1980 – 1989
Hannu and Laura are called to Finland to pioneer a Christian radio ministry from Finnish soil. A radio studio was built in a small apartment in rural Katinala, Finland where programs were produced for 2 years before relocating to a larger space. Laura is showing her mother Eeva, newly acquired recording equipment.
IBRA radio
Hannu and Laura’s experience serving with Earl Pöysti’s radio ministry had prepared them well for the next steps. When the Pöysti ministry team announced they were moving operations to Colorado in the States, they didn’t have peace about joining them and they began to pray…
So when they were invited to Finland at the invitation of a well-known Pentecostal leader (the chairman of IBRA radio), they were convinced God had opened a new and exciting door to walk through.
IBRA Radio Finland was established in 1955 as an alternative to government-controlled radio and television but was unable to broadcast domestically because all was state-controlled. This Scandinavian Christian ministry supported Christian radio in countries like Japan, Kenya, Thailand, and Uruguay. The USSR however, was a top priority for IBRA. The latter’s programming was supplied by Earl Pöysti as IBRA Finland had no local production in Finland.
Joining IBRA Finland was a step of faith for Laura and Hannu as they had no full-time staff, no Russian program production, and an ever-shrinking budget.
1981
September 5, 1981, was an historic day. At 20:45 Moscow time, the first Russian program produced in their tiny bedroom studio was due to hit the airwaves. This was a pilot broadcast that carried a ten-minute apologetic message of the existence of God.
The power of shortwave radio
When Hannu and Laura were called to Finland from Sweden in 1980 to pioneer a Christian radio ministry into Russia, they were ready!
Shortwave radio was a window to millions in the Soviet Empire and the only source of spiritual nourishment for Christians living in the Soviet Union.
As Hannu listened to their first broadcast, he envisioned the radio waves penetrating the walls of homes, blanketing all of the western USSR and beyond the Ural Mountains. God had proved faithful despite the odds, delays, and resistance. The broadcast was crystal clear as it was being aired from a superpower radio transmitter located in Lisbon, Portugal 1,500 miles away. His vision had at last taken to the sky!
Communist Media Stages an Attack
The broadcasts had all but begun when two leftist newspapers in Finland launched a counter-attack to undermine the ministry with a hair-raising article. Soviet authorities regarded the incoming radio programs as dangerous ‘ideological warfare’. As expected, it caught the attention of the Finnish Security Police. Two plain clothes officers made an unannounced visit. They had been sent to investigate the truth of the article, listened to the taped programs, checked the equipment, and decided everything was in order.
Not long after the visit, an apology confessing the spreading of false information appeared in the same newspaper: “The newspaper regrets the erroneous facts in an article on the radio work of IBRA Finland. The correct facts are as follows…” What followed was a statement about the scope of the programming for an international audience. They made it clear that the programs were to be transmitted over a commercial station in Portugal and pointed out that there would be no clandestine transmitter in Finland that was transmitting the programs to the USSR.
Despite the attacks, the network of international short-wave radio stations for the programs being recorded in Finland increased to 11 in 3 years – TWR sites in Monte Carlo and Guam, FEBC sites in Redwood City, Saipan Island, and Seychelles, a mega power medium wave station on South Korea as well as HCJB stations in Quito, Ecuador and an IBRA Radio station in Portugal.
1982
The radio ministry to Russia experiences surprising growth. The studio is moved to a duplex-style house nearby. More staff come on board.
1983
Radio programs are being aired to the USSR over 11 superpower short-wave radio stations around the globe to a potential audience of 35 million listeners.
TWR and FEBC sites, a mega power medium wave station in South Korea, KCJB in Ecuador, and IBRA in Portugal aired our programs.
1984
Laura’s sister’s family of seven were miraculously granted exit visas by the Soviet government to Finland. They were the first Russian family permitted to settle in Finland since World War II. They suffered heavy persecution in the Soviet Union. Thanks to Inkeri’s family a very popular radio drama program was produced in Russian and aired between 1985-1990.
1985
The first ever VHS video cassette is produced in Russian, with the story of Astronaut James Irwin’s flight to the moon and his faith in God.
1986
IRR/TV Canada and IRR/TV USA are founded by Great Commission-minded businessman Gordon Donaldson, and Hannu and Laura Haukka. (In 2010 IRR/TV was phased out and Great Commission Media Ministries (GCM Ministries) was registered as a new charity organization, reflecting our vast scope of ministry outside Russia.)
IRR/TV is born
To support the ministry to Russia from Finland, and despite opposition from both Finnish media and Soviet authorities, the ministry grew. Christian Canadian businessman Gordon Donaldson, and Hannu and Laura Haukka founded International Russian Radio/TV in Canada and the US.
The North American chapter actually, began in the late 50’s when the Cold War was still in its full fury. When Gordon was praying facing east toward the USSR that God would raise up a person to be used there in a mighty way. In his vision, he was turned to face west and received a strong impression that the individual he was praying for was living ‘in the west’ and was approximately 6 years old…
Gordon had to wait for a few decades for his vision to be fulfilled. He met Hannu and Laura in 1981 at a World Missions Convention in Calgary, Alberta, and from there, the GCMM Canadian story begins!
Together with radio evangelist Earl Pöysti and his wife Pirkko who were visiting Finland. Millions in the USSR listened to Earl Pöysti’s radio sermons who was known as the “Billy Graham” of the Soviet Union. Hannu and Laura learned the ABCs of Russian Christian radio ministry while working at Earl’s studio first in Austria and then in Sweden.
Laura interviews Earl Pöysti at the IRR/TV facility in Finland. Hannu and Laura proceeded to form relationships with superpower radio stations around the world that then beamed their radio programs to an audience of tens of millions of listeners in the Soviet Union.
1987
New horizons in ministry. An animated Bible cartoon, the Superbook series is destined to reach children in underground churches in the Soviet Union.
For God so loved Russia…
Hannu and Laura believed with all their hearts that John 3:16 had to include 300 million people in the Soviet Union. However, there was no visible reason to believe this might happen any time soon.
It was a closed country. The Church was persecuted. Bibles were confiscated at its borders. Radio broadcasting would only go so far. The Gospel was banned completely or severely restricted in various regions of the country.
Laura’s heart had been especially burdened for the tens of millions of children, having lived in Russia herself as a child. How could they tell them about Jesus when smuggling even one children’s Bible into the country was challenging?
If indeed God loved 300 million Soviets, they felt the Lord had to create more opportunities for them to hear the message of His great love…
And that is exactly what God did!
Superbook journey begins
An animated Bible story series Superbook from CBN was making inroads in North America. In 1987, God impressed upon their hearts to request the rights to dub the series into Russian and to smuggle video distribution to underground Sunday Schools.
As they miraculously walked out of CBN with a contract in hand, they had taken a huge step of faith. They had no equipment and no money for such a project! In faith, they went to their local bank in Finland and miraculously secured a $100,000 loan without equity. They knew him as a man of a reliable ministry.
Laura’s vision to bring the Gospel to the children of the Soviet Union was slowly becoming a reality… production begins! It would be three more years before this full story continues…
Setting the stage for a divine miracle, about to unfold. Hannu’s brother John, IRR/TV’s first video engineer, edited the first 7 “Superbook” episodes of the 52-part series on a 1-inch VTR. Superbook was aired to nearly 300 million people in the Soviet Union over the largest National TV network. This was soon called the miracle of the century.
1988
Soviet authorities pushed back, as Christian shortwave radio programs continued making headway into the country against KGB and soviet ideology. The KGB attempts to destroy the ministry.
The KGB pays a visit
Two undercover KGB agents pretending to be radio listeners in Russia had been corresponding regularly with Hannu and Laura for two years. No one knew they were actually ‘moles’ gathering intelligence to destroy the ministry.
After actively listening to Hannu and Laura’s programs, the two agents secretly made a decision for Christ. Interestingly, the KGB sent them to Finland a year later…
Their superiors wanted precise floor plans of the studio, location of computers, names of Soviet believers, to gather financial information, to plant wireless microphones…
For 10 days they participated in day-to-day activities at the studio and spent their evenings at the nearby Bible school. Vladimir Grigoriev had an extraordinary command of the English language and helped with translating scripts into Russian, while his wife Lyudmila excelled in typing and preparing scripts with access to computers and archives.
And then …
Convicted by the Holy Spirit not to share their findings with KGB superiors, the two agents knew they could no longer return home to the Soviet Union and continue working for the KGB. They defected to Sweden immediately following their studio visit.
A spy comes in from the cold
After arriving in Sweden, Vladimir confessed their deception. He revealed he had been a KGB mole within the Christian community for 12 years, remorseful for all that he had done as an agent.
A Swedish newspaper headlined their story at a later date about how a Soviet KGB agent who was sent to infiltrate the Russian radio ministry of Hannu and Laura Haukka, came to faith instead and defected while on assignment. It was an incredible journey!
Vladimir had emphasized the need to intensify their outreach ministry, as people behind the Iron Curtain were receiving the IRR-TV programs with open hearts. Their name ‘Haukka’ was feared as enemy ‘number one’ of the Fifth Division of the KGB.
Spreading the Gospel had not been in vain to attain such status!
1989
IRR/TV ministry moves from the rural town of Parola to a 1,000 m2 studio and office facility in the Helsinki area. CBN and TBN donated funds and equipment, to help equip the first-ever TV ministry to Russia. IRR-TV Finland is founded and the ministry to Russia gains momentum.
Superbook to reach millions of TV viewers
A historic moment. Executives from Leningrad TV agree to air Superbook, the children’s Bible series. Other channels were soon to follow.
Estonia TV agreed to take the children’s Bible series in Estonian and Russian languages to millions of viewers. Historic handshake: Erik Haasmaa and Hannu Haukka.