How I Found PFT

by Marge Lakes

I first met Ken Haystead and his wife, Gladys, in the fall of 1964 when they came to Alhambra, CA and Ken was candidating for the position of Senior Pastor of a church my family attended.

Ken mentioned to the Board that he had a little radio program heard locally in Portland, which he had begun just recently, using some of his Portland church members for music, on which he spoke of encouragement, uplift and spiritual things.

Our church membership elected Ken Haystead to be the new Pastor at a congregational meeting in the fall of 1964.

It wasn't long after his settling into the routines of his So. Calif. church in July 1965 that Ken consulted with the Board of the Alhambra church to see if he could reintroduce his radio program that he called Peace for Today to help listeners start their day with some positive, uplifting information that would bring encouragement as well as spiritual uplift.

I often assisted in the Church Office, and my husband was on the Board of Trustees. We became good friends with Ken and Gladys, as their 4 children were close to the ages of our three.

I began listening to Ken Haystead on Peace for Today about thirty years ago during a very difficult time in my life. In 1967 I was diagnosed with cancer, had surgery and was given chemotherapy from which there were devastating results. I experienced many bone fractures and was essentually an invalid for nearly three years.

It was during this difficult time that I first became really aware of what fifteen minutes of daily inspiration and positive influence can do for a person. My medical prognosis was dismal: "I'd probably be in a wheelchair for years!" But thanks be to God, many prayers in my behalf, along with Ken's encouragement which I listened to daily over the radio, my discouragement began to turn to hope for the future. My attitude for living changed.

The helpful upbeat atmosphere of the show, coupled with Ken's practical advice for daily living brought me the direction and inspiration I had been seeking to handle several formidable life challenges.

During my illness, as part of my recovery, I began to do a little volunteer work from home for Ken's broadcast. In about three years I was again able to be up and about and care for my family.

As soon as my health and emotional vitality returned, I asked Ken if he could use some help with the show. Soon I became Ken's helper and later his co-host.

 

 

It Was the Sixties...

My Memories of Ken

by Marge Lakes

It was the sixties. The Cuban Missile Crisis had put the nation on edge. Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev was threatening to launch a Soviet nuclear missile from Cuba, and the U.S. felt in danger. The Kennedy White House had been facing down the Soviets with an ultimatum that they dismantle their missile bases at once but newscasts everywhere were reporting that the Russian warships were on their way to Cuba.

Americans were excavating for bomb shelters — for the threat of nuclear holocaust felt very real. People were gathering together in churches to pray for peace. It is impossible in the current century to make people understand what the Cuban Missile Crisis was like for the average American.

It was in such a time that an energetic, young forty-ish pastor of a church in Portland, Oregon felt a calling to give his parishioners reassurance, spiritual uplift and encouragement on a daily basis. Many in the "baby boom" generation felt that if the world was going to end for them, they should "live it up" before we were nuked! Our country was in a time of dramatic change, and much in need of a reminder of family values, coping skills, and God's unfailing care. Ken Haystead wanted to do something positive.

He was inspired to start a brief 15 minute early morning radio program that could be listened to in automobiles taking people to work, young people on their way to school, and homemakers getting their day started. The challenge was real, and with the help of some church musicians, a bright young radio announcer, and support from his church as a "home missions" outreach, the program was launched on a local station at 7:45 a.m.

The college generation was actively using the "peace" sign, and the name PEACE FOR TODAY seemed appropriate for this brief, "day-starter" reaching the greater Portland area at 7:45 each weekday morning. His listening audience grew to include not only church members, but also many Portland commuters.

Then in the fall of 1964 Ken Haystead received an invitation from a community church in Southern California to candidate along with four others for the position of senior pastor. The founding minister of this church, located in Alhambra, a community east of Los Angeles, was planning to retire. It was a fair-sized congregation with about 800 to 1000 in Sunday attendance and an active youth program.

In the course of Ken Haystead's weeklong visit to Alhambra, the church membership elected Ken Haystead to be their new pastor at a congregational meeting in the fall of 1964, and asked him to resign his Portland pastorate and be ready to assume his new duties.

In July of 1965, Ken said goodbye to many Portland friends, as well as his radio audience. It was a wrenching move for his family and the Portland church. Reverend and Mrs. Haystead and their four teenage children arrived in Alhambra. It was about the time of the Watts riots — and they were astounded to see fires burning in Watts from the Alhambra hills. Although they were alarmed and wondered what they'd gotten into, this was yet another manifestation of the unrest of the incredible sixties that was so heavy on the heart of this pastor.

The Haysteads had not been in Alhambra long, when Ken heard from an automobile dealer in Portland, who said he had been a faithful and appreciative listener to the daily radio program (which was no longer on the air). The gentleman wondered if it would be possible for Portland area to again receive the program, if he were to underwrite the cost?

Ken consulted with the Board of the Alhambra church to see if he could use the church facilities and recruit some of the musicians and use the church recording equipment to produce programs for airing in Portland. He explained that the purpose of the morning programs was to give listeners a positive way to start each day — with encouragement and spiritual uplift.

The Board agreed, and consulted the Missions committee to see if they could take on a local radio program for Southern California listeners. The Boards agreed to underwrite the cost for local broadcast time, feeling it was good advertising for the church. The Church Board agreed to the use of church facilities and volunteers, and the Missions Committee expanded their home missions outreach to include the cost locally of a fifteen-minute morning program.

Many of the church membership got behind this effort, and PEACE FOR TODAY was launched in Southern California from a little station in Glendale. It was recorded in the sanctuary of the church, and with the use of microphones and sound equipment began to take on a pretty professional sound. Copies of each week's shows were sent to Portland to be aired over KPDQ by the Chevrolet dealer.

During the next nine years the daily programs continued, and as the audience grew, Ken was requested by other localities to expand the outreach. During the next nine to ten years radio stations outside of Southern California and Portland picked up the program. It became well listened to by the morning drive population as well as homemakers up and down the West Coast - Fresno, San Francisco, Paradise, Portland, Seattle, and also Kansas City and San Antonio.

During this time there were about 20 volunteers who came to work in a little basement room of the church, opening and answering mail, and responding to requests for the many printed items Ken offered. At a dinner honoring the volunteers, it was noted that there were 4,000 listeners who had responded, and more than 10,000 pieces of mail had been recorded during the past year.

What had been a small hobby and venture had grown to such proportions that it was time for it to become an entity in its own right. In April 1974 Ken Haystead left the church, to devote his time exclusively to the radio outreach, and many joined in the effort to incorporate PEACE FOR TODAY, acquire its own IRS nonprofit status, establish a board of directors, and write bylaws. All of this was accomplished, new musicians joined the effort, and programs were recorded in a Glendale studio. One of those most interested offered use of a rental apartment he owned located above a beauty shop. PEACE FOR TODAY, Inc. was a real organization.

Leaving the shelter of the church sponsorship was a big step, but one that Ken felt necessary.  It would also give him opportunity to pursue a Marriage Family Counselor status, and provide counseling services, for which there was, a demand.

There were about 200 who were willing to back this venture. Actually, of the 200, there were only about a dozen of us involved on a day-to-day basis, picking up and answering mail, doing program preparation, and trying to raise enough money to cover the $4,000 a month it took to pay radio stations - in 1974 dollars it seemed like a lot - while we volunteered.

PEACE FOR TODAY prospered and grew during the mid-to-late ‘70s. Starting in 1978 we moved from the little upstairs office to Glendale. During this time, many listeners were asking for seminars and for extended "tours" when Ken would be available for two weeks at a time.

In subsequent years we took as many as 55 people on tour to Hawaii, Mexico City, Orcas Island and Santa Barbara, offering an interactive experience. Ken offered his seminars (many of which are now available on CD – check our catalog), sightseeing, great food, personal counseling and opportunities to make new friends who also benefited from the PEACE FOR TODAY outreach.

Then in 1982 we discovered a destination so wonderful that we ultimately took 23 tour groups of 30 there annually through 1995 (some years two or three groups). Those trips were so memorable that several signed up for six or eight returns! The location was in Southern Alberta, Canada, at a lovely chateau owned and operated by the Beazer family. The daily tours were outstanding, and included British Columbia and even white water rafting in Montana, as well as Waterton-Glacier National Park.

In an IT SEEMS TO ME article in July 1981, Ken Haystead wrote:

"God knows what He's doing, even when I'm not sure that's true. So often, for me at least, I see the will of God in retrospect. But that's nice! It makes for an awed sense of spiritual presence when one is able to look back and see unmistakable evidence of Divine Design! Looking back is revealing — and encouraging. To see that a "chance decision," an "unexpected contact," an "inner urge acted upon" all add up to fulfillment of a dream, is overpowering! Nothing can make you fall on your knees more quickly to acknowledge the sovereignty of the miraculous than to suddenly become aware of things falling silently, but surely into place. It is as though an invisible Hand or Intelligence guided or planned them in the darkest hours or the most difficult times. The tears come gently and you finally believe the words of the Lord through His prophet, "For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for evil, TO GIVE YOU A FUTURE AND A HOPE."

(Jer. 29:11 Living Bible).

 

I left PEACE FOR TODAY in the fall of 1984, shortly after the passing of my husband, and moved to Orange County. I was still getting settled in my home when Ken phoned in February 1985 and said that he had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer – would I return to PEACE FOR TODAY and keep the business going until he was on his feet again? I reluctantly agreed, for I was starting my own Time Management Services in my new location.

In 1985 PEACE FOR TODAY still located in Glendale, was a fully operative counseling service with a couple of licensed counselors and five “counseling would-be’s” who were working to complete their needed 3,000 hours for licensing. There were nine paid employees in addition to the counseling staff, and about 12,000 names in the database, which now was on computer. We were producing several hundred cassettes each week. It was a very “going-and-growing concern.”

I felt overwhelmed with the task that had been assigned to me.  At Ken’s suggestion I recruited 25 concerned Partners to participate in carrying on in Ken’s absence.

Ken Haystead had surgery, which was followed with chemotherapy and several other types of treatment for the insistent cancer, which had invaded his body.

Ken came to the office as often as his physical condition allowed, and helped produce many of the daily radio shows. For nearly three years we stood behind Ken’s valiant effort, recruiting special speakers as needed. Toward the end of that period, Ken would say over the air: “I’ve been teaching you how to live for the past 23 years, and now I’m telling you about how it feels to die.”

Those of us near to Ken were constantly amazed at the way he handled his ongoing battle with cancer in its many forms. What an example of courage!

On Thanksgiving 1987 weekend, Ken was taken from us. We were all shocked because he had seemed to be beating the dread disease. His family had a private service in Ventura, and then a service to which all were invited was held a week later at a church in South Pasadena. Hundreds of PEACE FOR TODAY listeners attended. The testimonies of how his life had touched so many lives were incredible.

The Board of Directors met in December of 1987, and elected me President of the corporation. It certainly was not something I sought, for it would mean that I needed to shut down my recently started-up business. I had been commuting from Irvine to Glendale for nearly three years, and continued to do so for another two.

I had wonderful support from the Board and Committee of 25, along with Don Norville. We continued to do tours and seminars, and maintained the Counseling Service. But, support began to drop off. It had been gradually happening during Ken’s illness. Apparently, it was a big turn-off for someone to repeatedly tell you that he was “teaching you how to die.” Their mortality was challenged.

In January 1990, after a wonderful John Goddard seminar, we moved PEACE FOR TODAY to smaller quarters and said goodbye to the paid staff. The diminished income necessitated this move. An Orange County Partner helped me find a location with a rent we could afford, and we would continue!

With the help of the Board and John Price, who came onboard as our engineer/announcer in 1989, and a dedicated group of volunteers, we were determined to see the outreach continue.

We celebrated 30 YEARS of five shows a week with a big party at the PEACE FOR TODAY location in Costa Mesa in 1994. It was a wonderful event, and several hundred people attended.

The Costa Mesa property (a large two-story office complex) was sold in 1996 and we had to move to Santa Ana. We were there three years, but rents were going up, and I found an office building near my home in Irvine with a reasonable rent, and we moved again in January 2001.

Through all of these many years, God has supplied what we needed. It is still that way, as we get ready to close out 2006. I retired as President in 2003 due to a heart condition, and we welcomed Eric Magallon as President.

PEACE FOR TODAY celebrated its 42nd “birthday” in October 2006. It is in good hands. The current board and all the volunteers are dedicated to seeing it continue – as am I. We have each come to know that Ken Haystead’s conviction that “your day goes better if you start it right” is very true. We believe in the value of PEACE FOR TODAY as a source of uplift, encouragement and coping skills for living in these challenging times.

I hope you become a regular PEACE FOR TODAY listener – either on our website, or, if you prefer, by ordering our weekly CDs of the broadcasts. We’re here to help. We want your days to be blessed, peaceful and full of joy for living!

Marge Lakes