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Lonnie Melashenko is director-speaker for the Voice of Prophecy, the world's second oldest religious broadcast. He was only a year old when he first came to the Voice of Prophecy: his father, Joe, was bass in the King's Heralds quartet and instructor in the ministry Bible School from 1948 to 1950.

Lonnie began working with the radio ministry in January 1989, serving as announcer while continuing as senior pastor of the 1400-member Paradise Seventh-day Adventist Church in northern California. He was associate director-speaker from May 1991 through December 1992, and upon the retirement of H. M. S. Richards Jr. became director-speaker on January 1, 1993.

In 2001 the Voice of Prophecy launched "The Voice to the World," a new strategy of global evangelism, comprised of three parts: Plant the Word, Preach the Word, and Preserve the Word. These involve, respectively, setting up Bible Schools in countries where there are none, conducting evangelistic meetings around the world each year, and following up persons who make decisions through radio broadcasts and Bible study materials.

The Voice of Prophecy will involve many church leaders, pastors, and laity in "The Voice to the World." Each spring and fall, Lonnie Melashenko and other VOP staff will be joined by as many as 20 additional teams to conduct simultaneous evangelistic series in the same country or metro area. Besides a speaker, each team will often include a health professional, a Bible worker, and a someone to lead out in children's meetings. Persons from youth to retirees can be involved in "The Voice to the World."

The new global project builds on a decade of Voice of Prophecy evangelism by Pastor and Mrs. Melashenko in Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, and the Philippines.

Fifty years of Voice of Prophecy ministry in the Philippines were commemorated in 1996 with Target 50,000 -- which achieved the goal of 50,000 baptisms.

During Brazil '93, Pastor and Mrs. Melashenko and the North American VOP team joined the Brazilian VOP to present rallies throughout South America's largest country. Meetings featured mass baptisms of as many as 1,200 persons in a single session. By the end of Brazil '93, half a million persons graduated from VOP Bible courses and more than 25,000 were baptized.

Pastor and Mrs. Melashenko also held an evangelistic series in Perm, Russia during 1993, and their meetings in Borislav, Ukraine, the previous year resulted in establishing the first Seventh-day Adventist congregation in that city. Jeannie exclaims, "Meeting the precious people from the former USSR, learning of their oppression, yet unshakable faith in God, changed my life."

Pastor Melashenko graduated from Highland View Academy in Hagerstown, Maryland. He received his bachelor of arts degree in theology from La Sierra University, Riverside, California, and his master of divinity degree from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.

He is married to the former Jeannie Jones, a native of Frederick, Maryland. She works in ministry services at the Voice of Prophecy headquarters in Simi Valley, California.

Pastor Melashenko, his parents, and his four brothers have presented gospel concerts throughout North America and in Bermuda. They have also been featured on television and radio. In 1999 they produced a CD, Step Into the Water, and a video, Melashenko Family Singers. The video includes all 23 members of the Joe Melashenko family. In 2001 Lonnie and his brother Joedy released a CD of duets, Brothers in Song.