Jan Markell: Plunging Into Ministry — Taking A Stand In A World Of Lies Is Worth The Risk
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# Jan Markell: Plunging Into Ministry — Taking A Stand In A World Of Lies Is Worth The Risk
By Jan Markell
__October 2, 2025
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(Photo: CommonSpace Images)
Anyone reading these paragraphs who is slightly shy or withdrawn will identify with a few lines here! That describes me—all of my life. I was an only child. I never married, and to this day, I consider myself just a bit of a loner—introspective and even insecure. _I am happy in the shadows rather than the spotlight._
But apparently God exercised his sense of humor with me. In the late 1990s, _Salem Media_ came to Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. I began hearing Christian talk radio and was totally captivated. They were talking about issues that were so relevant, but with a biblical twist.
Rush Limbaugh had gotten my attention in 1988, but _now I was hearing “Christian talk”—_ a medium much different than secular talk. This was important, I knew. It analyzed issues and interviewed important people who were in-the-know. It also was a good tool to get the gospel out, to debate atheists, and to sharpen people’s faith. It focused on a _biblical worldview._
But how could I do this? _An introvert doesn’t take to the air waves!_ But wasn’t it worth a try? Wasn’t taking a stand worth the risk? So few people wanted to stand for anything and so _the church was falling for everything._
**_Our World Was About to Change!_**
And thus, in the Fall of 2000, I decided to buy time on that local Christian station in St. Paul, MN, and see if it was a fit for me—and for them. Zola Levitt was my first radio guest. The studio equipment failed, and Zola was impatient and wanted to hang up and end the interview! _What a way to start this new endeavor._ We got through it—somehow.
I can’t wrap my brain around the fact that that was 25 years ago. But the dawn of the new millennium brought so many things to discuss and debate