Rob Buckingham - Radio LightFM, Bayside Church
Ph: 03 9585 2455

At the age of 19, Rob Buckingham was a committed atheist. "Didn't believe in God, didn't think much of Christians," he says. But a near-death experience changed the life of the disc jockey.

The truck he was hitching a ride in collided head-on with another on the Pacific Highway, in northern New South Wales. Buckingham and the driver survived, despite the truck being written off, but the occupants of the other rig died.

After a short stint in hospital, and newly aware of his mortality, Buckingham stayed in western Sydney with the truckie and his wife, who happened to be devout Christians. "I'd always thought about God as being someone very distant and impersonal and unreachable," Buckingham says. "They talked about a God who was close and knowable, and caring and loving. They took me to their church ... probably had about 25 people, but it was bright, friendly, relevant, and I was impressed. And I committed my life to Jesus."

Buckingham, 44, wants Melbourne's new Christian radio station, Light FM, to offer listeners the same qualities of faith and hope, combined with accessibility, that the Sydney church offered him.

Light FM, which began broadcasting on December 1 2002, is the first permanent Christian radio station in Melbourne. Buckingham, known as a 3MP DJ for the past 14 years, has the 10am to 2pm weekday shift.

Buckingham says there will be a lot of Christians who tune into Light FM. "But there'll be others, who maybe class themselves as Christians, but they're not necessarily churchgoers, who want a program that is not based on ridicule. And a lot of radio is ridicule, particularly some of the breakfast teams. Their humour is all about picking on people, putting people down, all of that.

"I think there's a need in Melbourne for a radio station that is going to be positive, affirming. You can tune in and listen to it, enjoy the music, hear some talk and interviews, and after you've listened to it, you go, 'man, I actually feel better'.

"A bit of a bright spot in the day."

Rob Buckingham is Pastor at Bayside Community Church, Cheltenham, Victoria, as well as a radio DJ on LightFM.