(Nov. 18, 2011 - by Bethany Bay) In November 2010 Moody Radio partnered with TWR and HCJB Global for the Global Partners Project. The goal of the campaign was to raise funds for radio equipment in Guam and West Africa. The same campaign raised money for two four-year scholarships to Moody Bible Institute. For scholarship recipients Lebo Pooe and Shane O’Regan, this was an answer to prayer.
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| Lebo Pooe and Shane O’Regan |
Pooe, a freshman communications major, grew up in South Africa and was raised by her single mother who worked as a domestic helper for a wealthy family. The family got a scholarship for Pooe to receive a quality education through her first year of high school.
Even still, she said in an interview with TWR, “I had an internal struggle of fending for myself.... I didn’t realize back then that God’s hand was on my life, but it was. The fact that I am alive and went through what I went through [is incredible]. Anything could have happened to me, but it didn’t.”
Pooe developed a passion for radio and, shortly after coming to Christ began to work for TWR in Johannesburg as the on-air personality for TWR-Africa.
“I understood the power of the microphone,” she said. “I had fallen in love with broadcasting. I wanted to use radio as a platform to encourage other young people in my township.”
Attending Moody was always a dream for Pooe. “Here I am … about to start the greatest journey of my life,” she said. “In my own capacity, in my own abilities, I could have never [studied at Moody]. Because Jesus is who He is, because He is the God of second chances, because His grace is more than anything else, here I am sharing what He has done and how He’s protected me, and He’s been so gracious toward me.”
 O’Regan, a freshman communications major, also has a passion for sharing the good news of Christ through radio. He grew up in the predominately Catholic city of Bandon, Ireland. He was raised in a Christian home, although his parents were Catholics who converted to Protestantism before they were married.
At the age of 14, O’Regan discovered his love for music and radio. Once a week in Ireland, he would listen to a radio show in his bedroom that played electronica and dance music from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.
In order to get reception on his pocket radio, he would lie in his bed with one hand raised in the air holding the radio, the other holding his headphones. Wanting to listen to the songs again throughout the week, he used his old telephone to record 20- to 30-second bits on his voicemail. He would listen to these sound bites repeatedly until the show aired again the subsequent week.
When O’Regan started to listen to Christian music, he asked himself, “I want to share this music, so how do I share it?” The answer was radio. With the music he had he set up an Internet radio station in his bedroom so his friends could listen.
“That’s where my passion came for [radio],” he said.
Both Pooe and O’Regan plan to return to their home countries one day to pursue ministry through radio.
Source: The Moody Standard (used with permission)
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