HOPE FM - now on air 106.3 FM

Hope FM returned to the airwaves at midnight on Sunday on 106.3FM

Hope FM is Community Christian Radio for the Bournemouth & Poole area - the only station that that is run by the community for the community

Links
Hope FM
Christian Radio UK

CBC Best Speech Programme Award

Whistling Frog Productions based in Bradford has scooped the Gold Award for Best Christian Speech Programme at the Christian Broadcasting Council's annual media awards.

An engraved plaque was awarded to Producer, Sandra Coleman and the programme's feature, Diane Baxter at the ceremony in Stoke-on-Trent on the 10th of November.

Home FM in Huddersfield broadcast the fourteen-minute programme entitled 'A Place Called Gethsemane' on Good Friday this year telling the story of a local woman diagnosed with an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis. Diane Baxter describes how she was miraculously healed of the condition when only weeks away from death.

Whistling Frog Productions won the same award last year with 'A Borstal Good Friday' produced by Colin Lowther. The award-winning production team has been building creative audio productions for UK commercial radio stations since 1997.

Commissioning stations such as Home FM, LBC, The Pulse and Classic Gold confirm that it is possible to explore spiritual issues in a commercial radio format.

Links
Christian Broadcasting Council
Christian Broadcasting UK

Help Complete Great Commission

According to Back to the Bible International, as reported by Mission Network News, two-thirds of the world's people prefer oral over written communication.

The reason for this is not certain, perhaps because of illiteracy or cultural conditioning - but it means that radio is the perfect way to convey the Bible's message to four billion people.

Add to the above the fact that there are an increasing number of intolerant countries in the world, where Christians are not allowed, may be persecuted or where there is no freedom to talk about the Gospel of Jesus - it is clear that radio, in it's many forms, is once again becoming a critical medium for proclamation of the Gospel and fellowship with believers.

That's why support is needed from the Christian community for organisations like Back to the Bible, whose broadcasts. are beamed into places like China and the Middle East to reach large numbers of oral learners. Back to the Bible has also helped in the construction of radio stations in Africa and Indonesia which will carry God's Word to those who can't read it.

Support is needed for organisations like OMS and Men for Missions whose radio station 4VEH in Haiti is making a real difference in a troubled country.

And, closer to home, support is needed for new community based radio stations like Revival Radio which will take to the air in 2006.

CBC Respond to Ofcom

The Christian Broadcasting Council of the United Kingdom (CBC) has welcomed Ofcom’s proposals to allocate blocks of radio spectrum in VHF Band III for radio multiplexes.

CBC point out that, by the time that the Communications Act 2003 removed restrictions which previously stopped Christian radio broadcasters from obtaining space on DAB multiplexes, all the space on the majority of the existing multiplexes had been allocated.

The Ofcom proposals to allocate new spectrum for digital radio broadcasting should present opportunities for Christian radio broadcasters.

Read CBC's Submission

Wind-up Radios in Mozambique

Trans World Radio says a special wind-up radio distribution in Mozambique is meeting with great success.

The project came about as the result of a natural disaster in the region five years ago. Many people lost everything they owned in the floods that ravaged southern Mozambique.

Because poverty is also rampant, people could not afford to replace their lost household goods, which included their radios.

Added to that, the complication that many of the villages were remote, making the replacement goods scarce. But church partners launched a special fund to deal with that. As a result, 100 Grundig FR200 radios were purchased and imported from a supplier in the United States.

Churches, partner organizations and Christian groups working with villages in southern Mozambique distributed the radios in a way that would allow TWR to keep track of the radios and the listeners.

Teams report that villagers gather around a radio to listen to TWR's Christian programming together. Because many are illiterate, the programs substitute as their Bible

http://www.twr.org
http://www.twr.org.uk

Prayerline Expands to Germany

UCB Prayerline is now available to British Forces personnel and their families serving in Germany enabling them to receive spiritual support just by picking up the telephone.

“This service is one that has been needed for some time,” said Prayerline Manager Neil Winterton.

“With many servicemen and women serving in Iraq and many other countries, families are often left alone for long periods of time, and in Germany the problem is increased as those left behind, often with young children, are in a foreign country themselves. We have been working closely with the chaplains on the bases in Germany and we are so pleased to be able to join with the British Armed Forces to supply this service. When families or individuals are struggling, the one thing that they often seek is spiritual support and we look forward to supporting the chaplains in Germany through this project.”

Christian TV for Egypt

Aghapy Television, the first Christian satellite channel in Egypt, began broadcasting on Monday November 14th.

Established by the Coptic Christian Church, the main church in Egypt, it is the first TV station in Egypt to broadcast programs with a purely Christian outlook.

The channel will carry church services, family programs and documentaries on topics such as ancient monasteries.

Some Egyptians are concerned that the presence of a Coptic channel may exacerbate the tensions between Muslims and Christians that periodically flare up into violence. However, an organizer said Aghapy TV will not carry anything that could “upset Muslims.”

The aim of the channel is to “provide a link with the church to all those Copts who may not have access to a place of worship or who live abroad.

BBC "Anti-Religious"

The BBC has a "pervasive anti-religious attitude" and displays uninformed, sensationalist approaches to religion, members of a House of Lords select committee considering the corporation’s future have said.

Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh broadcasters and others unleashed a barrage of criticism.

Evangelical Alliance General Secretary Revd Joel Edwards spoke of a "pervasive anti-religious attitude" and Dr Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad said TV drama represented religious believers stereotypically.

Although another member, Lord Preston, dismissed the claims of anti-religious bias he agreed the media was full of uninformed correspondents "trying to fluff their way through complicated matters".

Dr Mona Siddiqui said that the BBC was not doing enough to meet public hunger "for real debate" and to help people "know how religion makes a person tick".

Caleb Radio now live on 87.9 FM

Caleb Radio returned to the airwaves of Lanarkshire today, broadcasting from Motherwell.

For the next 28 days tune in 87.9 FM and online. With live programming from 7am to midnight daily and automated overnight output, Caleb Radio is bringing Light and Life to Lanarkshire.

www.calebradio.net

Communications for Earthquake Zone

Mission Aviation Fellowship's humanitarian subsidiary PACTEC reports that the first emergency communications center is up and running from Pakistan's quake zone.

The VSAT satellite connection has been operational for a few days now in the center. The PACTEC team chose to put it in a Muzaffarabad refugee camp between the United Nations and several other Non-Governmental Organizations.

Because of the partnership of a similar nature in Banda Aceh, the UN is using the emergency communications facility to do their reporting on the much-needed data they're trying to collect and disseminate.

MAF's PACTEC team is much appreciated because they've provided a way to get information out of the disaster zone as winter sets in. A second site in Balokot is on the way to becoming operational.

200 Languages from TWR

Listeners in the Philippines, Russia and East Africa are among the beneficiaries of the expanded ministry by international Christian broadcaster Trans World Radio (TWR).

With the addition of lnaguages in those countries, TWR now broadcasts the gospel worldwide in more than 200 languages and dialects.

Programmes air from more than 2,700 broadcasting outlets, including 14 international transmitting sites, satellite, cable, Internet and local AM and FM stations.

Broadcasting since 1954, TWR took 41 years to reach the 100-language plateau, then just 10 years to reach the 200 mark.

“Expanding the number of languages that we air undoubtedly broadens our opportunity to reach even more people with the gospel message,” said TWR President David Tucker.

“What’s more, by adding broadcasts into hard-to-reach areas like the Northern Caucasus region and the Philippines, we can deliver the gospel to people who might not otherwise have access to it.”

CBC Annual Media Awards

The Christian Broadcasting Council's Annual Media Awards Dinner for 2005 is being hosted on Thursday 10th November at the Moat House Hotel in Stoke-on-Trent.

To book your place at this event please contact Lynn Harrison on 01782 811812

The calibre of this year’s award winners is at its usual high standards and the evening will be a real celebration of the advancement of Christian media in the UK.

This year the categories for entry are as follows:
A. Best Christian Ministry Radio Programme – Worship & ministry
B. Best Christian Speech Radio Programme – Documentary/interview/discussion
C. Best Christian Music Radio Programme – Music based programme
D. Best Christian Factual PSB TV Programme – Documentary/factual programme including interviews, discussion
E. Best Christian Factual Satellite/Cable TV Programme – Documentary/factual including interviews, discussion
F. Best Christian Ministry TV Programme – Worship & ministry
G. Best Christian Music TV Programme – Music based programme
H. Best Christian Film – Full-length drama/feature film made for Cinema, Video/DVD or Television
[Not part or episode of a TV series or mini-series]
I. Best Christian Factual Video/DVD – Documentary/factual/interview
J. Fred Grossmith Christian Writers Awards for the Best Christian Novel
K. Fred Grossmith Christian Writers Awards for the Best Christian Non-fiction Book
L. Fred Grossmith Christian Writers Awards for the Best Christian Poetry Book
M. Best Christian Worship Music Album
N. Best Christian Gospel Music Album
O. Best Christian Contemporary Music Album
P. Best Christian Music Video/DVD
Q. Best Christian Artist or Group of The


CBC Website

TWR Project Hannah

Trans World Radio have just completed 40 days of fasting for at risk women around the world.

TWR's Project Hannah initiative is designed to raise awareness of women who are abused, neglected and spiritually needy, praying for God's protection and redemption.

Project Hannah also broadcasts all around the world encouraging them to experience God's love and salvation that's freely offered.

That major initiative over, Project Hannah is celebrating its 8th anniversary with, what started as a whisper of 12 Chinese friends in Singapore, having exploded into a massive movement in intercession.

Printed materials are being translated into more than 20 languages and are helping prayer warriors pray in over 80 countries while their radio broadcast, Women of Hope, is airing in 30 languages worldwide more than 400 times a week.

This year Project Hannah has started a new ministry to Hindi speaking women. Two new Asian languages were also added and programmes for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan are in preparation.

Click here for more information on Project Hannah

Wilma Damages TV Ministry

Coral Ridge Ministries (CRM) and Coral Ridge Church, home base for Dr. James Kennedy’s Coral Ridge Hour television broadcasts, suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Wilma in southern Florida.

Parts of the roof were blown off, power was interrupted, and it could be weeks before main offices are running at full capacity.

Kennedy and all staff members are reported to be safe, and CRM’s television and radio outreaches are going forward on schedule.

However, Wilma has thrown all aspects of CRM into an immediate financial crisis, shutting down the primary source of funding because mail has been disrupted and staff is not able to access buildings to process donations.

Bringing the Rainforests Closer

Rachel Phillips, a radio reporter with Premier Christian Radio, one of London's local radio stations, recently completed from a 10-day hike through the rainforests of Brazil.

Rachel, who's hike gained worldwide attention through her online diary and radio reports, has been working to raise money for homeless children.

She kept in touch with staff and listeners through her blog, an online diary with regular audio clips, and satellite phone calls.

Christians around the world have been responding to her daily Web and radio updates, including Premier Radio online listeners who live in Brazil and are keen to meet the Christian journalist.

I’ve been able to read messages posted on the Premier website from Christians listening-in only miles away from where I’ve been staying in Rio,” Phillips said. “It’s amazing to see how the gospel can be transmitted through the power of technology.”