Christian radio are used by God.

“When you do the weather forecast, people know what to wear tomorrow, but they don’t know that God loves them and that God is working in their lives,” he said.

When Dee Charles, 52, assistant manager, promotions director and morning show co-host, joined the staff in 1999, she left a job she loved, working one-on-one with college students at the University of Minnesota Duluth. It grieved her until she recognized that her work at the Christian radio station is also ministry.

“I realized I was no longer just reaching students for Christ, I was reaching their families, too,” she said.

Christian radio reaches into homes, cars, businesses, prisons and beyond, convicting unbelievers and encouraging believers.

“A third of our listeners are unchurched people,” Harkness said.

“There’s not a church anywhere that reaches more unbelievers than radio.”

Harkness said people often call the radio station when a crisis hits, or they walk in off the street, saying, “I knew you people would pray for me, and I didn’t have anywhere else to turn.”

Prisoners write to the station and say, “I couldn’t go on at the lowest point in my life without this station.”

Harkness recalled a day last fall when a young woman named Sarah came into the studio carrying an 8-month-old baby. She told him about a time when she had a razor blade in her hand and was planning to commit suicide. She didn’t remember turning on the radio, but one of her favorite songs was playing, and she said, “I stopped, and I raised my hands and worshiped. When the song was done, I put the razor blade down.” She looked at Harkness, with her baby in her arms, and said, “Paul, we would not be here today if it weren’t for your station.”

It is Harkness’ passion to continue to reach people for Christ, as reflected in his personal mission statement, which has shaped his life and influenced many of those under his leadership:

“I want to live my life fully and faithfully with joy, keeping my eyes on the prize and my feet on the path, restoring hope, inspiring joy and finishing well,” Harkness said. “If you have been blessed by the ministry of Life 97.3/Faith 90.5 and would like to support this station, you can sign up online at kdnw.nwc.edu, call (218) 722-6700, or write to them at KDNW-FM, 1101 E. Central Entrance, Duluth, Minn., 55811.”