 RADIO... WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? You push a button and a voice fills the air. Sometimes there’s music. If commercials become tedious, you turn it off. While this might be one perception of radio, it’s a far cry from how it’s viewed in developing countries, where it offers much more than entertainment. And no one saw that more clearly than Dean Swartz, Director of Communications and Development, on a recent visit to FEBC-Philippines, where he witnessed both the comprehensive nature of radio and its effectiveness.
“Before this trip, I’d have to say I understood how Christian radio worked in theory,” Dean related upon his return, “but my time in Manila made it really clear to me. There, Christian radio and FEBC in particular serves people in so many capacities. It truly is a full-service technology. Where else could a single mother with no income hear a daily Bible study, listen to a program that teaches godly parenting, and receive advice about safety and health issues?”
Crosses Borders
The beauty of radio is that it extends beyond geographical, cultural, and political boundaries, broadcasting to countless people at a reasonable cost. It reaches the illiterate, the blind, the persecuted, the needy, and the spiritually hungry. In many cases, Christian programming is the only way listeners can “attend church.” As one Hmong listener from Southeast Asia recently said, “Please remember you are the only pastor we have and we completely depend on your teaching.”
To heighten its effectiveness, FEBC uses national broadcasters, who can speak the language or dialect of the people they are ministering to in a culturally relevant manner.
Penetrates Spiritual Darkness
As thousands of letters to FEBC can attest, Christian programming ministers to people in amazing, life-changing ways. It’s a powerful resource for evangelizing the lost and discipling the faithful. As one listener in Moscow wrote: “I will not exaggerate if I say that my life was completely transformed by your radio station. I had never prayed in my 40 years, and now I pray every day. The amazing thing is I now know that God can hear me, and I know He cares. Your station has awakened my faith.”
Sometimes God’s work in one person’s life touches others. We frequently hear from listeners who have invited friends, neighbors, and even their entire village to gather around the radio and listen to FEBC’s broadcasts. The broadcaster, in effect, becomes a long-distance pastor.
Offers Life-Saving Information
In addition to Christian programming, radio serves as a lifeline to millions of listeners, offering basic skills for healthy living. Many look to the radio to receive biblically based parental and marital counseling. Others learn basic health and safety measures, such as administering medication or boiling water for safe drinking. Dean witnessed the need for health-related programming when a Filipino woman approached him at an outreach in Manila. “I need a miracle,” she said. “My son has tuberculosis. Please pray for him.” As they talked, Dean discovered that although she had medicine for her son, she did not know how to properly administer it.
In response to an overwhelming number of needs like this, some FEBC ministries have developed programs that share free medical advice. FEBC-Philippines, for example, airs a healthcare program 6 days a week. The program features local doctors who volunteer their time to offer important medical counsel.
Opens the Door for Personal ContactGregg Harris, President of FEBC recently remarked, “radio is an incredible medium, and when combined with personal contact, the impact grows exponentially. One of FEBC’s greatest strengths is the way our local staff ministers personally to so many of our listeners. Combining the power of media with the deep impact of personal contact leads to significant life change.”
Reaching out to our listeners is definitely a hallmark of FEBC; each day we respond to hundreds of letters and e-mails. With the advent of cell phones, text messaging has become a popular mode of communication, and our staff diligently labors to answer every message. Other outreach efforts, like Far East Relief and Development Services (FERDS), an offshoot of FEBC-Philippines, play an active role in meeting the physical needs of our listeners. They also distribute radios, when funds are available.
“FERDS helped install a new water system in a very poor community in 2004. Hundreds of families shared a common water source, and often had to wait in long lines,” Dean explained. “Now the residents have fresh water close to their doorsteps. They also love the radios that have been given to them. They’re so thankful to God for FEBC.”
Builds the Local ChurchWhile many of our staff regularly serve as “flesh to the Word,” they don’t do it alone. They purposely work with local churches as they hand out radios, medical services, and food. In this way, new believers become connected to a congregation, where they can experience Christian fellowship and be discipled.
In cases where Christian churches are forbidden, para-church organizations personally contact listeners who have written to FEBC, providing Bibles, answering questions about Christianity, and sometimes leading them to the Lord.
FEBC also trains hundreds of Chinese church leaders and laymen through its Voice of Friendship Seminary (VOFS). Many Chinese believers attend “unofficial” house churches that lack pastors and Bibles. The VOFS equips church leaders, particularly in rural areas where false teaching is widespread and there is a strong need for educated pastors.
Changes the Future
Russia is one of several countries where support for the family is almost non-existent. As a result, children are getting into trouble at alarmingly young ages. FEBC is committed to making a difference in their lives through daily programming for children ages 5-15. In addition, FEBC offers programs for parents, to guide them through the child-rearing stages. Numerous letters reach our doorstep from both children and parents who are grateful for our broadcasts.
FEBC-Mongolia offers a call-in program called Teenager to Teenager, where Christian teens moderate a talk show for their peers.
In one part of Indonesia, where parents must pay for their children’s education, a broadcaster offers free schooling once a week to poor children, many of whom are Muslim. She teaches them what it means to be compassionate like Jesus, especially towards people who may think differently than they do. In this way, she hopes to counteract the local Muslim practice of teaching school children to hate Christians and Jews.
Has Global Influence
Every day the FEBC network of stations broadcasts 594 hours of programming in 158 languages, with a yearly average of more than 500,000 responses from faithful listeners. Many of their stories speak of lives transformed by God’s power through FEBC. And it was this kind of impact that Dean witnessed in Manila.
“I never realized radio could touch so many lives,” Dean concluded. “I’ve come away from this trip with a deep sense of pride in what God is doing through Far East Broadcasting. What this organization does for people, all in the name of Christ, is absolutely amazing.” |
