Our History
Keys for Kids Ministries (originally Children’s Bible Hour) was created after a little girl sat on her Uncle Gil’s (Rev. Gil Cosselman) knee and asked why there were no Christian radio programs for kids. This simple question asked by a child was the catalyst for a radio/TV broadcast that would be aired for decades!
Gil Cosselman was pastor of the EUB church in Grand Rapids at the time. Gil got together with three other pastors to talk about the possibility of starting a children’s radio program. These men were Dr. David Otis Fuller, pastor of the Wealthy Street Baptist Church, Rev. Malcolm Cronk, pastor of Calvary Church, and Rev. Donald Hescott, pastor of the Calvary Gospel Center. They began praying, planning, and working together.
The Beginning of Children’s Bible Hour
A meeting of four pastors turned into a group of ten, which launched Children’s Bible Hour that same year. Their first broadcast aired in November from the studios of WLAV in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first office was in the Keeler building in downtown Grand Rapids. Radio was Children’s Bible Hour’s (CBH) first primary program format. Later, CBH taped young people recording live radio broadcasts. Interest in the radio broadcast quickly grew. A Board of Directors was formed, chaired by Dr. David Otis Fuller, who kept that position until the late 1970s.
One of the first two aunts, “Aunt Dorothy” Boli, described the radio program as “…an hour long divided into four sections: Bible Question Time, Chorus Time, Bible Memory Time, Bible Story Time, each having fifteen minutes. As to the script, there was little written out…most of the program was ad lib. But the spontaneous response and harmonious spirit made it a lively and profitable program.”
Choirs representing CBH traveled and performed throughout the US for decades, until the nonprofit decided to focus its efforts on other media to reach as many people as possible for Jesus.
Children’s Bible Hour went global in 1943. The one-year anniversary celebration was the beginning of a 56-year series of annual rallies. The first rally was held at the Welsh Civic Auditorium in Grand Rapids. From 1944 to 1999, the song “Boys and Girls for Jesus” was the rallying cry for CBH.
In 1945 Mel Johnson (Uncle Mel) left his position as director to pursue a position with Youth for Christ. Carl Bihl (Uncle Bill) became the second director of the ministry. That same year a man by the name of Harry Trover came to be a fundraiser as well as a story writer for the ministry. Between 1945 and 1972, Harry Trover wrote hundreds upon hundreds of radio dramas which became the backbone for the broadcast.
In 1946 the program was trimmed from an hour in length to a half hour, but the name Children’s Bible Hour was retained. They figured it sounded better than Children’s Bible Half Hour!
In 1947 CBH needed an office manager. Harry Trover said, “I have a sister in Canton, Ohio, who is an excellent businesswoman and would make a great office manager.” And so it was that Bertha Trover Shooks came from Canton with husband Ernie and daughter Beverly. She would prove to be a very important addition to the staff.
In 1948 the ministry began falling on hard times. Finances were low, and many of the radio stations that were airing the program (all of which required payment for airtime) were dropped. By the end of the year, the ministry was down to five stations and over $30,000 in debt. The Board of Directors met to talk about the possibility of dissolving the ministry. It was difficult to find anyone who wanted to be the director; no one wanted to go down with a sinking ship. Bertha Shooks offered to “take the job ‘til you can get another director.” She had never spoken on the radio and really didn’t have a radio voice. But Aunt Bertha became the ministry’s third director in January of 1949, and it soon became evident that God had His hand on this lady as she began to rebuild the ministry.
It wasn’t long after Bertha Shooks (“Aunt Bea”) took over that she felt the ministry needed to try expanding into the brand-new field of television. From late 1949 until 1955, the ministry produced several series of films made for TV. These consisted of music and stories as well as other features. It was a bold step in a new direction.
In 1958, “Search the Scriptures” correspondence Bible course was launched, eventually over 7,000 were enrolled in the course. In 1970, a lending library was started where cassettes of the broadcast were made available to missionaries, military and others that weren’t able to access the program on radio. In 1971, recognition for CBH’s growth came from a future US president, Gerald R. Ford. Around that same time, a “Phone-A-Story” ministry started in Tucson, Arizona, where children could phone in and hear shortened stories. Eight years later, it was being used in over 170 areas of the United States. In 1965, the first foreign language program was released in Russian of the 15-minute story aired on HCJB and continues to air today. In 1981, CBH began broadcasting in Chinese, and eventually in Spanish, Romanian, Russian, and the Ilongo dialect in the Philippines.
In 1945, Charlie VanderMeer becomes a regular on the program:
Back in 1943, nine-year-old Charlie started taking part in the broadcasts. And it began in an unusual way. Charlie’s dad brought him to one of the live broadcasts in the WLAV studio, which was capable of seating up to 130 people. The studio was often filled to capacity for the broadcast time. Uncle Mel would occasionally take a roving microphone and interview some of the studio audience. One of those he interviewed was Charlie. Mel liked the way he responded, and Charlie was invited to be a regular—not to sing, but to read Scripture, quote poems, read audio object lessons, and then eventually become the regular boy in the dramatized stories written by Harry Trover. In 1956 he graduated from college and asked Aunt Bea if there was a job he could fill until, as he put it, “I go to the mission field.” Well, CBH became his mission field. He started full time in 1956 and never left. He worked with Aunt Bertha until her retirement in 1972, at which time Uncle Charlie became the fourth CBH director, filling that position until March 1999 when Randy Hekman became the fifth director. Randy was with CBH for four and a half years. After serving 13 years on the Board of Directors, Mrs. Terre Ritchie became Executive Director on November 3, 2003, Greg Yoder became the Executive Director in 2015 and continues in that position today.
Randy Hekman served as Director from 1999 to 2003, and helped develop Down Gilead Lane as well as starting a radio ministry called “Parent Minute”. A former juvenile court judge, as well as father of twelve children, he had a strong desire to reach children with the Gospel. In 2002, CBH partnered with Tyndale Ministries to publish seasons of Down Gilead Lane in Christian bookstores.
In 2003, Mrs. Terre Ritchie stepped in as Executive Director after thirty years in children’s ministry, and thirteen years on the CBH Board of Directors. By 2004, over 45,000 Keys for Kids devotions were being printed and marketed around the nation. In 2005, the first two booklets of a new Bible Study called Camp-Be-Yon-Key was printed to give children a more in-depth study beyond Keys for Kids. By 2007, CBH was up to 95,000 Keys for Kids every month. Ritchie retired in August 2015.
During Charlie’s term as director he reached thousands of children for Christ. He was so well known that there weren’t many places in the country he could go where people didn’t recognize his strong, vibrant voice. He reaches children in camps, chapel services in Christian schools, and ministry meetings in churches. He continues to do share-a-thons with radio stations across the country and even fits in a mission trip now and then! You can’t keep a good man down!
Addition of Keys for Kids
In January 1982, the first issue of the Keys for Kids devotional was published, and the first run of 5,000 copies of Keys for Kids was in the mail. Demand was so great, there was an immediate reprint of 10,000 more of the first issue. In September 1984, the Keys Radio program was started as a 4½ minute broadcast six days a week hosted by Uncle Charlie based on the Keys for Kids devotional, and continues to be printed, posted online in text and audio files, and emailed. In 1986, a Spanish version, Tesoros Para Ninos (Treasures For Children) was first released, stories adapted to the fit the culture and language. Keys for Kids was also translated into Romanian, Portuguese, and Arabic, among many other languages throughout the world. In 1988, Tyndale House began publishing Keys for Kids stories in their One Year Book of Devotions line, which went on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies in multiple editions over the next few decades.
Keys for Kids is also aired as a four and a half daily radio program across the U.S. and around the world! Keys for Kids has been translated into twelve languages and many dialects. Our goal is to expand this to many more languages as we partner with Trans World Radio.
Many publishers are using Keys for Kids stories to create their own publications in other languages. Tyndale House has recently released a Ukrainian version. Praise the Lord!
Mandarin Chinese Keys for Kids
大衛站在遠處看著他父親打開一個蜜蜂巢。 “肯定的是一個大蜂巢，對不對，爸爸? 牠們看起來都好忙喔!”大衛笑著說。他又補充說道:“牠們真是忙碌的蜜蜂!”
爸爸笑了。“你說得對，每個蜂巢都有數以千計的蜜蜂，但是呢，”爸爸繼續說，“ 每個蜂巢一定只有一個女王蜂。”
Working with Trans World Radio (TWR) on translation production.
Keys for Kids impacts millions each year
Down Gilead Lane is aired on over 2,200 radio outlets across the country. Our Classic CBH programs are carried by approximately 250 stations. Keys for Kids is carried by 900 stations.
Please pray with us that God will continue to provide these outlets so even more children will hear of God’s love for them.
Our website has over 2 million visits throughout the year.
Seasons of Faith illustrated books
These colorful illustrated picture books were adapted from our classic radio programs. Editing the scripts into book form and then adding the art of many different illustrators has brought this dream to fruition. You’ll find a book for every season of faith that a child encounters. For example, salvation, growing faith, forgiveness, pride, death of a loved one, and all sorts of subjects your child can read about. Complete with a CD of Uncle Charlie narrating the story, you’ll find these beautiful books a needed addition to your children’s library. These books also make great gifts!
Keys for Kids Radio
In a small closet studio in the back of Cornerstone University’s radio station WCSG, His Kids Radio (then known as the Children’s Sonshine Network) went on the air on October 23, 1989. It was the beginning of many years of 24-hour radio broadcast ministry to kids and families.
Many things have changed since we aired classic programs like Children’s Bible Hour and Ranger Bill, and played songs from the Music Machine and Psalty the Singing Songbook. In addition to the many sounds of His Kids Radio over the years, we have grown with the latest technology, shifting from SCA broadcast and satellite delivery to digital and internet streaming.
In October 2014 Keys for Kids Ministries took ownership of His Kids Radio, which became Keys for Kids Radio on its 25th birthday! Even with all the changes, one thing is still the same: our passion for reaching kids with the Gospel of Jesus through engaging stories and songs all day, every day on a radio station just for kids.
Parent Minute
Parent Minute began as a short radio feature created by former Keys for Kids executive director Randy Hekman. Building on that vision, current president Greg Yoder launched a full series of episodes starting January 1, 2016. The program offers quick, relatable insights for moms, dads, and grandparents navigating everyday parenting challenges—with a biblical perspective and a dose of encouragement. Heard on over 450 radio outlets, Parent Minute with Greg Yoder continues to support families with real-life advice in just one minute a day.
Unlocked for Teens
In 2016, after launching our Keys for Camps program, many of the Christian summer camps who used our Keys for Kids devotional started asking if we also had a daily devotional for teens. Since we did not, we looked for one we could recommend. Although we found devotional books that spanned 30 or even 365 days, we could not find any ongoing daily devotionals that teens could subscribe to.
So, after much prayer and careful research, the Unlocked teen devotional was created in 2019. Similar to Keys for Kids, Unlocked is published as a print booklet and mailed to subscribers, and it is also a daily podcast. Because our research revealed that teens prefer a much different devotional format than the one used in Keys for Kids, Unlocked contains a variety of genres and styles—each day has something different! Whether it’s an essay, a personal story, a poem, a church history piece, or a sci-fi/fantasy allegory, each devotion connects the good news of Jesus with topics teens are facing and invites them to dig into the Bible for themselves.
Pray for Keys for Kids Ministries
We need your prayers to accomplish all God has given us. Our radio, print and internet ministry for children is growing rapidly. With our small staff and limited funds we try to do as much as we can. We need your help! Won’t you pray for us and give when you can? We can accomplish so much more with you on board as a partner. God bless you as you seek to serve Him!