Randall Murphree
AFA Journal editor
September 2007 – What a ride it’s been. When I came to work at AFA August 1, 1983, I was the seventh full-time staff member. Of the crew onboard at the time, Larry Durham, Forrest Ann Daniels and Tamara Durham are still with the ministry. When I think of 24 years at AFA, I’m amazed that those three still have seniority over me! The four of us have traveled a long way with Don Wildmon. There have been some times when we’d rather have taken another road, but the Lord kept us here.
We’ve seen a lot of hope and a lot of disappointment. We’ve seen the best of America in our loyal friends and AFA constituents – and the worst of America in those who would rip the frayed threads of Judeo-Christian morality from the rich tapestry of American culture. We’ve seen that, no matter how much things change, they somehow stay the same. Indeed, the same issues confront us today that confronted Don Wildmon and moved him to start AFA in 1977.
Don hired me to edit the NFD Informer. The organization was first named National Federation for Decency, and Don had been publishing a newsletter monthly as funds allowed, and at longer intervals when funds were low. I helped hurriedly put together the July/August 1983 issue. It was printed on tabloid-size newsprint pages. As we brainstormed about ways to improve the publication, we began making changes almost immediately. That September, we changed to a magazine-size page but stayed on newsprint.
By January 1988 when NFD was re-named AFA, we had switched to a slick, coated magazine-style paper – finally, less ink on your hands! We retained the newsletter look, beginning one or two major stories on Page 1, but gradually through the years, we added more graphics and photos to complement the text. Only last November did we make the leap to magazine-style cover art that illustrates or relates to one of the major pieces inside.
Over my 24-year tenure as editor, circulation has peaked and dipped more times than I wish to recall. At present, we’re in a great year of rapid increase, largely as a result of other divisions of AFA such as our Web sites and American Family Radio pointing people to the Journal.
I cannot say enough good about the people I work with, from the three Journal staffers to data processing to all the AFR departments to the Internet tech team to OneNewsNow, our daily e-mail news service. I never would have guessed that I’d be part of an AFA family of 160 employees. Without them all, the Journal would not survive.
As I said before, even as things change, they somehow stay the same. What I wrote in the September 1983 issue is still true: “I am excited by the challenge of working with AFA. … [I have] an absolute certainty about the need for this work to which God has called me. I know it is a grand opportunity He has given me to serve Him and His people. It is a responsibility I do not take lightly.”
Pray for us, especially for Larry, Forrest Ann, Tamara and me – and our next 30 years at AFA. 
