Family Talk

Dr. James Dobson: Welcome everyone to Family Talk. It's a ministry of the James Dobson Family Institute, supported by listeners just like you. I'm Dr. James Dobson and I'm thrilled that you've joined us.

Roger Marsh: Well, welcome to Family Talk, the broadcast division of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. I'm Roger Marsh. You know, Washington D.C. is a place built around power, policy, and politics. But behind the titles and offices are men and women who face the same need for biblical truth as anyone else. On today's Family Talk broadcast, we're revisiting Dr. Dobson's conversation with Ralph and Danielle Drollinger, the co-founders of Capital Ministries. Their story began with a simple conviction. Rather than merely trying to influence government from the outside, what might happen if someone brought the word of God directly to the people serving inside of it?

Well, that vision began in California and eventually reached all the way to Washington D.C., where Capital Ministries established Bible studies for members of Congress and other government leaders. And along the way, God opened doors neither Ralph nor Danielle could have ever imagined when they first began pursuing this calling. In recent years, the ministry has continued to grow, and Danielle now serves as its president. But today, you're going to hear about how that calling first began along the remarkable path God used to bring Ralph and Danielle together for this work. So here now is our own Dr.

James Dobson with Ralph and Danielle Drollinger on today's edition of Family Talk.

Dr. James Dobson: I want to tell you that I am so excited today to have a couple of long-time friends here with us in the studio. I mean, this goes way way back, and I am speaking of Ralph and Danielle Drollinger. Ralph will be remembered especially through his basketball fans for his play at the University of California, Los Angeles that's known as UCLA, and I don't like to utter those words if I don't have to. But in this case, it's necessary. And we're great rivals at USC, and this man has caused me a lot of grief because he was a very very effective center in his last year at UCLA.

He's a big dude, 7 ft 1 in. His team at UCLA went on to win the NCAA National Championship under legendary coach John Wooden, who was of course the winningest coach I think in collegiate history. And Danielle is also distinguished in her own right. She's been a defender of conservative causes at the California State Legislature for many years. And that's when I came to know her because she was very effective in that responsibility. Both these folks are absolutely committed to the cause of Christ, and it's such a pleasure to have them here to talk about their ministry in Washington D.C., which I find very very exciting.

Ralph and Danielle are co-founders of Capital Ministries. That goes back to 1996, and they are doing so much impressive work in the nation's capital today, and I'm anxious to tell you about it. Ralph, you and I have another history together, kind of a unexpected moment that occurred. I think it was 1988 when I had invited Pete Maravich, the great basketball player from LSU and then the NBA. He was coming out to do a radio program with us, and he had written a book called Air to a Dream. It was about his father. And I asked him if he would like to come out and play basketball with us.

We played three times a week, and we just a bunch of duffers. The night before that, I called you. I said, listen, anybody playing on my team that's going to be able to guard this dude? And