International Christian Radio Broadcast Ministry Celebrates 75 Years
by Allie Martin
October 31, 2006
(AgapePress) - - As political landscapes change around the globe, an evangelistic radio network is establishing hundreds of independent Christian radio stations worldwide.For years, HCJB World Radio broadcast shortwave Christian programs to other parts of the world from its facilities in the Andes Mountains of Quito, Ecuador. When communism began to crumble in many countries, however, the evangelical ministry began looking for new ways to spread the gospel.
Since the early 1990s, through an outreach called "radio planting," HCJB has worked with local ministries and churches to establish more than 300 radio stations worldwide. David Johnson, president of HCJB World Radio, says the broadcast ministry's strategy has been effective as its workers have "moved from just doing it all ourselves to really empowering believers around the world to be involved with us."
Also, Johnson notes, as the radio ministry has grown and attracted more partners in its evangelistic outreach, this has allowed "us to be a major part in their training," showing local Christians in various areas "how they can reach out to their own communities" by taking the gospel to the airwaves.
"It was incredible to us to discover that it's in some of the most enclosed countries that people listen the most," the HCJB World Radio spokesman observes. The ministry has found that this is the case "because the government controls information," he says, so people are seeking reliable "outside sources" of information -- that is, reliable and non-government-censored information -- "and then we become a major source for them to listen to."
Radio is one of the most cost-effective methods of reaching large numbers of people with the good news about Jesus, the Christian broadcaster points out. "And the letters we get are absolutely incredible," he adds, "from people who want more information about Christ or what it means to be a Christian or what it means to have a marriage that works," to name a few examples.
HCJB World Radio celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, and Johnson says the broadcast ministry is still making an impact after all these years. Today, independent radio stations established through HCJB are operating in some 100 countries worldwide.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
