The Founders

In 1927, God gave Clarence Jones a passion to use the new innovation of radio to help tell people around the world about Jesus Christ.

It would take several years of what appeared to be failures before that vision would start to become a reality. In 1930, Clarence Jones met four Christian & Missionary Alliance missionary couples working in Ecuador, South America, who would help in the founding of Radio Station HCJB: Reuben & Grace Larson, Stuart (D.S) & Irma Clark, John (J.D.) & Ruth Clark and Paul & Bernice Young. Jones also recruited Eric & Anne Williams as the engineer and technical staff to build and operate the station’s first radio transmitter and studio.

Radio Station HCJB

The station’s call letters “HCJB” were chosen by the founders to reflect its ultimate purpose of “Heralding Christ Jesus’ Blessings”.

HCJB “The Voice of the Andes” aired its first program from Quito, Ecuador on Dec 25th, 1931. Radio Station HCJB was the first missionary radio station in the world, as well as the first radio station in Ecuador with daily programs. The radio ministry had a rather humble beginning since there were perhaps as few as 13 radios capable of receiving its first broadcasts.

With the addition of a 10,000 watt transmitter in 1940, designed and built by Clarence Moore, HCJB’s transmitter power was able to send the station’s English and Spanish programs far beyond Latin America. Soon HCJB was receiving letters from listeners all around the world.

HCJB quickly began adding programs in other major international languages. The first to be added in 1941 was Swedish programs by Ellen de Campaña. Shortly after that, HCJB added Russian programs produced by Peter Deyneka Sr. and the Slavic Gospel Association. That same year, HCJB added programs in Quichua, a language spoken by indigenous groups living throughout the highlands of Ecuador and nearby countries.

By 1944, Radio Station HCJB had added broadcasts in Arabic, Czech, Dutch, French, German and Yiddish. In later years, other major languages would be added such as Portuguese and Japanese. While a few language programs were recorded elsewhere, the vast majority of HCJB’s local and international programming was produced and aired live from the station’s studios in Quito.

Evangelism

Radio was the primary tool used by HCJB to share Jesus Christ, but it certainly was not the only tool. HCJB staff traveled throughout the country in “the Gospel Sound Truck” telling people about Jesus Christ in city squares and markets. They held evangelistic rallies and events in theaters, bullrings and large tents. Missionary staff started local Bible studies and children’s programs that would grow into various local churches.

Medical Ministry

As the mission continued to grow, founders Clarence Jones and Reuben Larson began looking for missionary doctors and nurses to care for the mission’s staff and employees, as well as attend to the needs of indigenous people who passed near the station. Dr. Paul Roberts and Nurse Kay Erb Berry were the first to arrive in 1949 to begin a small indigenous shelter and clinic.

Dr. Paul Roberts had a much greater dream of a fully-equipped modern hospital where all people could receive the best care, regardless of their race, social class or ability to pay. His dream became a reality in 1955 with the inauguration of Hospital Vozandes-Quito, financed largely through the gifts of listeners to Dr. George Palmer’s local radio program “Morning Cheer” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Shortly after Dr. Ev Fuller joined HCJB’s medical work in 1950, he met Nate Saint, a young missionary pilot working in the eastern jungle of Ecuador. Nate Saint shared with Dr. Fuller the need for a medical hospital near Mission Aviation Fellowship’s base at Shell Mera. Hospital Vozandes del Oriente was completed in 1958 largely through gifts from listeners to the “Back to the Bible” radio program of Dr. Theodore Epp.

HCJB’s medical ministries extended beyond the hospital walls to local villages through mobile medical caravans, potable water projects and community development as well as starting several clinics.

Throughout the history of HCJB’s medical ministry, it has continually provided formal and informal training to doctors, residents, medical students, nurses and local health promoters.

HCJB-TV

Television was another tool used to bring the gospel to Ecuador. Started in 1959, HCJB-TV was the first television station to go on the air in Ecuador. It was also the world’s first missionary television station.

Evangelists such as Luis Palau, Billy Graham and Hermano Pablo appeared before HCJB-TV cameras in the early 1960’s.

While HCJB-TV was closed in 1972, the television production ministry has continued on through the “Televozandes” department.

Engineering and Hydro-power

Clarence Jones often talked about the many people behind the scenes that made gospel radio broadcasts possible. HCJB Global has a long heritage of innovative engineers and technical people that designed, built and maintained high-powered transmitters, antennas, and control equipment to simultaneously broadcast programs to many different locations around the world.

High powered transmitters require a lot of electricity. So engineers completed HCJB’s first hydro-electric project in 1965 to provide the station with a cheaper and cleaner source of electricity. Two other hydroelectric plants were added later.

Leadership Training

Training local church leaders has always been recognized as essential for growth in the Latin American Church. Over the years, HCJB staff have mentored and discipled many people individually, in small groups, at churches, workshops and through radio programs. A combined radio program and correspondence course called “The Bible Institute of the Air” was begun in 1949 for people who often had limited or no other means of receiving Biblical training.

Today Apoyo, a joint ministry of HCJB and Leadership Resources International, is training pastors and church leaders throughout Latin America as well as other parts of the world. The TNT program was developed by Apoyo to train leaders to train others.

In 1984, HCJB launched the Christian Center of Communications in Quito, Ecuador to provide practical radio, television and print media training to Christians in Latin America.

World by Radio

Around 1984, HCJB President Ron Cline was thinking about all of the successful ministry HCJB was doing. Then God asked Ron, “What about all those other people-the people who cannot hear the gospel in a language they can understand?”

For Ron Cline, this seemed to be an impossible task. After all, there are thousands of languages in hundreds of countries. He wondered how anyone could ever find Christians that speak all those languages and who would be capable of making good radio programs. There would be many technical issues about where to put studios and transmitters and how much all of it would cost. Of course for God, nothing is impossible!

In 1985, HCJB, Far East Broadcasting Co. and Trans World Radio signed a commitment called “World By 2000”, endeavoring to broadcast the gospel in every major language, using all available facilities and developing new sites so that all men, women and children might hear the gospel in languages they could understand. Other organizations including SIM, FEBA Radio and Words of Hope later joined the partnership, now named “World by Radio”, which continues to seek out and work with local partners to meet this goal.

Radio Planting

HCJB would need to undergo a substantial transformation if it was to truly attempt to accomplish its part in making sure everyone could hear the gospel in a language they can understand. It became clear that the only way this goal could be met was through partnerships with believers, the local church and local Christian ministries to produce programming and then help them start their own local radio stations.

HCJB began by moving staff and opening offices in other regions of the world. Our Engineering staff began developing a small transmitter and portable studio that could easily carried inside of suitcases. HCJB’s “Radio Planting” ministry began in 1992 with the inauguration of a partner Christian radio station in Bakavu, Zaire. Since that time HCJB Global has helped partner ministries start more than 300 Christian radio stations around the world in more than 100 countries.

Our Purpose

Throughout our mission’s 75 year history, our ultimate purpose of telling the world about Jesus Christ has not changed. Today we are actively pursuing opportunities around the world to mobilize, train and empower local believers in radio, healthcare, and leadership so that they can be the hands and voice of Jesus and dynamically impact their communities.