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Press Room
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Welcome to the HCJB Global Press Room. Please bookmark this section as a key resource on all news updates and information on our organization and our global efforts.
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Aug. 20, 2010
Polish Partner’s Evangelistic Website Sparks 1 Million Hits in 2 Years
Source: Radio CCM (written by Harold Goerzen)
An evangelistic website launched by HCJB Global’s Polish partner nearly two years ago surpassed the 1 million mark for visitors this summer.
Of these, some 112,000 visitors to the Polish version of the website, www.lookingforgod.com, filled out a form saying they had prayed to commit their lives to Christ. More than 14,000 of the new believers accepted at least one of the follow-up options offered by partner Radio CCM which operates a network of six FM stations in southern Poland. The broadcasts can be heard by more than 4 million people.
“Of course, statistics are not our primary objective,” said Henryk Krol, chief executive officer of DEOrecordings, the network’s parent ministry which began in 1975. “Nevertheless, as we read through the e-mails we receive—200 every day—we can see that God is working through this most recent communications innovation as part of His objective to bring His offer of salvation to the attention of the whole earth.”
New converts are put into e-mail contact with a mature Christian and directed to a five-part, online Bible study called “Why Jesus?” as well as a website where they can listen to recordings of testimonies, sermons and Bible studies.
Recently the ministry began offering additional resources on Polish versions of two websites, www.christiantothecore.org and www.christianityexplored.org. More than 100 volunteers have been trained to follow up with visitors to these sites.
Krol said changing technology has made it possible to “access the lives of millions of people, many of them living under totalitarian regimes or in countries where to be a Christian means facing persecution and even death.”
He admits that using the new approach has been a difficult transition for the staff. “We’ve had to leave our comfort zone and give our quality time and energies to learning how to adapt these brand-new discoveries to the propagation of the timeless gospel of Christ’s salvation,” he explained.
“We have had to redefine some of our attitudes toward growth and learn not to impose our subculture on seekers and new converts,” Krol remarked. “It’s exciting to study the Scriptures with these new friends and discover how relevant His Word is in today’s world.”
Meanwhile, an independent survey organization indicated that listenership to Radio CCM’s stations held steady this summer even though it’s a season when numbers typically slump.
“In the past few months we have had visits from some of our friends and partners overseas,” added Krol. “In some cases we had guests whom I was meeting for the first time. I discovered that by telling them our story, I encouraged myself, looking back at how wonderfully God has worked to bring us to our present situation.” |
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Aug. 20, 2010
Medical Team from Ecuador Heading to Haiti … Again!
Source: HCJB Global (written by Sheila Leech and Harold Goerzen)
Ever since the devastating earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12, HCJB Global Hands has been involved in various medical relief efforts in the country. The first team to leave Quito for Port-au-Prince was on the ground, helping victims within 72 hours of the quake. The second team followed a few weeks later.
“Since then we’ve been looking for opportunities to partner with likeminded organizations and serve the people of Haiti with Christ-centered medical care,” said Sheila Leech, HCJB Global’s vice president of international healthcare.
“Much has been written about the difficulties in Haiti and how hard it has been to get help to those who most need it,” she continued. “By partnering with Samaritan’s Purse again, an HCJB Global Hands team will be in action in Haiti from Aug. 28 to Sept. 11.”
The eight-member team will be working in the notoriously dangerous community of Cité Soleil in the capital city’s metro area where Samaritan’s Purse has a full-time presence at a basic medical clinic. The clinic is operated by Haiti Outreach Mission, an outreach with a number of interwoven local ministries, including a local church and a school.
The team will be comprised of three nurses and four doctors led by Alex Weir. Two of the physicians are Ecuadorian residents at Hospital Vozandes-Quito.
“There will definitely be a spiritual side to the ministry we do,” Weir said. “At patient registration when we check their weight, height and vital signs, there will be a question on the check-in sheet asking for prayer requests. I’m sure the Lord will help us use this question as a springboard to talk about spiritual matters.”
The mood of the team was upbeat as members convened for a briefing and orientation. “We see dark places as places where we can shine brightest,” said one team member when someone referred to the spiritual darkness that hangs over the nation of Haiti.
Team members prayed fervently for the people of Haiti and thanked God for open doors to show Christ’s love through physical touch and healthcare. They also prayed that He would open blinded eyes to the truth of the message that would be shared.
“The Global Hands staff believes that Christ’s love can be shown in unique ways as they minister to the sick and hurting,” Leech remarked. “And that’s why they’re heading for Haiti … again!” |
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Aug. 13, 2010
HCJB Global’s First Summer Internship Program in Ireland Has ‘Eternal Impact’
Source: HCJB Global (written by Harold Goerzen)
How do you engage Christian radio to reach unbelievers? What do you say about God? Which words do you use? What topics do you cover?
These were just some of the questions facing the three participants in HCJB Global’s first summer internship program to be held in Ireland.
“Everything we did was filtered through the non-Christian experience,” said David Uhles, director of HCJB Global’s Europe/Eurasia Region. He led the three-week program, called Eternal Impact, with partner LifeFM in Cork, Ireland, July 9-29.
“For instance, we didn’t do any preaching on the air,” he explained. “But we did have short spots in the radio program that got people thinking about spiritual things.”
The interns included Doug Leasure, a communications major at Grove City College in Grove City, Pa., and two young volunteers from LifeFM—Jonathan Peters and Shane O’Regan. Leading the training were HCJB Global-UK Director Colin Lowther and Nick Mangeolles who is the program director of Whistling Frog Productions, the office’s program production arm.
“We did a three-week course starting with one week of training in radio production,” Uhles explained. “The second week the interns produced a radio program that aired on LifeFM, and the last week they did volunteer work at the station.”
The hour-long program, broadcast live starting at 10 p.m. (local time) Friday, July 23, was produced with young listeners in mind. It centered around a feature on a local outreach in Cork called the Yellow Bus which ministers to homeless people. The program also included news, live interviews, catchy “God thoughts” and two commercials.
“Just doing the interviews profoundly affected each one of the interns as they learned about these people who are lost, homeless and need Christ,” Uhles said.
One of the listeners sent a text message to the interns during the live program—only the second time he had tuned in to the station. “He was seeking answers about God. After the program, team members followed him up and sent him some material and hoped to meet him at the station,” Uhles adds.
While the young participants learned valuable radio production skills, they were also exposed to HCJB Global’s media ministry in Europe. The summer program gave them a chance to use their skills at LifeFM, a community station in Cork started with HCJB Global Voice’s help in 2008.
“The participants should be able to go and produce a program on their own,” he added. “All they need to do is practice.”
Living together in a rented four-bedroom house and using the temporary recording studio in the living room gave the interns plenty of opportunity to interact with each other and the staff members who stayed in the same building.
“God showed up in places we didn’t expect Him to show up,” Uhles remarked. “One emphasis was spiritual development so we did Bible study and devotions together every evening. It’s more than just technical training; it’s an opportunity to grow in your personal walk with God.”
Since this was a pilot project, there were plenty of glitches to be worked out, but Uhles is already planning to repeat the training in Ireland next summer and his staff has started recruiting next summer’s interns.
“We were successful in just having the program,” he continued. “This year was research and development. We learned things to do and what not to do. But our topics and the way we did things were right on. Putting on a live show was excellent, and the spiritual element was very important.”
At the conclusion of three weeks, one intern wrote, “On this trip I learned the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone for Christ and the peace that follows.” Another said, “The experience was great as it recreated a realistic situation where I had to adapt to a new culture. I really enjoyed this element and I thoroughly enjoyed fellowship with my brothers in Christ!”
One side benefit of the training was the collaboration between HCJB Global’s Europe/Eurasia Region and the U.K. World Office. The interns also gave a much-needed helping hand to HCJB Global missionaries Roger and Carey Basick and LifeFM’s directors, Brian and Anne Daley. The Daleys came to Christ through programs aired on an HCJB Global transmitter in Ireland in the 1990s.
Uhles added the internship program “met all of our expectations, and we have a better idea what it will look like in the future. We need to recruit more Europeans. We’d like to see six or seven Europeans take part next year with two teams of three or four people each. We’re praying for the right people, casting a vision for those involved in Europe/Eurasia, using media to reach those who may not be reached in any other way.”
Listen to the radio program, commercials and spots produced by the summer interns in Ireland.
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Aug. 13, 2010
The Power of a Portable Radio Demonstrated in Lesotho
Source: HCJB Global (written by Kate Elliott)
Malerato lives in Lesotho, a landlocked country surrounded by South Africa. For many years she lived a difficult life. She had almost nothing to eat and had to take care of a young daughter alone after her husband left her. Her house was made of mud, and didn’t even have real windows or a door—just plastic coverings.
Malerato would make a little money selling vegetables, and she tried to get a job in the factories, but she fell down during her first day on the job, weakened due to extreme hunger. Most days she would send her daughter go to school with an empty stomach.
Then one day she received a portable radio from HCJB Global’s partner radio station in Lesotho, Harvest FM. This fixed-tuned, solar-powered SonSet® radio changed her life. She heard the good news of Jesus, and she chose to accept Him as her personal Savior.
Even though she was living a life full of trials and tribulations, Malerato knew she would not die, but live, because God is with her through it all.
Today, after much prayer, Malerato’s husband returned home. Her life has changed for the better, and her daughter who once barely had enough to eat, is now grown and a proud mother. Malerato has food on her table, shoes on her feet, and a roof over her head.
But more importantly, she has the life-saving grace of Jesus Christ. And she heard all about the good news on a SonSet® radio. |
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Aug. 6, 2010
Partner Station Goes on the Air in Ghana, Fulfilling Pastor’s 35-Year Dream
Source: HCJB Global (written by Harold Goerzen)
A 35-year dream by a pastor serving in one of the least-reached areas of Ghana was fulfilled Saturday, July 31, with the official launching of a community radio station in the remote city of Bolgatanga.
Broadcasting to the city of 60,000 in a predominantly Muslim area, Word FM officially went on the air after nearly four months of test broadcasts, answering decades of prayer by Pastor Peter Awane.
“It wasn’t until 2008 that we heard about Pastor Awane’s dream and began partnering with him,” said Jeremy Maller, HCJB Global’s projects coordinator for the Sub-Saharan Africa Region. “He is very excited that this new station has become a reality.”
Word FM, broadcasting at 88.3 MHz, is making Christian broadcasts available to the Frafra people in northern Ghana, an ethnic group with “little access to any Christian influence,” Maller explained. “The station will also be providing community development programming such as basic health education.” Programs go out in the Frafra and English languages.
Hundreds of people from the local community, including government officials and about a dozen community chiefs, were on hand for the festive dedication ceremony on July 31.
“Pastor Awane feels that the radio station will be used greatly for God’s kingdom since there are no other Christian radio stations in the region,” Maller added. “Once the station went on the air, people began calling the studio saying they were listening, excited that the station is giving them programming in their own language. This station means so much for God’s kingdom because it is reaching out to a virtually unreached people group. Frafra listeners have even been calling in from southern Burkina Faso, voicing their support for the new station.”
HCJB Global Voice provided studio equipment for the radio station as well as technical assistance during the installation and training for the studio staff.
In preparation for putting this station on air, training coordinator Joseph Kebbie visited Bolgatanga in 2009 to train the radio presenters and workers of Word FM. “I helped them become good and effective communicators using the tools of radio,” Kebbie said.
Eight months later, a team of two from the regional office in Accra, Ghana, made the 14-hour drive to Bolgatanga to install the equipment. After four days of working to install the antennas and set up the studio, Word FM was ready to start test transmissions.
In February 2010 HCJB Global President Wayne Pederson visited the station when it was still being built and was named an honorary “co-chief” by the local village chief. Allen Graham, who directs radio planting and development in Latin America, led additional radio training in Bolgatanga last spring.
HCJB Global is planning two more partner stations in Ghana. One is a third station with partner Theovision in the town of Saboba, and one is with another partner in a security-sensitive area of northern Ghana. |
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