Radio ministry training reveals bright future

Fifteen twenty-somethings gathered for training in Singapore to learn more about managing and enhancing their Christian radio ministries. These leaders came from India, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Central Asia and the South Pacific Islands.

During the week, the young people learned about mass media, management, and kingdom building. They were asked, "What's your motivation? Why are you doing this? Are you doing it to be the biggest voice in the area, or are you doing it because you're intrigued by radio, or are you doing it to build God's kingdom?" said Ron Cline of HCJB Global Voice who hosts the training. Each person, then, is given a mentor for the next year until he or she comes back for the second and final training session of the program.

This is their third group of students. "We've seen the end result is better management, better partnerships working together, and there's a link. They no longer feel like, ‘Hey, I'm the only guy out here running a radio station.' There are other people running radio stations, and they can get help from those people," said Cline.

There are several stations that these young people manage in countries that have a challenging audience. Sometimes the audiences have never even seen a Bible. "Maybe the only thing they've heard is what their religious government has told them because most of those countries are managed by religious governments. So there's a high amount of hostility in that part of the world, and these young people just want to make sure that people know the truth," Cline explained.

Many of those governments, such as India, still do not allow any local, private radio stations. However, certain programs from HCJB Global Voice have been allowed to be broadcast on the existing stations.

"You see the thing beginning to break down a little," said Cline. "Our partner in Indonesia with 22 stations sprinkled throughout Indonesia, every station is a miracle because it went in where there was hostility toward Christianity, and it changed the thinking and minds of the people. Now there are churches planted there, and there are Christians in that area."

While they do not lack zeal, they lack models of Christian radio ministries. So in order to start these stations, HCJB Global Voice helps build the station and does training and follow-up training.

There are plans to expand these ministries in every country, including strategies for when China and India decide to allow private station permits. Funding is the main need at this point to get more ministries started.

Cline's parents' funded a station that's having an eternal impact. "I want to tell you when my folks died this last year, that was the thing they felt they had contributed most to in the kingdom of God because there were a thousand people, and there's going to be more, simply because of their partnership."

(Mission Network News)

More time for HCJB broadcasts

DECISION AGAIN EXTENDS CHRISTIAN SHORTWAVE BROADCASTS FROM ECUADOR

Broadcasts from HCJB Global Voice's shortwave station in Ecuador will continue at least through October 2008 as the Quito airport authority has granted the mission's request to postpone the dismantling of its shortwave radio towers.

Radio Station HCJB's agreement two years earlier with the Quito Airport Corporation (CORPAQ) had required the mission to remove the towers in Pifo, a town near Ecuador's capital city of Quito, to make way for a new international airport.

Languages that air via shortwave from Ecuador include Portuguese, Spanish, Quichua, Quechua, German, Low German, Cofán, Waorani and Culina.

"We asked for an extension last autumn," explained Doug Weber who directs mass media for HCJB Global Voice in Latin America. "We were (first) granted a six-month extension, and now we've been granted a full year.

"This also means we can continue to do some of our test broadcasts, particularly to Europe and to Brazil," said Weber, referring to broadcasts in the digital shortwave format being researched and developed by Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM).

What will happen after 2008? "We will continue to broadcast after the 2008 deadline on the remaining antennas for as long as we feel is reasonable and prudent." Weber said.