Our History
Gegrapha began as a small prayer group in the mid-1980s when a group of Christians working for several media outlets in Washington began gathering to pray for the life of Terry Anderson, the one-time bureau chief for Associated Press who was abducted in 1985 by Muslim extremists. By the time Terry was released in 1991, the group had become close-knit and its participants wanted to continue meeting. David Aikman, then a senior correspondent for Time magazine, emerged as its leader and in November 1992, this group organized a first-ever national conference for Christians in the secular media. Sixty journalists from 15 states met at the Preacher's College at the Washington Cathedral with Terry Anderson as the keynote speaker. Several of Gegrapha's current board members first met each other at this conference.
The group continued to meet for monthly breakfasts with the help of the Washington Arts Group, led by Jerry Eisley. In 1996, the Arts Group organized a first international conference of Christian journalists in the secular media in Jerusalem. Seventeen journalists attended, among them several more future Gegrapha board members. In May 1997, the Arts Group, along with several members of the Washington prayer group, put on another national conference at the Preacher's College, which attracted about 30 journalists.
Beginning in late 1998, the Fieldstead Foundation gave two generous grants that enabled the prayer group to consolidate itself as an international fellowship for Christians in the secular media under the umbrella of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. David Aikman became a fellow with the EPPC and in 1999, Gegrapha organized "The Call to Truth," an international conference for almost 150 journalists in Chichester, England, with several keynote speakers. Obviously a chord had been struck, as many of the participants told of the difficulties of feeling alone as a Christian employed in secular media outlets.
In 2001, Gegrapha organized a second international conference in Washington, "Uncovering the Truth," which attracted almost 200 journalists. By then, it was obvious to the board that Gegrapha needed to stand on its own feet and the following March, it incorporated as a non-profit. Later in 2002, with the help of the Fieldstead Foundation, Gegrapha sponsored "Risking All to Tell the Truth," a conference for 40 African journalists in Nairobi, Kenya.
In 2003, with the help of more grants from Fieldstead and the Parker Foundation in Richmond, Va., Gegrapha hired its first executive director, T. Diane Bryhn, a former associate of David Aikman's who helped organize the Chichester conference. Gegrapha held an Asian conference in the Philippines in 2004, and Gegrapha board members participated in a national conference in Australia in 2005.
