K-LOVE: A morning show ministry

Go behind the scenes at the K-LOVE morning show and you will hear laughter.  DJ Craig West is holding a clear bag containing a plastic fork that former NFL star Tim Tebow used to eat an avocado while visiting the morning show the previous day. 
 
"We think we should get about $1.5 million, send our kids to college and retire a little bit. There's even a little avocado left on it so DNA, who knows man. This is huge," joked West.
 
Hang out in studio and you will hear some morning radio traditions including music, news headlines and chit chat. But West and his co-hosts, Amy Baumann and Mike Kankelfritz are doing something different. They are in their 4th year as a radio team ministering to their audience.
 
"I would say positive and encouraging, that's what K-LOVE's all about," said Baumann. "For me personally, I think every morning, we want to share, we want our listeners to leave feeling better, feeling closer to God than when they weren't listening before."
 
Baumann attends Bridgeway Community Church in Fishers. She is married to a pastor and balances a busy life with three boys. She frequently talks about her family on the morning show.
 
"I feel like so often as parents, we need that extra encouragement," said Baumann. "When we realize when things don't go well and you're running around your house and it's a crazy morning or wherever you're at in your day, you can be encouraged that you're not alone, and hopefully, thru the stories we share and the times we talk about our family and our experiences, that you'll know, we can get thru this together with God on our side. We can do this," said Baumann.
 
Mike Kankelfritz is known by K-LOVE listeners as "Kank". He attends Northview Church in Carmel. Kankelfritz is married with two children.
 
"We've got a 12-year-old daughter that has special needs. She's in a wheelchair. She has cerebral palsy. She has a visual impairment as well as a heart condition. That's made our life a little different as far as that goes. a lot of time is spent with her in therapies," said Kankelfritz. "We have a 6-year-old. Typical kid. So, we have no mobility and our son is mega-mobility. We have things in both sides of the spectrum. Without God and my faith in him, I don't know how I would get thru some of the stuff we've dealt with our daughter. We love her so much. She's just been a blessing," said Kankelfritz.
 
Kankelfritz says many listeners are surprised to learn the morning show originates in Indianapolis.
 
"It's kind of funny when they find out we are based here," said Kankelfritz. "There's some Indy pride that pops up. Like wow. They're talking to the whole country. We have radio stations from New York to California and they're here - and they're kind of confused - why would you pick Indianapolis? K-LOVE's headquarters are in California. They wanted a morning team that could go on the air at 6am eastern. Living in California - that's 3am Pacific, I don't want that gig," said Kankelfritz.
 
West attends Church for the Nations in Carmel. He is a married father of two grown kids. West is a DJ who wears his faith on his body with several tattoos. He loves teaching and preaching.
 
"My wife and I minister a lot in the Middle East. We've been doing that for about ten years now. Also in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My kids are out of the house. We're just having a blast spreading the gospel in practical ways and powerful ways, however God leads," said West.
 
The K-LOVE morning team were asked if they had five minutes left on earth what song they would want to hear before entering heaven. Baumann chose "Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns, Kankelfritz selected the song "I Can Only Imagine" while West chose "How He Loves" from Crowder.

The news stories they choose to discuss on the morning show are designed to lift their audience.
 
"I do something called 'Trending Now' a couple times an hour. As a mom with three young boys, every time I'm looking at what kind of news or information or what kind of stories we're going to be showing you, we want it to be something that's kid friendly that you know it's going to be something that can open up opportunities for you as a parent or as a person to talk more about your faith or get closer as a family and not something that's going to discourage you or put you in a grumpy mood," said Baumann.
 
Listeners call in to tell the K-LOVE morning team the kind of impact they have as radio hosts.
 
"I feel like daily, we're humbled. People calling in and saying my marriage was saved because of a song we've heard. Or a simple prayer that you said over the air, was exact right time that I needed prayer in my life as well," said Baumann.
 
One of the traditions of K-LOVE radio is encouraging listeners to try listening to Christian music for 30 days to see how their life can change.
 
"We have found that when someone does that and you put yourself in a completely different environment, we have so many stories of people and their perspective changes. Their outlook on life changes. Cause when you think about it, when you've eliminated the negative going in, and you've got only positive, you look at life differently. We've heard people say, I used to be horrible in traffic and it was road rage city, and when I've got K-LOVE on, I'm more patient," said Kankelfritz.
 
The K-LOVE morning team makes laughter a high priority for the 14-16 million people who listen every week.
 
"I think sometimes as Christians, we feel like we have to put on this face and be a certain persona, or perfect, or we don't make mistakes. Or everything has to be so serious. That's not the case. "God wants us to have fun. He wants us to be full of joy and knowing what's going on around us. I think that's what we try to do every morning," said Baumann.
 
This team finds purpose behind the laughter.
 
"Laughter is a medicine, even a weapon in a world where things are so dark and people are so oppressed and depressed. The gift of laughter, man it's a privilege to be part of. And we receive benefits of that as people listening to KLOVE do," said West.  "We're just having fun and goofing off and being silly and laughing. And, people are ministered by that. That sometimes blows my mind."
 
Ministry with music. Connecting listeners with a message of hope. That's the K-LOVE morning team.