Webers' Writings

New Media? What's New Media?

2012-02-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

One of the things that I am working on with my new media team is the design of new web pages for the mission. Some of these sites are aimed at listeners or recipients of our ministries. Others are aimed at people who might support, serve (volunteer), or just want more information about our ministry.

We have a number of web sites that are on our list for upgrades this year. The first one was launched a couple of weeks ago. You can see it by clicking on www.hospitalvozandes.org. This page is for our hospital in Quito. It is in Spanish but you will get a feel for the page anyway. The page was created for people seeking hospital services.

My team did not create the page. That was done mostly by the marketing department at the hospital, but we were asked to review the page just before it was launched and see if there were any improvements that we could suggest. So we did and sure enough, there were a number of things that we could suggest that makes the page easier to use. Some of our suggestions will make the page accessible from smart phones. Others make it easier to find key information. Still others make it easier to update the information so that the page does not become out-dated so quickly.

We are helping our ministries take full advantage of the web.

Doug

2011-12-07T13:55:00.001-08:00

They're Coming... Are You?

They're coming! Some are old... others are young... some are merely children. They're coming from all walks of life... from all socio-economic classes. Some will travel for several hours. Some will be there via internet. Some will listen on their radios. Some 6,000 will physically walk through our gates during the 3-day event. Why are they coming? What do they seek? They want to be part of the Mision Compartida 2011 (the Shared Mission) celebration.

Activities for Children Give Something for Everyone

Each year we open our doors, our phones and our hearts to give our listeners the opportunity to share how God has used radio HCJB in their lives. Many come to meet one of our radio producers whom God used to say "just the right thing, at just the right time". Others come to see the station they have only heard about on their radio. Others come personally to leave their donation with us because it means more to them if they give it in person. Others call in with their pledge and tell us how the station has helped them grow through the previous year.

Live Christian Music on Stage and on the Radio

For 3 days, HCJB hosts this big celebration. Christian musical groups perform live on stage. Tents go up on the grounds, offering activities for children, opportunities to meet local missionaries, games, etc. The live studio audience is a hallmark of the event. But the story behind the story are the encounters our producers have with their listeners. It's the story of how God is working in individual lives. It is seeing the child that we prayed for on the air. This is the most important "touch" we have with our audience all year.

People Come to the Station to Give Their Donation

It is also impressive to see how people open their pocketbooks and how God pours out His blessing upon us financially. Last year we raised a quarter of a million dollars from our listeners, and the blessing grows every year. Even in these tough economic times we have seen consistent 20% growth in our donations year-over-year. We have a saying in the USA... "Put your money where your mouth is". Well the people of Ecuador certainly seem to be taking that to heart. It is humbling to see so many of our donors come. Some give as little as dollar, but they come anyway. They want to be part of the Shared Mission. That mission is to reach Latin America and the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have seen God work in their own lives and they want to share it with others. The station helps them do that by giving 10% of every dollar received to support native Latin Americans who are serving on the mission field, some in very difficult situations.

Doing Radio in Front of a Live Studio Audience

If you want to be a part of this celebration, you can be. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter. We'll be posting photos, videos and even doing some "live streaming" on Facebook during the event. Of course a little knowledge of Spanish will help you know what is going on, but you'll get a feel for the event even if you don't. If you feel moved to be a financial partner with Mision Compartida you can visit our web page. Most of all, you can pray for us. What a privilege it is to serve our Lord and Savior and see Him move through His people.

Thanks,

Doug Weber
HCJB Voz Global

2011-11-30T10:38:00.001-08:00

Evangelism Right Out in the Open...

Every year about this time, the staff at radio station HCJB begin to move into high gear. The excitement level raises. Staff members are seen running around the station. Decorations begin to fill the conference rooms. E-mail activity begins to increase.

Quito Day Concert Choir and Orchestra

It's not the Christmas season that does it. It isn't Black Friday or even Cyber Monday. It's a sign that two of HCJB's biggest events of the year are coming. The first of those is a concert called The Quito Day Concerts and it is happening this weekend.

Radio station HCJB has been presenting this annual event since the 1960s. It is a celebration that the city of Quito hosts in honor of their founding by the Spanish in 1534. The leaders of HCJB saw this time as an opportunity to show our host city what we are all about... the gospel message... and what better time to do that than right before Christmas?

Quito Day Concert Orchestra

In recent years we have mixed drama, video, humor and dance into the concerts, which all help to point the concert goers toward our Lord and Savior. The choir consists of some 80 volunteers from the community. A live volunteer orchestra also accompanies the choir. One of those volunteers is our son Daniel. Daniel was invited to play in the orchestra by the conductor of the choir who also happens to be his band teacher at school.

Please remember to pray for all those who will be attending the concerts. Pray that they will see a clear presentation of the gospel and decide to put their faith in Jesus Christ. Pray for Daniel as he plays his saxophone alongside other volunteers from the National Philharmonic Orchestra. Pray that Daniel will play well and also be able to keep up with his school work this weekend.

Thanks,

Doug & Ruth

The New Media Moves Fast!

2011-10-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it has only been a few weeks since our return from Home Ministry Assignment in the USA last summer. And boy did we hit the ground running. Seems everyone is getting the "new media bug" and my little department and I are getting inundated with requests for help. That is good news... but it also caused my managers to realize that I needed more time to dedicate to new media. So, about a week ago I was relieved of my responsibilities over ALAS (satellite network) and SERVIR (radio agency). I will still be involved with partner relations for both, but I am greatly relieved to be able to concentrate on just new media initiatives.

Web page www.radiohcjb.org

So what kinds of opportunities are coming our way? We currently have four web pages that are in various states of re-design. We act as consultants for other HCJB Global ministries who are launching these pages, giving them suggestions for how to make their pages better, web page navigation tips, ideas on how to present their information, tips on how to make them interactive, etc.

About two weeks ago, I was also asked to take the leadership of a new internet initiative to reach Latin American youth who are on the fringes of the church. These are kids who have grown up in church but have been disheartened by what they have seen and are moving away from the church as an institution. We are still forming the approach that we will use to reach these kids, but this is completely new ground for HCJB Global in Latin America.


Facebook page for "HCJB La Voz De Los Andes"

We are still involved in Facebook initiatives. Last week we tested a live video stream that we were able to add as a tab on one of our Facebook pages. I even did a "remote" shoot of the "Open House for the Bible" event HCJB hosted last Friday and Saturday. We hope to eventually connect the live video from my iPhone to the stream that our fans can see on the Facebook page.

Then just this week, another missionary stopped by to "chat". Together we shared our respective dreams to start producing video content for the use on the internet. Although he will do most of the video production, this effort falls squarely under new media because we will use the internet for distribution.

So you can be praying for my team and I as we try to keep all of these balls in the air. Currently I have three half-time people working with me on new media. Pray that we can prioritize our efforts well and get the most out of each opportunity for God's glory...

Thanks,

Doug

Together Again... but not really...

2011-09-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well it is good to be back with Ruth and the boys in Ecuador. We decided late in our Home Ministry Assignment (HMA) that it might be a good idea for me (Doug) to stay an extra couple of weeks in the USA in order to help our second daughter, Becca, make the transition into university life. That was good, but it meant that Ruth and I added 2 more weeks of physical separation to our HMA. That made a total of 6 out of our 12 weeks of HMA.... not something we wish to repeat in the future.

Both of our girls are now in the USA studying and seem to be doing well after their first week of classes. It feels strange to be in Ecuador without them and we are very mindful of the fact that we are not really together again as a family. We did get a few days on either end of our HMA when we were all together, and that was a sweet time for us.

But it is back to our ministries again... Ruth started meeting with her students one-on-one again last week. She has the same students that she had last year so they are able to jump back into their routine quickly. Seeing the students advance from year to year is very encouraging. She kind of overdid it a few weeks ago, and was flat on her back for a few days with severe back pain. The doctors concluded it was a muscle spasm and not structural. The pain is finally lessening and she is able to move around normally again.

Doug dives into his responsibilities again too. There are lots of New Media projects that have been on hold while we have been gone. The ALAS satellite network continues to work through an evaluation process that will serve as a basis for a new outreach focus. And the SERVIR radio agency continues to seek new partners. Our most exciting project in SERVIR is a 2-minute Portuguese version of Hope for the Heart. We have never done a Portuguese production before, so we are excited to work on this new project.

Well, that is about it for this week. Thanks for being part of our team...

Doug

A Good Rest?

2011-08-20T05:17:00.000-07:00

We always get asked after our Home Ministry Assignment (HMA) if we had a good rest. If you ask most missionaries, they will tell you that HMA is not a time for rest... It is usually more stressful than living in your country of ministry because of the disruption and constant visiting that HMA requires. Personally, I get a lot more rest sitting on a beach in Ecuador with good friends. So how would I characterize our HMA?

"Crazy" is the first word that comes to mind. It was a crazy summer for many reasons, including Ruth and I spending 6 of our 12 weeks in different places. For 4 of those, we were in different continents. We also drove from Indiana, to California, and back again, which is crazy any time. Finally, Ruth was studying for much of the summer, taking the second level of classwork toward her certification as an educational therapist.

"Ministry" is the second word that comes to mind. I had the opportunity to speak or teach in the Spanish service and/or Sunday school classes at Church of the Open Door (COD) all summer long. Ruth participated in the Spanish Women's Bible Study. We spoke at a missions dinner at COD along with several other missionaries. Daniel and I played basketball with the high school boys on Mondays and the men on Tuesdays, and Daniel played indoor soccer on Thurs nights with the Spanish ministry, all of which were outreach ministries to the community. Daniel had the opportunity to translate for a High school outreach trip to Mexico. While there, he was asked to play piano for the high school worship team and for the Idrafoje (I'D RAther FOllow JEsus) camp for 3rd thru 5th graders. What a privilege to be able to minister to those who support us day in and day out, month in and month out!

"Social" is the last word that comes to mind. Even with the craziness we did get to see many people. We were able to see people in both Indiana and California. We hosted a supporter desert in Indiana. We met many new people at COD. We met with many supporters in California, Colorado and Kansas. We spent several days at the Grand Canyon with Ruth's family and we returned to Indiana in time for a family reunion on Doug's side of the family. We also got to spend some great time with other missionary families from COD.

So was our HMA restful? No... Was it a good HMA? Yes... It was a time to remember all of the great people who stand with us in ministry. It was a time to thank many of them personally. It was a time to share with new acquaintances about what God is doing in Latin America. It was a time to give back to many of those who give to us every day, month, year. So thanks... Thanks for standing with us. Thanks for praying for us. Thanks for supporting our ministry. Thanks for being part of the team...

Doug & Ruth

(If you want to be part of the team, write to us...)

The ALAS Satellite Radio Ministry

2011-03-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

As promised, I want to talk a little bit today about what the ALAS Satellite network is, and maybe what it isn't. First of all, it is not a satellite network that you can listen to directly on your car radio. The ALAS network depends on local radio stations to broadcast our programs. This is unlike the satellite networks in the USA and Europe where listeners can buy a satellite radio receiver and listen directly to the network. We currently have just over 100 affiliate radio stations who use our programs as a regular part of their broadcast day.

So who are these local radio stations anyway? Well they are mostly little Christian stations that are run by small churches or small groups of believers who have a heart to reach their communities for Christ and see radio as a strategic tool in accomplishing that goal. They are scattered all over Latin America, the USA and even Spain. Some are in very remote, mountain villages where internet technology cannot reach them. Oh, we have a few affiliates who are large stations located in some of the largest cities of Central and South America, but that is the exception, not the rule.

These stations have a problem though. They don't have a lot of money. Oh they have lots of vision, but lack the resources to realize that vision. It's expensive to produce quality radio programs and either they don't have believers who are trained in radio to help them, or they can't afford to hire the talent they need to effectively reach their community. That's where we come in. We provide a 24 hour satellite feed that these stations can use whenever they wish throughout the day or night. Many will play the ALAS network all night long or even all weekend long. That helps them focus the limited resources that they have on their local "prime time" audiences.

HCJB Global does a lot to promote Christian radio around the world. We help believers start their own stations through Radio Planting. We help them prepare their staff by providing Radio Training so that the talent they do have can maximize their impact. Then we also help them by providing quality Christian programming that makes them sound professional all day long until they have the resources to do that themselves.

Doug

To Him Who Has, More Will Be Given

2011-02-26T10:43:00.000-08:00

Do you remember that verse from the parable of the talents? I do. And just when I thought that I was going to get to concentrate on new media projects again, I was given more things to do. :-) Oh I am still in charge of New Media. In fact, things are beginning to really take off on some of our new media initiatives and we are starting some new projects as well. We now have over 7,000 people who follow our local radio Facebook page (Facebook.com/HCJBLaVozDeLosAndes). Another 4,500 people follow our Guayaquil radio station (Facebook.com/HCJB2). In all, I am overseeing something like 8 Facebook pages, all aimed at different audiences.

However, about 3 weeks ago I was also asked to oversee 2 other ministries, ALAS and SERVIR. ALAS is our satellite radio network that began in 1994. We use it to feed over 100 radio outlets around Latin America, the USA and Spain. Many of our affiliates are small stations who can't afford to produce their own programming. So we help them out by providing a radio stream that they can jump into and out of as needed. Many of them use our network to play all night long or most of the weekend. By sending them quality programs, they also sound better on the air then they would otherwise.

The other ministry is call SERVIR. Servir is a Spanish word which means "service". It is actually a play on words in Spanish because SERVIR really is sort of an acronym for International Radio Services (SERVicios International de Radio). SERVIR works with partners who want to produce radio programs for Latin America and distribute them throughout the region. Some of our current partners include, The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, FamilyLife Today, Mission Network News, Hope for the Heart, and "Let My People Think" with Ravi Zacharias. We do translations in Spanish and Quichua at the moment although we have partners who are interested in us helping them do programs into Portugese and German as well.

I will share a little more about each of these ministries in upcoming posts. Suffice it say right now that I am feeling pretty overwhelmed with the new responsibilities as I try to get up to speed on what each are is doing and then move it forward. I am really enjoying the challenge though. We have great teams in each of these areas who are carrying most of the work and I am having a ball pointing them in the right directions and giving each team a little push now and then to keep them going.

Doug

Misión Compartida 2010

2011-01-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

The very next weekend after the Extreme Response Christmas party and the Quito Day concerts, we jumped right into the annual fundraiser/share-a-thon/open house for our two local radio stations. Radio HCJB in Quito ran their share-a-thon from Friday thru Sunday while HCJB-2 in Guayaquil ran theirs from Thurs thru Sunday.

Here in Quito we open the doors to the radio station while at the same time inviting them to give to the station. And they do come. This year we estimate that 5,700 people passed through our gates. They come to see their favorite producer. They come to leave their donation. They come to express their appreciation for the ministry our producers have had in their lives. This is a time of sharing together.

Listeners can pledge their donation by calling us or they can come to the station and leave their donation with us. Then they can enter our "live studio" to see how radio is made from behind the scenes. Much of our music is also performed "live" during the event. Many listeners will come to see their favorite musical group in person. This year we invited the group "Blest" from the USA as well as several local groups from Ecuador.

The children can be dropped off in the "Children's tent" where a local church volunteers to entertain them with face painting, coloring, games and presentations where clowns teach the kids about Jesus. We also have inflatable trampolines for the kids when the presentations are not going on.

Misión Compartida is about connection. It is about connecting with our listeners. It is about our listeners connecting with us. It is about financial support for the station. It is about sharing in the mission of reaching Ecuador and the world with the good news about Jesus Christ. This year our listeners pledged over $215,000 for the station. Unbelievable? History shows that here in Quito, our listeners will likely give more than they have pledged. This is a testimony to the work our producers do on the air. Our listeners give out of gratitude for the ministry they receive every day over the airwaves. That is why we are so excited about the ministry of HCJB in Latin America. Thanks for being a part of that ministry through your prayers and support of our family in so many ways.

Doug & Ruth

Quito Day Concerts

2010-12-27T04:29:00.000-08:00

The same weekend that Extreme Response was doing their big Christmas party, Radio Station HCJB was presenting their Quito Day Concerts in honor of the anniversary of the founding of the city of Quito. This is an annual event and HCJB has been taking advantage of the celebration to present the gospel for many years. We have done this through song, dance, and video.

I was part of the welcoming team on Sunday which greeted people at the door of the Sucre Theater and helped them find their way to their seats. Ruth and the family came for the second of the three concerts that day. Saturday also had three presentations.

We were told this year that the rules of the theater had changed and that the city no longer allowed religious activities in the theater. This put a bit of a damper on how strongly we could present the gospel, but as we talked to theater officials, it became apparent that most of what we wanted to do was not considered "religious". That was refreshing, as we see these concerts as an outreach to the community more than anything. Not looking "religious" is a good thing.

Two or More, a Christian, Latin rock style music group from the USA joined us for the concerts. The 3 brothers who form the core of the group were born in Southern Caligornia to Ecuadorian parents. The 70 member choir sang a mixture of music including some traditional Ecuadorian songs that honor the city of Quito. The gospel message was woven through the dialog of the 3 hosts whose humor kept the crowds entertained throughout the presentation, culminating in Jesus being the real present of Christmas and the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

The concerts were sold out the first day that tickets went on sale. This has happened several times in the last few years. We also have the opportunity, a few days later, to present some of our music to several government Ministers at the Ecuadorian Presidential Palace. We pray that each year we can present a clear message of Jesus Christ to those attending and help them remember that Jesus' birth is the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

Doug

Extreme Response Christmas Party

2010-12-16T13:52:00.000-08:00

We have been very busy the last few weeks with lots of ministry/outreach activities, so I will do several updates over the next week or so to catch you up on things. On Dec 4th, the whole family (minus Rachel, of course) helped with the Extreme Response Christmas Party at the Quito Dump. Extreme Response is an organization that does humanitarian aid for people who live in extreme circumstances. They have been in Quito for several years and we have many friends who work with them, but this year was the first time we have helped with their Christmas party.

Some 2,000+ people came to the party at the dump. This would include the families of those who work at the dump pulling recyclicable materials out of the trash before the front end loaders scoop the garbage back up and place it in large, open-top semi truck trailers for transport to the landfill several miles outside of Quito. Becca, Daniel and David all worked with the games for the children. Ruth and I worked on the evangelism team, sharing the real meaning of Christmas and passing out tracts to the crowds as they waited in line. Most seemed more interested in the games, prizes and candy bags that awaited them, than in the reason for the party.

Extreme Response does several Christmas parties in and around Quito every year, but this is by far the largest one. One of those parties was done near El Tablon where we planted a church some years ago. The El Tablon church was invited to that party although we could not go. Extreme Response invites people from churches in North America to help them with this ministry eavch year, as well as recruiting many volunteers from Ecuador. Their volunteer staff can number as many as 600 for this one party at the dump.

Extreme Response works at the dump all year round. They have set up a Day-care facility for the children of the workers. Before that, the children played in and around the trash where their parents were working. Now they have a very nice, clean facility where they can learn in a school environment while their parents work.

Although Ruth and I did not see any conversions that day, we know that the Extreme Response staff will be following up with many of the families. Please pray that the seeds we have planted will be watered and God will help them grow into new life...

Doug & Ruth

Oct update

2010-10-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

It has been a long time since I have updated the blog. Lots has been happening but I just ahve not had time to sit down and talk about it...

Ruth and the kids are back at school, of course. Ruth is enjoying this year as she works with her students. David (4th grade) is playing soccer now and having a great time. Daniel is working as a leader for the AWANA club that the school sponsors. Becca is loving her work at the orphanage and has made some new friends there. I am still working on social media projects for hte radio station, but I have also taken over the engineering/accounting/maintenance areas while another missionary is in serving in the Dominican Republic for a few months.

As many of you know, Becca is raising support in order to be able to go on a missions trip with an HCJB medical team next month. She needs $5,000 or so in order to be able to go. Many of you have written to her or us in order to let us know that you are helping out with that funding. We think she has over $1,000 already, but she has quite a ways to go yet. We are very hopeful that she will make her goal before she needs to leave on her trip. If you want to give still, please let us know.

Thanks for praying for us...

Doug

Summer Missions

2010-07-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

I have had the privilege, the last couple of weeks, to spend some time with HCJB Global's summer missionaries. What's a summer missionary? They are typically college students who have completed their junior year in school and who want to spend their summer overseas as a missionary. Many times they are here to see how they might be able to use their future profession in service to the Lord.

The students this year are from all over the USA. They come from Wyoming to Boston. Several of them are preparing for nursing and are working in our hospital. One is working in administration. Another is working at the same orphanage that Becca hopes to volunteer with this next year. Two more are engineers who are helping out with clean water projects for communities that don't have a clean water source.

I was able to share with them some stories of how God has protected us while we have been here. And I also encouraged them to realize that everyone they come in contact with is in a process of knowing God. And we never really know how God will use some little thing that they say or do to bring someone closer to him. We don't always see the fruit of our labor. But God can use even the little things to bring someone one step closer to Him.

Many of these students will likely return to missions after college, not only with HCJB Global, but with other ministries too. What a great opportunity we have to introduce these young people to missions. Won't you pray for our summer missionaries and ask that God will work in their hearts during their time with us?

Thanks,

Doug

Social Media in Ministry

2010-06-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give you a couple of recent examples of how social media is helping us in the ministry.

Remember the volcano in Iceland that closed so many airports in Europe? Well, as we were reporting that story during our newscast, a lady from Belgium wrote a greeting to us on Facebook. She was listening to the radio station via our Live Stream on the internet. Our news staff noticed that she was from Belgium so they read her message on the air and then asked her (on the air) if she could write a note on facebook about how the volcano was affecting Belgium. She complied and the news team again read her message on the air. All this happened very interactively and within minutes.

Another facebook note came in from a listener who listens to one of our radio repeaters in the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. She wrote that she was sad that she could not listen to the station right now because the repeater was off the air. Well that was news to us, so I sent the note on to our technical department. Two days later they were in Esmeraldas fixing the repeater. On their way home, a taxi driver in Esmeraldas spotted the HCJB Global logos on the side of their pickup truck. He rolled down his window and shouted, "thanks for getting the transmitter back on the air!"

Doug

Does God Know What We Need, Before We Need It?

2010-06-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

Becca is a senior in High School this year. That makes her eligible to go on the "Senior Trip". This is an annual event where the senior class at Alliance Academy skips school for a week to go to the beach. Don't worry.... it's a school sponsored event and a tradition that all seniors look forward to.

The seniors were to leave on Thurs at 1:00 p.m. Becca was pretty excited about the trip, but as she began to pack on Wed night, she had trouble finding all of the pieces to her beach wear. She searched high and low Wed. night. The later it got, the more frustrated she became. She finally decided to call it a night, and Ruth offered to help her do a more thorough search in the morning.

I came to work the next morning. Ruth and Becca commenced the search, but they were having little success. By 10:00 a.m. they had still not found the missing piece even though they had been praying all morning that God would help them find it.

Just about that time, one of my Ecuadorian colleagues walked up to me, out of the blue, and handed me a bag saying, "You left this in Papallacta last month when you spent the night there." Indeed, we had been in Papallacta to celebrate Becca's birthday along with many of her friends. There are hot pools nearby so swim wear is a "must have" for a trip to Papallacta.

As I opened the bag, you guessed it, I found the missing article of clothing. I was amazed! I quickly called Becca and Ruth to confirm that it was indeed the missing piece they had been searching for. We were all excited to see how the Lord had answered their prayers and rejoiced together. Two hours later, they picked it up on their way to the airport.

But wait... This was not just another story about losing a coin in our house and rejoicing because it was found again. (Luke 15: 8 - 10) This is really a story about God knowing what we needed before we knew we needed it! You see, the really amazing thing about this story is that this little article of clothing had to be "en route" to us even before we started praying for it. In fact, it had to leave Papallacta before Becca even started packing on Wed night. Indeed, it most likely started its journey days before we even knew it was missing.

Now you might think, "well, you were just lucky", or "sometimes things just work out that way". But this is not the first time we have seen this happen. It has happened time and time again, especially in the last two years. It makes me remember that I have a very short field of view with regards to my future. But I have a God that sees the future clearly and orders the events of our lives in order to give us His good gifts.

Was this a faith shaking experience? No. Would we have lost our faith in God had we not found it? No. But if God wants to give us even little gifts like finding a swimming suite so we can enjoy a senior trip, then I know that He is also watching out for me when I go through the really tough times in life, and THAT is really encouraging.

Doug

Facebook in Ministry?

2010-04-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

I got to work a little early that day. I knew it was going to be a busy day and I wanted to get an early start. I turned on my laptop computer and the radio in my office. I often listen to our radio station throughout the day, but today, listening would be especially important. We were giving away free tickets to a popular Christian concert. We had been giving away tickets all week, but today the tickets would go exclusively to fans of our HCJB La Voz de Los Andes Facebook fan page. If they were not already a fan, they could become one, but they had to write a certain phrase on our "wall" in order to enter the drawing. My job was to keep track of the people who entered the contest and write them a quick reply, confirming receipt of their entry. By the time we selected the winners, 76 people had written the proper phrase on our wall.

This is an example of how we are trying to use the new digital media technologies to touch our audience in new ways. The world is becoming more social in the way it uses technology and we hope to capitalize on that trend. Facebook is an internet based social network in which "fans" can communicate with us interactively. They can now ask questions of our radio hosts, live on the air. They can inquire as to what song we just played on the air. They can send us testimonies of how God has used one of our producers to say just the right thing at just the right time for them. We can also use the network to share news and information about other HCJB Global ministries in Latin America. For instance, we were able to share pictures from our medical team as they ministered in Haiti recently. We can also share videos, have open discussion forums, share links to useful web pages, and many more things.

We now have 5 Facebook pages in Latin America, each one with a specific audience in mind. Three of those have been launched since our return to Ecuador in late January. I am responsible for updating only two of those pages, but I spend a lot of time helping other HCJB Global staff learn about Facebook and think through ways that they might use it to better communicate with their target audience. We are certainly not experts on social media, but we are learning as we explore new ways to reach out to our audience.

You can follow our English regional fan page by clicking on the HCJB Voz Global fan button in the right hand column of this blog. Thanks for praying for us as we seek new ways of reaching out to people in Latin America with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Doug

Back in the Saddle

2010-03-13T06:43:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

It has been a while since I updated our blog. A lot has been happening here in recent months so I thought it time to give you a brief update.

We returned to Ecuador on the 20th of January. It is good to be home in Ecuador again. The kids are back in school, Ruth is enjoying her Educational Therapy work at Alliance Academy International and I am settling into his new responsibilities at HCJB Global.

I am working on promoting "new media" opportunities within the mission, things like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. I have been running two Facebook fan pages for HCJB Global in Latin America since last October. One (HCJB la Voz de los Andes) is focused on the local radio audience in Ecuador, while the other (HCJB Voz Global) is focused more on regional and global ministries of HCJB Global. This last week we were giving away tickets to a Christian movie on the HCJB la Voz de los Andes page. A few weeks ago we had an open discussion about whether contemporary christian music is satanic or not. (Don't send me your comments on that please.) Many of our fans are from outside Ecuador. Many are from the USA, yet others are from Belgium, Italy, Spain, Peru, Argentina, and even Korea.

I have also been looking for ways to uses Twitter with our ministries. A week ago, the local HCJB radio station co-sponsored a conference for pastors. I attended the conference and sent out "tweets" every half hour or so about the lessons being learned in the conference. HCJB Global used Twitter very effectively in Jan. when we had a medical team on the ground in Haiti after the devastating earthquake there. I am also hoping to start some Twitter accounts for our ministries in Latin America.

Although these new technologies are pretty popular in western society, they are still pretty new in Latin America. We dedicated a whole hour on La Telaraña to Twitter one day. La Telaraña is tarted toward the generations who use this new media to communicate with their friends. Yet it was amazing how few of our listeners had even heard of Twitter. So part of what we will be doing is educating our audience about these new technologies. Interestingly enough, several of the local TV stations are now entering this new media field, so I am hoping that this will heightened awareness and draw more listeners to our sites as welll.

We will keep you updated on things as we progress. Thanks for praying for us.

Doug

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2009-12-05T05:40:00.000-08:00

Greetings to all,

It has been a while since we have updated you on our progress. We have continued to work on the family issues that have caused our extended stay in the US. We have been on a real emotional roller coaster in the last few months, at times feeling as though we were not making much progress, and at others being very encouraged. However, as we look back over the last 6 months, we can see definite progress. The people who have been helping us through this process have also commented that they feel like we are through the worst of things and on the road to recovery. As a result, we feel like we can begin to make plans for our return to Ecuador, sometime around mid-January. Although our family is still not perfect (is any family perfect?), we feel we have made sufficient progress that we can now manage the stresses of daily life together again.

The kids are doing well. They are very excited about the prospects of playing in the snow this Christmas. Neither Daniel nor David have ever been in snow for more than an hour or so. Rebecca has memories of Christmas in Indiana from when she was a little girl, and wants to show the boys how to make snowmen, snow angels, snow balls, etc. Ruth and I just complain about the cold. Can't we have snow without the cold weather??

I have started working on some Facebook fan pages for two of our ministries in Ecuador. The first is named "HCJB Voz Global". This page has information in both Spanish and English about HCJB Global and it's media ministries in Latin America. We include some general information about other regions as well when it is available. The other fan page is "HCJB La Voz de los Andes" (The Voice of the Andes). This page is targeted more for our local radio audience in Ecuador and is all in Spanish. Both sights have videos of the ministry, as well as some photos. These are two examples of the things that I hope to do when we return to Quito in January. If you have a Facebook account and want to check out the pages, feel free. Just click on the fan page logos on the side of this blog and join in the fun.

This coming weekend (Dec 10 - 12) Radio HCJB will host our annual radio-thon fund raiser called "Misión Compartida" (or Shared Mission). Last year we raised over $260,000 from local listeners in Quito and Guayaquil. During Misión Compartida we also host thousands of listeners who visit the stations in order to donate or meet their favorite radio personalities. This is the most significant "touch" we have each year with our listeners. So please be in prayer for the radio teams who will be hosting this great event. You can also check in and listen to one of our live streams at www.radiohcjb.org (Quito) or www.hcjb2.org (Guayaquil).

We hope that you all had a good Thanksgiving and are enjoying this Christmas Season. Merry Christmas!!

Doug

Moving in the Right Direction

2009-09-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Thanks for your prayers for us. We have been encouraged in the last week by the progress that we are making on our family issues. Ruth and I have seen some good progress over the last few weeks and that has been confirmed by others who know the details of our situation. Please continue to pray for us and that the Lord will continue to provide for our financial needs. Several people have sent in special gifts to help us meet this challenge.

The kids have settled in to classes now and are getting involved in after-school activities. Daniel joined the football team (#22 in the photo). He had never even seen a football game before, but wanted to join the team anyway. He is one of the smaller kids on the team, but that is not discouraging him.

David is running cross country this fall. It is amazing to me that they have cross country activities for 4th graders, but it is something that he enjoys. He has always enjoyed running and has his first meet this week.

Becca has settled in to classes at the high school as well and is taking a French class via correspondence course, as French would not fit into her schedule. She really enjoys her art class and her craft class. She is making a few friends at school which helps with the adjustment. She is anxious to return to Ecuador so that she can graduate in the spring from Alliance Academy International in Quito.

Rachel is doing well in her second year at Huntington University. Another girl from Alliance Academy is attending HU this year and they have a class together. The girls played basketball and soccer together while in Quito, and Rachel enjoys having someone else from Quito at her school. The girls are thinking about how they can get more Alliance students to HU in the next few years.

Ruth is getting involved in a Bible study on Tues nights and helping with the children's ministry on Wed night. She has also joined the choir and enjoys singing on Sunday mornings. She is taking a couple of correspondence classes in order to renew her teaching credential this fall.

I am not directly involved in a lot of things yet, although I have been invited to speak in several classes at Huntington University this fall. Nothing firm yet, but I expect that I will be talking to some of the Radio classes, as well as the missions major classes. I also enjoy the Men's Prayer Breakfast that meets every Monday morning.

Well that is a brief update on us. Thanks again for you prayers. Our plan is still to return to Ecuador in January 2010. Pray that we will continue to make good progress toward that goal.

Thanks,

Doug

Sitting on the Bench

2009-08-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

Have you ever played a sport and had your coach suddenly set you on the bench and you weren't sure why? Well we feel a lot like that right now. After sending out our last prayer letter and letting everyone know about our changes in ministry and the new opportunities for us as we returned to Ecuador, suddenly the Lord seemed to sideline us.

We were scheduled to return to Ecuador on Aug 20th. However, just 2 weeks before our departure, it became very obvious to us that we would not be able to return on time. Without going into details on such a public forum, suffice it to say that our delay is directly related to the family issues that caused us to come home this summer in the first place. We did not make the progress that we had hoped to during the last 2 months and have decided to take more time to work on them. HCJB Global has been very supportive of our decision to delay our return and for that we are very grateful.

As a result, we have extended our return date to mid-January, although that could change as well. It was a little crazy having to switch plans again so rapidly and we really had to scramble to get kids registered for school, do something about a vehicle, etc., etc., but we are finally feeling like we are starting to fall into a routine. If we have learned one thing in the last few months, it is flexibility! It is difficult to make plans for our future, as much of that will depend on how the Lord works in our situation. We are trying to leave our options open and let the Lord lead us each step of the way.

On one side, we wonder why God has set us on the bench at just this time when we were anxious to start our new ministries. On the other, we see evidence that God was orchestrating events even months and years ago in order to facilitate this break from the action.

This will be classified as a medical leave and there are on going medical expenses that we will be incurring during this time which our medical insurance will not be covering. So if you would like to help us with some of those expenses, you can make out a check to "HCJB GLOBAL", include "For Account #110295" in the memo line, and send it to HCJB Global, P.O. Box 39800, Colorado Springs, CO 80949. A one time gift would be a great help or you might find this a good time to join our monthly support team by committing to $20, $30, or $50 per month. We can charge the uncovered medical bills to our ministry account if it has a positive balance.

We would also covet your prayers. Pray that the Lord will be working in our family. Pray that He will bring healing and allow us to return to Ecuador in January so that Becca can finish her senior year of High School there. If you want to know more specific reasons for our stay in the US, feel free to call, write, or e-mail us.

Thanks,

Doug

Things Change

2009-06-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

We have not updated the blog for almost a month, but it is time... Lots of things have changed in the last month so let me give you a little update.

We were planning to spend the summer in Ecuador this year since we spent last summer in the USA. However, due to some family things that came up in April and May, we decided we needed to return to Indiana again rather unexpectedly. So here we are again.

Then just a couple of weeks before our return, we found out that Ruth's step-mom was entering hospice care. The doctors did not really give us a diagnosis for Jean other than that she was dieing of old age. She passed away one week before we returned to the US. So within a week of flying to Indiana, we flew to Los Angeles. We are still in CA now. The funeral was really good, and it has been a great time to spend with family out here. We fly back to Indiana on Tues.

Because the funeral was on the same weekend, we were able to attend Church of the Open Door's Summer Missions Night tonight. What an encouraging time here. Almost 50 missionaries or future missionaries were in attendance. It was really great to see some old friends.

Before leaving Ecuador, Ruth decided to leave her current position as a third grade teacher at the Alliance Academy International and teach Educational Therapy next year. That is a big change for her and will allow her to slow down a little, working only half time. We are hoping that this change will help her fibromyalgia symptoms to be a bit more manageable.

I decided during our last few weeks in Ecuador to ask for a reassignment as well. I will be stepping down as the Radio Director for Latin America and instead be working with some the new media opportunities in the region when we return. These will include things like YouTube, Podcasting, Twitter, Facebook, cell phones, etc, etc. I am pretty excited about the possibilities that some of these media present for creating new audiences in Latin America.

We have been in such a state of change lately that it has been difficult to just sit down and give you an update. But we thank you for your prayers and ask that you continue praying as we move into these new ministry opportunities.

Thanks,

Doug

"What Every Father Needs to Know"

2009-05-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

HCJB, La Voz de los Andes, had a special event last Friday night, for all those fathers out there. We invited Campus Crusade to join us and talk about fathers and their role in the family. The idea started after HCJB Voz Global's radio agency SERVIR, began translating the popular radio program "Family Life Today" into Spanish. The radio program is really an outreach of Campus Crusade's Family Life ministry.

The radio program is fairly popular in Spanish. We have received many good comments from listeners about it, so we wondered whether or not people would come to our station to attend a seminar on the family. We decided to have people come by HCJB and get tickets so that we would have an idea of how many were coming. By Tuesday we had only given out 15 tickets. We were beginning to panic. By Friday that number had risen to over 200 tickets and when the event finally ended we had over 300 show up.

The seminar was given by Armando Tamayo, a local staff member for Campus Crusade. He kept the crowd right with him the whole night and you could just tell that people were soaking up the information. Armando talked about the importance of being a father to our children. He talked about how our children watch everything we do and learn to do the same things we do, whether good or bad. He talked about taking time with our kids. At the end of the program, Campus Crusade gave out copies of the Jesus film for kids on DVD.

These kinds of special events are one way that we try to give our listeners just a little bit more. It is a way that we can touch them a little more closely. It is also a way that we can highlight other ministries in the community that can help them grow in their faith and relationship with God. Pray for the families of Latin America. Many are struggling and need to have their priorities aligned with God's priorities, just like North American families do.

Thanks,

Doug

Just for Fun!

2009-05-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

May the 1st is a national holiday in Ecuador. It is Labor Day here. So we had a long weekend to rest up and..... play!!

Becca turns 17 tomorrow, so she decided that she wanted to celebrate by taking some friends to a little town called Mindo last Friday. Mindo is a tourist town with lots of Eco-tourism available for visitors. Some of the attractions include river rafting, zip lines, a butterfly farm, nature hiking, swimming in local rivers, an orchid farm, etc.

The kids decided to start the day with a little river rafting. They had a large enough group to have their own raft. The rafts are really several inner tubes, tied together. They each get a life jacket and a helmet for the ride. It had not rained much the day before, so the river was not too high. Our youngest, David, was allowed to go on the raft too, but had his own guide to make sure he was safe on the ride. The trip lasted about a half hour and as you can see, they all had fun.

After the river, it was off to the zip lines. There are 10 zip lines that criss-cross up and down the jungle valley. You ride above the jungle canopy and look down on the vegetation and wildlife. The longest of the zip lines is 1500 feet, so it is quite a ride. Guides take you through the series of lines and at the end of each line there is a short hike to the next launch point. It takes about an hour and a quarter to make the round trip back to your starting point. The guides will even strap you to them and let you do the zip line upside down (called "the butterfly") or headlong (called "the superman").

Everyone had a great day and were pretty worn out by the time we got back to Quito. It was a great time to get away and enjoy an extra long weekend.

Doug

Coastal Ministry

2009-04-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

On Wed last week, I took a trip to the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador to visit our FM radio station HCJB-2. Several of us traveled from Quito to celebrate Luis Mora's 25 years of ministry with HCJB-2. Luis is the station manager for HCJB-2, which started in 1972 and which now has a repeater station in Machala, south of Guayaquil. We had a great time of fellowship and celebration with the staff there.

There are several Christian radio stations in this port city, however HCJB-2 is distinctive because of its central doctrinal position and solid Bible teaching. Many listen to the station for the Bible teaching. In a very diverse and divided city doctrinally, HCJB-2's mission is to unite the body of Christ see them work together as the body of Christ.

HCJB-2 is located in the poorer south-end of the city. This gives them a special ability to reach their neighbors with the Gospel. They will soon begin a clinic on their property, once again putting into action HCJB Global's two main ministries of Healthcare and Media. A local Christian doctor has already been enlisted and the rooms for the clinic are being refurbished and readied for the staff.

Mision Compartida (our radio-thon) for HCJB-2 brings in over $60,000 per year from donors who want to get behind the station. Most of these donations are small ($5 or $10 a month), and don't cover the operating costs of the station. However Luis and his staff are working with 2 pastoral associations and several Christian businessmen to improve the financial position of the station. One the ideas these businessmen are interested in is starting a new business, but the profits from the business will support minsitry. This is a new concept in missions today and we hope it proves effective in supporting HCJB-2.

You can check out HCJB-2's web site and even listen to their live stream. Their most popular program is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (EST) on weekdays when they can receive up to 250 SMS text messages from their listeners. They also use a live chat with listeners during the program.

Doug

Voice and Hands Working Together

2009-04-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Got a couple more stories for you... The first one is from a faithful listener for some 40 years. Recently she had throat surgery in HCJB's Hospital Vozandes. She described her recuperation from surgery as "incredible". She did not expect to be able to talk afterwards, but she gives praise to God for completely restoring her. Because of that, she came to HCJB to give her donation to the radio ministry. She says,

"Today I have come first to give to the Lord before going to my medical appointment in Hospital Vozandes because I am so thankful. I believe in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and not in religion. Although I am a Catholic and not going to change, HCJB is a blessing in my life."

The second story comes from a young man who would be the equivalent of a Senior in High School. He tells us that He was returning to Quito with some schoolmates when their bus had a serious traffic accident. Renato found himself trapped in the bus for 8 hours before rescuers could free him. He was told at the local hospital that he would lose both of his legs, and was sent to HCJB's Hospital Vozandes in Quito. Renato told us,

"Later in the ambulance returning to Quito, I lost all vital signs and was dead for a time, but thanks to God my life returned. At Hospital Vozandes, the doctors knew the chances for saving my life were very slim, but for God nothing is impossible and I am still alive. Although I have had 23 operations and had my left leg amputated, I have never given up."

The doctors thought Renato would never walk again, but with the help of a prosthesis, he can not only walk, but run. Renato gives all the glory to God his Savior. He finishes up his story by saying,

"The strangest part of all this is that before the accident I was very, very atheistic, and my whole family was too. But when I was trapped in that bus waiting for the firemen to arrive, I thought that I would die. I asked Him to not let me die and I asked forgiveness for not believing in Him and He has saved me, and now my Mom, my brother, my Grandmother and all of my aunts are Christians."

I hope this encourages you this week as you remember what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross some 2,000 years ago. But He didn't stay dead either, and raised Himself from the dead three days later so that anyone who believes can have eternal life with Him.

Doug

Prayer and Impact

2009-04-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Wow, how the time flies. I have several cool testimonies to share, but let me do just one now and then share a prayer request with you.

One of our radio programs on our AM station is called "Hymns of the Christian Life". It is the only program we have dedicated to playing the old hymns of the faith. Well, a week ago we invited our listeners to come to HCJB and spend a night together with us listening to these old hymns, sung by several local Christian artists. We gave out free tickets in order to control how many people might show up.

One 66 year old lady came by for her tickets and told us that she has been listening to HCJB for about 6 months, ever since she ran across "Hymns of the Christian Life" on the AM dial. She has been teaching women's groups in her church for many, many years. The day she tuned in, Candice, the host of the show, was sharing with her listeners about how they could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and be saved from an eternity in hell. This dear lady had never heard that before and decided to pray and accept the free gift of salvation that very day. She has since become a very faithful listener to our programs.

With this in mind, I would invite you to pray for our producers this week. This is Holy Week and we have prepared many special programs that will emphasize the events of this week some 2000 years ago and point our listeners toward Jesus as the one who paid our debt for sin and allows us to live for eternity with Him in heaven once we die. Pray that our producers will impact our listeners through their words and testimony, and that many new listeners would find us on the radio dial this week, just as this lady above did.

Pray also that our equipment will run without problems. Often during our special Christmas and Easter programs, our equipment has problems. Our transmitters fail, or our studios have problems, just when we are sharing the most important events of human history with our audience. So let's pray in advance that the Lord will "put a hedge of protection" around our equipment and keep it running throughout this Holy Week.

Thanks,

Doug

Coincidence?

2009-03-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

A couple of weeks ago our local radio team went to the city of Ambato, Ecuador for the day. HCJB, la Voz de los Andes, has a transmitter in Ambato that repeats our FM programs in Quito. For years we have heard testimonies from our listeners in Ambato, but we rarely have the opportunity to connect directly with them unless they come to Quito. So we decided to go there for a day of "live" programming, and inviting our listeners to join us.

When the day arrived, our advance team headed south at 4:30 a.m. to set up for the transmission that began at 8:00 a.m. But, they soon learned that our transmitter in Ambato was "Off the Air"! How could that be? We had been planning this for weeks. Our listeners were expecting us. Now they could not even hear us! How would they know to come?

A lightening strike had taken out the power feeding the mountain where our transmitter is located. Coincidence? I don't believe in looking for "evil one" behind every tree, but I also don't believe a lot in coincidence... especially in this situation.

I immediately started receiving phone calls from our engineers as they began to strategize how to get power to our transmitter. Portable generators? Meanwhile, the president of the local pastors association quickly began to call pastors to pray. And pray they did. They prayed for 3 hours until the power company was finally able to restore power at around 11:00 a.m.

But our listeners were not deterred. Even though they could not hear us at first, they came anyway. Many of them expressed their gratitude to our staff, sharing how they had been touched by our ministry. Several wanted to give to our annual fund raiser "Mision Compartida". Others signed the hand-written Bible that HCJB Global and the Ecuadorian Bible Society have been sponsoring for the last two years. Our producers probably came away more blessed than anyone by this encounter with our listeners.

Thanks for praying for our producers and the ministry they are having in the lives of our listeners. Pray that they will continually communicate God's Word to our audience, not only in Ecuador, but in all of Latin America.

If you want to listen to our FM station click on the following link:

http://www.radiohcjb.org/copyrightnewfm.php

Doug

A Powerful testimony!

2009-03-01T12:44:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I wanted to share with you a powerful testimony that we heard in the last week or so. Carlos Pinto is a missionary with HCJB Global and a Peruvian national. He was recently in Lima, Peru attending a leadership meeting for COMIBAM. While there, the ALAS satellite network team asked him to participate in their live program called "Hola Familia" (Hello Family). This program is targeted toward the family and the issues facing the family in Latin America. Experts on family issues are often consulted during the program.

Pastor Antenor Rojas welcomed Carlos to radio station "Armonia" and indicated that HCJB Global was responsible for helping the station get on the air some 10 years ago. Carlos also discovered that this local pastor had received much of his spiritual training through our Academia Cristiana del Aire (Christian Academy of the Air) discipleship training program. The material was originally written by Glen Turner's father who was a missionary from Church of the Open Door and served with HCJB Global many years ago.

Once on the air, Carlos and Pastor Rojas were able to participate in the program along with our producers who were in our studios back in Quito. This was a special treat for Pastor Rojas as he indicated that the program was very popular in his area. Carlos was able to verify this claim very shortly after the program ended when various people began calling the station to thank Radio Armonia and radio HCJB for presenting such important themes about the family.

Later, a young lady arrived. Carlos writes, "... the pastor told me that she had heard the radio and wanted to ask a question. Her name was Roxana and she told me, 'I have problems in my marriage but the truth is that I am so excited to speak with someone from HCJB that the only thing that I want to say is that it was through listening to radio HCJB that I came to know the Lord and since then all of my problems seem small in comparison to the greatness of knowing God'. Seeing her face express a mixture of tears and smiles was the best payment God could have given those of us who labored at the radio station. Seeing transformed lives, and thankfulness to God and the radio, are unequaled experiences."

Later, the Pastor invited Carlos out for lunch at a typical Peruvian food restaurante. At the end of the meal, Carlos intended to pay for his portion, however the Pastor said, "No... various christians who heard the program today called me and told me that they had wanted to meet the person who had come from HCJB but because of their work they could not. These brothers are the ones who will pay the bill. I am paying now, but they they have asked that I take you to lunch and they will give an offering to cover the cost of the meal."

HCJB Global has a long history of telling others about the eternal life we can have in Jesus Christ. These believers originally heard the gospel message through our short wave transmissions. Today they are hearing it through technologies like satellite. Tomorrow we hope to be sending the message through technologies like the internet. And we will keep changing to new and effective technologies until Jesus himself comes to back to take us home.

Doug

New Opportunities

2009-02-24T06:04:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

New opportunities for ministry come along all of the time. Many of them are things that we dream about being able to do in the future. Some are things that we didn't even expect to come along. Well, we at HCJB Global Latin America have been waiting for some new opportunities to open up for a while now. These opportunities involve ministry in two of Latin America's largest countries, Mexico and Brazil.

Mexico and Brazil have long been countries we have broadcast to via short wave and we have wanted to expand our ministry and reach into each of them. Yet radio licenses issued by the federal government to Christian broadcasters have been rare in both countries. Yet just in the last couple of weeks we have heard of one group in Brazil and perhaps two groups in Mexico who may have been issued legal radio licenses. The license in Brazil is particularly encouraging as it may well open the way for several more groups to obtain a license by using the same process. So please be in prayer for these groups and the new opportunities that we may have in helping these groups bring christian radio to their local communities and reach out with the Gospel message to their neighbors.

Don't forget to watch the video of our ministry here in Latin America at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVI1UnKkOCO

Thanks,

Doug

New Video

2009-02-12T05:10:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I wanted to let you know that HCJB Global in Latin America has just posted a new video to YouTube that I would invite you to watch. We made it initially in Spanish and decided to translate it to English as well. It describes our ministries in Media quite well and shows the diversity of ministries that we have in Latin America. We also have the video on DVD that we can make available to you all if you would like a copy. The DVD has higher video quality. I would encourage you to share the video with your churches, friends, family, mission groups, etc.

What the video does not show you are our plans to move more into digital media in the future. We have been talking for a long time about how we can begin to really use the internet for ministry in the future. Some of those ideas are beginning to come together and we hope to start using some things like FaceBook, podcasting, internet streaming, etc in the near future to create new audiences. We do need to be careful that we create ministries that we can sustain financially in the future, and that is our biggest obstacle at the moment. If anyone has experience in these areas or some good ideas to toss our way, by all means write to us on e-mail. We would love to hear your ideas.

OK, just click on one of the links below to watch the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVI1UnKkOCQ - English version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOQ4jOp-ArM - Spanish version

Doug

Tall Towers

2009-01-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Many of you have heard us talk about the fact that HCJB Global had an agreement to remove our tall shortwave towers in Ecuador. We completed that effort at the end of December as agreed upon with the Airport authorities in the country. These towers were the tallest ones that we had on the property, but that does not mean that we are no longer broadcasting on shortwave. We still have 14 antennas on the property that were not affected by the agreement. We will continue to operate on these antennas until some time in the future. However, we will eventually stop broadcasting from this site all together.

January is a fairly "normal" month. It is somewhat of a catch-up month for many of us at the radio station as December is so busy with special activities. It is also a time of evaluating the events that occurred in December. For instance we found that 4,584 people attended our 3-day "Mision Compartida 2008" event. We have as many as 2,246 donors, and 86% of those donors are women. We also discovered that in spite of the financial crisis our donors gave 37% more by the end of December than they did last year. That is a real blessing although we are certainly not out of the woods yet financially.

It was great to have Rachel home for the holidays in December. We enjoyed catching up on each others activities during the previous months of separation. One of the kid's traditions at Christmas time is to make ginger bread houses. You can see Rachel's creation here. Rachel seems to be enjoying college and has made some good friends. She left for the US again on Jan 1 to attend the "January term"
at Huntington University. She was involved in a mime class during that month. She really seemed to enjoy that. She is back in normal classes again now.

Thank you all for praying for us and for the very generous Christmas gifts that many of you sent us this year. We feel very blessed to have each of you on our team as we serve the Lord here in Latin America. It has been a difficult several years for us, but we are encouraged that this new year will bring new opportunities for reaching Latin America for Christ and helping others do the same. Thanks for being part of the team. We appreciate every one of you.

Doug

Mision Compartida 2008

2008-12-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

Mision Compartida is HCJB Global's Latin America radio-thon/open house. It is a time when we invite our local listeners in Ecuador to share in the mision of reaching the world for Christ. They are invited to not only contribute but to come to the radio statin in Quito and visit us. And they do come... thousands come during the 3-day event.

One of our goals as a radio ministry is to awaken the local church to the spiritual needs that exist in other parts of the world. So this year we included a tent where local Ecuadorian missionaries could share about their ministry with our visitors. Ten percent of our income from the radio-thon also goes to support these same missionaries. The tent was very popular especially when some of the missionaries dressed in the native clothing of their host countries. Several of these missionaries serve in Central Asia, India and the jungles of the Amazon Basin in South America.

The children's tent was another big hit. A local church volunteered to run the program. A local Word of Life group also came one day and presented a drama for the kids. All of the programs were very evangelistic in nature and the programs seemed to be as popular with the parents as it was with the kids. Face painting, and ballons were also part of the attraction for the kids

Our financial goal for this year was $190,000. We fell short of that during the 3-day event, having only received about $145,000 in pledges. However, several churches have informed us that they plan to raise money for us today in their Sunday services. We always receive more pledges throughout the month of December too, as some people cannot participate in the event itself every year.

We have been making a real effort in the last 5 years to work more closely with the local church and a change in attitiude from the local pastors was evident this year throughout the event. We had local pastors helping us in our counselling center and on the air, and volunteers came each day to just pray for the hundreds of prayer requests that came in with the donations. It was very impressive to me to walk by the intercessory prayer room and see several older ladies on their knees praying for our listeners and the ministry of HCJB Global world wide.

Please be in prayer that God will continue to touch hearts and continue to work through us to change the world by impacting Latin America for Christ.

Thanks,

Doug

Quito Day Concerts

2008-12-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Last weekend, HCJB presented their annual concert to honor the anniversary of the city of Quito and to honor our Lord's birth. The concerts were presented on Thurs, Fri, and Sunday at a local theater in the heart of colonial Quito. HCJB has used the birthday of Quito as a pretext for sharing the gospel since 1965. This year the concerts included a strong gospel message which tied Christ's birth to His redemptive work on the cross in a very clear presentation. We pray that many will be impacted by this message and search for the Lord during this Christmas season.

Today, the same choir that did the concerts, was invited to the presidential palace to sing for the Vice President and the palace staff. The President of Ecuador is not in the country today. We were invited as part of a catholic tradition called "The Novena". Each day for nine days, some different part of the birth of Christ is presented. Today was the first day of the Novena. We pray that our participation in this celebration of Christ's birth will impact our leaders to follow our Lord as they govern the country.

Tomorrow the churches of Ecuador have organized a breakfast for the Vice President and many government officials. The pretext is the presentation of a new book by Alberto Montessi, a Christian author and Bible teacher. HCJB will sponsor two tables at the event. Again the goal of this breakfast is to impact our political leaders with the gospel of Christ. Please pray for that impact.

Finally, Mision Compartida 2008, HCJB's annual fund raiser event, begins on Thurs this week. During this event we have thousands of listeners who visit the radio station, many of whom give financially to the ministry over a period of 3 days. Please pray that we can be a blessing to all those who come to visit us from Thurs through Sunday.

Thanks,

Doug

Leadership Summit

2008-11-15T17:08:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Yesterday and today I attended the Willow Creek Leadership Summit here in Quito. The summit is actually done in Aug and then recorded and translated into Spanish. It is translated into many languages and presented all over the world in 52 different countries, if I remember correctly. This is the first time I have attended the summit. Last year was the first year we had the summit here in Quito.

Several of my radio team members also attended the summit. Leadership is a big topic in Latin America, just as it is in north America. I have spent a lot of time reading leadership books over the years, and after a while you begin to figure out that everyone basically says the same thing. You also begin to figure out that Christian character is probably the most important ingredient there is for leadership.

If that is true, where are all the Christian leaders? Shouldn't we be leading the world? Shouldn't we be leading the best corporations? Shouldn't we be impacting the world like no one else has?

I don't have the answer to that question. But it sure makes you stop and think a bit. If my Christian faith is really the best basis for leadership, then I should probably stop spending so much money on leadership books and start spending more time reading and studying my Bible. No wait... maybe I need to start applying what I know from my years of studying the Bible to the real life situations that I run in to every day.

There are so many ways that we could start moving into the future. There are so many paths that are available to us these days in media. There are so many audiences out there that have never existed before. So which direction do we go? Who do we go after first? What technology do we use to reach them? I have lots of ideas and dreams swimming around in my head. Will you pray for direction for our leadership team? We need the Lord to direct our steps and to provide the financial and personnel resources we need to move in to the future. We need your prayers for God's guidance in a world that keeps creating new ways to communicate with each other.

Doug

Are You Ready?

2008-10-31T13:23:00.001-07:00

OK, so earlier this week I had a guy come in to my office, pull out his bible, and begin to show me from his Bible that Jesus is coming back on Nov. 15, 2008. Although I did not agree with his interpretation of the scriptures on various issues he was nonetheless convinced that he had discovered the secret of the date from the scriptures themselves. He even claims to have found another man on the internet who has arrived at the same date, but by a completely different method.

Although I did not buy his arguments, it once again made me ask myself "Am I ready for Christ's return?"

Spiritually?..... yes.

Personally?..... well I would like to see my kids grow up a little more. I would like to play with grandchildren someday.

In our Ministry?..... Wow! There is so much more that I would like to do. So many more ways that we could tell people about Jesus, especially in this fast moving world of technology and communication.

I have to admit that at first I thought "hooray! Now I don't have to worry anymore about my budgets!" But there is so much more to the ministry than that. What my encounter with this man did for me was put everything back into perspective again. It isn't about budgets. It isn't about meetings. It isn't about employee/employer conflicts. It is about saving the lost and getting them the message in time for them to make a decision for Christ. This was a reminder for me to "Keep the main thing, the main thing".

Doug

"Tiroteo"

2008-10-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Defn. "Tiroteo - firing, shooting"

On Monday, a couple of friends and I were on our way to the little town of Shell, Ecuador to visit HCJB's hospital ministry there. On the way, we found ourselves in a little adventure that we would just as soon not experience again in the near future.

As we headed around one of the towns along our way, we noticed two police cars headed down our highway in the opposite direction at high speed and with their lights flashing (no sirens). We thought that a bit odd. Within seconds we discovered another police car, a double cab pick-up truck, parked across our freeway lanes. An officer beside the truck was signalling us to stop our vehicle. We did. But before we could stop, two motorcycles with two men on each passed us at full speed.

One motorcycle tried going around the back of the police truck, the other around the front. There was not enough room around the back of the truck and the first motorcycle slid to a stop, dumpinig its passengers on the road. The next thing we know, the police officer has his gun drawn and pointed right at the two men as they unfolded themselves from around their bike. Their hands went into the air in surrender.

The second bike was able to squeeze around the front of the police vehicle and continue its flight up the freeway. The police truck jumped in to gear and pulled itself around in hot pursuit of the second motorcycle. Relieved that our little adventure was over, and the police had everything in control, we headed on up the highway again. Within seconds we were back in the thick of it.

As we approached an interchange on the highway, we were suddenly surrounded by policeman again, this time on motorcycles. One officier was indicating that we should take the right exit ramp. Another officer indicated that we should stop. We decided to stop. Almost immediately we heard shots from a pistol. Then we saw the second motorcycle race over the overpass in front of us. More shots were heard. A nearby officier instructed us to exit our van and get behind it for protection. At the same instant the other motorcycle policemen disappeared in pursuit of the fleeing motorcycle.

The newspaper yesterday reported that the 4 men had stolen $21,500 from a local businessman as he was taking the previous days earnings to a local bank. All 4 men were eventually apprehended and the money recovered.

I was quite impressed with the police response during our little adventure, even though they were not quite in control of the situation yet. They were well organized and obviously in constant communication with each other. However, this experience is just another example of how quickly we can find ourselves in situations beyond our control. It also highlights the importance of prayer for God's protection over us. So don't forget to pray for God's protection over your missionary friends no matter where in the world they serve, becuase you just don't know what they might be driving in to around the next bend in the road.

This and That

2008-09-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I have a couple of things to share with you quickly. One is a new video on YouTube about the 50th anniversary of the Hospital Vozandes del Oriente. This will show you some of the history of the hospital. You will have to open your web browser and then copy and paste the following link into your browser. The video can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUpUBODssBw&sdig=1

Second, we often get questions about the HCJB Global Technology center in Elkhart, IN. Well this week an article came out in Radio World, an industry newspaper, which I thought some of you might want to read. You can click on the following link to read that article....

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.15789.html

Finally, please be praying for the people of Ecuador as they go to the polls on Sunday (Sept 28) to decide on whether they want to adopt a new constitution for the country or not. This is an important decision that will influence the direction that the country will take in to the future. Obviously everyone wants the best for the country, but it is difficult to know how decisions made today will affect our lives years down the road.

Thanks,

Doug

HVO 50th Anniversary

2008-09-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 50th Anniversary of our Hospital (Hospital Vozandes del Oriente) in Shell, Ecuador. We arrived on Friday afternoon just in time for an official civic celebration called a "Ceremonio Solemne". Dignitaries from surrounding towns were in attendance including a Mayor and several councilmen and councilwomen. In the evening we also attended a dinner nearby in honor of the hospital. In attendance were some of the Hospital's very first patients, including patient with chart #10.

Hospital Vozandes del Oriente started in the small town of Shell as a simple clinic. It was the dream of Nate Saint, missionary pilot at the time, to have a clinic where habitants of the jungle could come and receive medical care. That small clinic eventually grew to be a hospital that was built right across the road from the airstrip used to bring the sick in from the jungle. Both Nate Saint and Roger Youderian helped in the construction of the hospital before they were killed in the Ecuadorian jungle.

Later, through a gift from the Swedish government, a new hospital was built within walking distance of the first building. The new facilities were larger, more spacious, and modern. It even included a tuberculosis lab, one of the first in the jungle region. The old hospital became a guest house for the many tourists who visited the region until it had to be torn down a year or so ago, having lost its battle against the jungle termites.

We praise the Lord for the many years of service the hospital has enjoyed in the region. Many people have come to the Lord as a reuslt of this important ministry to both the physical and spiritual needs of Ecuador's jungle dwellers.

Doug

Summer HMA!

2008-07-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

We have had quite a summer! Lots of traveling and visiting with many of you. We have had a great time, but we are feeling a little exhausted as well. We only have a couple of weeks left before we head back to Ecuador.

We had a great time on our "East Coast" trip visiting folks in Ontario, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio. We also spoke in two churches along the way and had a great time with the folks of Northern Neck Baptist church in Virginia. What a great bunch of people out there.

Becca went along with us only as far as the first day. She stopped off in Ohio, stayed for a couple of days with a friend, then took the bus back home to Grandma's house. What an adventure she had on the bus! You have to get her to tell you about the people she found on the bus. Sounds like something right out of a TV sit-com.

The boys were pretty content on the journey. We had a TV in the car so they watched videos on most of the trip. We did get to do some fireworks on the 4th of July at the house we were staying at. They thought they were going to miss fireworks this year.

We have also been in northern Illinois, speaking at a camp there. It was a good time meeting those folks from the United Brethren In Christ churches in that area. We have also been all the way up to Traverse City Michigan to re-connect with one of the work teams that helped us build the El Tablon church building. Last weekend we spoke at College Park UB church. I also had a reunion of my High School youth group. The youth group had quite an impact in the 70s on the lives of those in the group and it was good to reconnect with many friends that I have not seen in many years.

Rachel is is getting ready to start College. Soccer practice starts in a week or so. She has been working out for more than a week already. We checked out her room today so she can start thinking about how she might want it set up. She also just received here new computer and has been getting it set up just the way she wants it.

Well, that is about it for this time.

Doug

2008-06-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Just a note to let you know that we are back in the states this summer. It will be a quick trip as we have to be back in Ecuador in time for school to start. We have already touched base with several of you, but we look forward to seeing even more. We head off next week for a short trip out to the east coast and to visit some of our supporting churches in Ontario and Virgina. Most of our weekends are filled up now with church engagements. We are free during the week most times though, and hope to fill in some other meetings along the way. If you have some place that you would like us to present our ministry, we would be happy to try to fit that into our schedule.

One of our activities already this summer was to get Rachel through Registration Weekend so she can attend University next year. She is excited about doing that. She also has a driver's permit now, and is taking driver's lessons. I was out with her just last night and she is learning fast and getting more comfortable behind the wheel.

More later.....

Update

2008-06-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! Has it really been 2 months since the last time I posted an update? Where does the time go...??? Well lots of things have been happening which is why I have not had time to update the blog. Let me see if I can give you a bit of an update without writing a novel.

Thursday before Easter, we arrived home to find that the front door to our house had been forced open and we had been robbed. Our bedroom was the most disturbed. That is where we kept most of my "boy toys" - several radios, GPS, etc. It is the first time we have been robbed in this country. We knew we were way overdue for a robbery. Rumor has it that they have caught the guys that did it. They have been robbing houses in the surrounding communities for a couple of years. We didn't recover anything though. We are just grateful that no one was home at the time of the robbery and that we are all safe.

ALTECO - ALTECO is a consortium of mission organizations that get together once a year to network on how best to cooperate to reach the remaining "unreached" tribal groups in the Amazon Basin. Numbers range from 150 to 350 tribes that exist in the Amazon that have not been reached with the Gospel. In fact, CNN.com had an article just this last week about a new tribe that has just been found in the Amazon. It is believed that this group has had no contact whatsoever with the outside world. Hard to believe that those groups still exist, doesn't it? HCJB hopes to cooperate with other mission organizations to get radio programs in native languages on the air as a means of reaching into some of these remote areas.

In April, Daniel's class at Alliance Academy Int'l performed the play "No Strings Attached". It is the story of Pinochio, but not the Disney version. Daniel was "String Bean", Pinochio's wayward friend who eventually helps Pinochio earn his donkey ears and tail. Dan did a great job. Dad was asked to video tape the performances and make a DVD of the show for the kids and parents. I had never done that before, but we have the software, so I gave it a shot. The kids did a great job! The DVD came out OK too. The high school drama teachers told us they have their eye on Daniel already. I guess he impressed the critics even at this early age.

Becca decided that she wanted to celebrate her 16th birthday this year by inviting a bunch of her friends on a overnight camping trip. So we found several more adults to help us out, loaded up about 20 teenagers into several cars, and headed out to HCJB's antenna site. It was a great time. The kids stayed up half the night and went on a hike into the canyon the next day. Mom made lots of special food for the occasion. The rain held off until the very last minute when everyone had to scramble to get the tents down and stay dry. Everyone had fun! The trip was the talk of the school for several days so I guess everyone had fun. Several of the kids had never been camping before.

Most of the month of May, we have been working on budgets for the radio station. That is about all I have done this month. I have a lot of budgets to review, check, correct (read "cut expenses") for radio, even though I have a number of people helping to prepare the budgets. It is quite the process. We hopefully will have them all done by the time we leave to furlough this summer.

David got a unique opportunity to drive a "tractor" recently. Some of the workers were demolishing an old building on the HCJB Quito property. Since we know the workers, they invited David and Caleb, a friend of his, to help them out. David actually had his hands on the controls by himself for a bit. He had a great time even though he didn't probably help a lot in the destruction and clean-up of the building. You can see David sitting on the operators lap in the picture.

Well that is probably enough for now. Thanks for praying for us! We hope to see many of you this summer when we are in Indiana and on the east coast.

Doug

Flood Waters

2008-03-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

For weeks now the rivers along the Ecuadorian coastline have been flooded due to the excessive amounts of rain that have fallen on the country. Even here in Quito the rain has been unusually heavy. We have never experienced so much rain in our 17 years of living in Ecuador. As a result, many people on the coast of Ecuador have had their homes flooded. Many of them are in isolated areas where it is difficult to even find food. Clean water is just as scarce.

Some of you may know that HCJB Global has often participated with Samaritan's Purse in disaster relief efforts around the world. This time the disaster relief is right here in our own back yard. As a result, HCJB Global has banded together with other Christian organizations and the Ecuadorian church to collect and distribute food and clothing to those affected by the flood waters.

For weeks now HCJB has been announcing to our listeners that they can bring food to one of 3 drop off points, where volunteers will collect their donations, sort them, and prepare bags for distribution to those who need them on the coast. And people are responding. We have sent several truck loads of food to the coast and more keeps pouring in. Click on the following link to see a video on YouTube of the work that we are doing on the coast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-01_cdpeWw

Doug

Baptism in the Mountains

2008-02-24T17:32:00.000-08:00

We drove over the mountains this morning to a little community called El Tambo. The trip was made by members of three churches, Mulauco, Chuchauco and El Tablon. What is special about El Tambo? Well, first of all, El Tambo is a sister community to El Tablon. It is all part of the same comunal land organization and many of the people who own land in El Tablon also own land in El Tambo. El Tambo is known for its volcanic hot pools, making it favorite spot for baptisms.

The Mulauco church organized the Baptism, but invited me to participate in the baptism, along with himself, Clemente, and Clemente's son-in-law. It was a privilege for me to be invited to help with their baptism ceremony. We divided into two groups, Clemente and I together, and rotated the baptisms between the four of us, baptizing a total of 11 people. One of those was Luz Marie from our El Tablon church. Luz has been coming to our church for quite some time but had never taken the step of faith of being baptized. Several of our El Tablon families were there to witness the event. Two of the others were family members of Clemente and Cecilia.

After the baptism service was over, those in attendance were invited to swim in the pool and many did. Afterwards a meal was served before everyone headed back to the other side of the mountain and back to our homes. We are thankful that Luz Marie took this important step in her relationship with Christ and pray that others will follow her example in the near future.

Carnaval!

2008-02-04T17:47:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Here in Ecuador, we celebrate "Carnaval" on the Monday and Tuesday just before Lent starts. Traditionally the event is celebrated with water... lots of water. In fact, you better be careful just walking down street because someone is likely to take the opportunity to launch a water balloon at you from a nearby house. So every year we get a group of friends together and head out to our shortwave transmitter site for a giant water fight in honor of the tradition.

This year we had one of our largest "parties" ever with several families bringing along extra kids to share in the fun. Water balloons, squirt guns, buckets of water and even the garden hose are appropriate weapons on such a day. More recently the government has attempted to limit the amount of water that is used, so "foam" has become a popular addition to the armament. Usually by the end of the day you have some very soaked and foamed kids.

Afterward we had a picnic lunch/BBQ for everyone involved. Everyone brought a dish to share , so there was lots of food after all of the fun. The kids had a great time. The parents did too, although we mostly stayed inside until the water part was over.

Doug

Happy New Year!

2008-01-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

We want to wish you a Happy New Year for 2008.

HCJB Global Voice has just added another digital short wave radio broadcast yesterday. We have been doing a digital broadcast to Germany for several months already. Yesterday we began a transmission in Portuguese to Brazil. The HCJB Global technology Center in Elkhart, IN has developed and provided the equipment so that we can do these broadcasts.

I recently recorded an audio clip that I recorded here in Quito, Ecuador. The broadcast originated in Canada and the program was created by a European broadcaster. The broadcast is in short wave. Usually when you listen to a short wave program you hear lots of static, fading, etc. The quality is generally less desirable than what we are used to on the local AM bands. However, when we jump to digital, the audio quality becomes almost as good as local FM reception. In fact, if you listen carefully, using quality headphones, you can hear the stereo effects in the audio clip.

Digital short wave uses a digital standard called DRM. This is different than HD-radio which many radio stations in the USA are beginning to use. DRM is the only digital radio standard that works in the short wave bands. Many broadcasters around the world are now using DRM technology to broadcast in short wave. DRM allows us to broadcast long distances but with the quality of FM audio. The problems right now is receivers.... there aren't many available in the world just yet. In fact, we only know of 3 DRM receivers in the entire country of Brazil. That's OK... Clarence Jones, founder of HCJB, started his broadcasts back in 1931 with only 6 known receivers in the country. So how might God use this new technology to reach the world with the message of salvation??

Doug

Mision Compartida 2007

2007-12-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

What is Mision Compartida you ask? That is the name we have given to our annual Radio-thon and Open House here at HCJB. We have been doing this for about 4 years now and each year the event grows. Mision Compartida means "Shared Mission" in Spanish. This year we held Mision Compartida on the 13th, 14th and 15th of December. (Yes, just 2 weeks after the Quito Day Concerts... December is a busy month for us!)

A big part of Mision Compartida is the open house. During the 3-day event, we have thousands of people come by the station. They can stop by our largest radio studio and watch, listen, and even participate at times in the live radio program. We also do a lot of live Christian and Ecuadorian cultural music during the event. Some of these artists are local, and others we bring in from out of the country. So many people will come by to meet the musicians as well.

We also have a children's tent where a team of mostly volunteers come and do all kinds of activities with the kids. This has become very popular during the last couple of years. In fact, there were times this year when we had more kids on campus than we had adults. The kids tent usually has face painting, puppet shows, skits, videos etc. Because of the kids ministry, Mision Compartida is becoming a family event each year. Families will come and spend several hours with us.

This year we had some special tents set up which presented other ministries of HCJB. One in particular was done by our Bible Institute of the Air. They created a mock-up of the ancient tabernacle of God from the old testament. Students in the Institute manned the tent, giving tours of the tent and the meaning of each of the items in the "Tabernacle". Another popular area is our Prayer Room. Many of the local pastors come and volunteer to be available to pray with people who come to the station with special needs.

Of course our donation areas are open as well. People can call us and pledge their gift or they can come by in person and leave their gift with us during their visit. This year we set a goal of raising $150,000 for the local AM and FM radio stations. That is about half the cost it requires to operate those stations each year. Although our pledges had never surpassed $100,000 in the previous years, the listeners gave nearly $130,000 during each of the previous years. We count the money that comes in during the year and not the pledges anyway, so $150,000 seemed like a reasonable goal. To our surprise, our listeners pledged over $160,000 this year! We were all humbled by the Lord's grace this year since this is almost twice what our listeners pledged last year.

Mision Compartida was a success in several ways, not just financially. Many of our listeners shared with our producers how the Lord had used a particular producer to speak to them, or encourage them just when they needed it. In fact I think we, the staff of HCJB, get as much of a blessing by this interaction with our listeners as they get in giving to the ministry. It is easy to wonder if you are making a difference in people's lives because radio is a one-way medium. Mision Compartida is the listeners opportunity to encourage us, and it does. We are so grateful that we can be a part of this ministry which touches so many lives for Christ.

Quito Day Concerts

2007-12-16T14:22:00.001-08:00

The city of Quito, Ecuador celebrates its founding every year on the 6th of December. Since 1965, HCJB has been participating in the celebrations by presenting the "Quito Day Concerts". The concerts include a mixture of Ecuadorian cultural music and Christian Christmas music. We also usually invite a special artist or group to participate with us in the concert as a special guest. This year we invited Paulina Aguirre, who just this year had her album "Mujer de Fe" (Woman of Faith) nominated for a Latin Grammy. She is the first Christian music artist to receive such a nomination.

The concerts were held in a local theater where they were originally held back in 1965. Even though the size of the theater was small, the concerts were well received. The owner of one of the largest secular radio stations in the city of Quito came by to congratulate us on such a good production. Another man who owns one of the most respected radio production houses in the country also di the same. Both men offered their services for the next years production.

The concerts are not just about good music though. We had a very strong evangelistic message that was woven through the concerts. This was done via a drama that highlighted the cultural history of the city of Quito, and ended with a message of redemption that is needed by all who are searching for truth. Many people have told us that they remember the drama from the concert more than anything else.

Radio Veca

2007-10-28T14:15:00.001-07:00

Think back with me a month. Do you remember hearing about Hurricane Felix and the damage it caused to Central America? It came ashore in a place called Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Chances are you have never heard of Puerto Cabezas, but we have. HCJB has a little partner radio station in Puerto Cabezas called Radio Veca.

Radio Veca is a small FM station. They came to us several years ago in need of a new transmitter. We were able to provide them with that and have stayed in contact with them ever since, doing training sessions for the radio producers, etc.

When we heard that Hurricane Felix had come ashore at Puerto Cabezas, we knew our partner was going to need help. However the hard part was communicating with them. Phone lines were down, as were power lines. However, after a few days, enough electricity was restored so that cell phones could sometimes get through to the station. Sure enough their radio tower was several pieces and their transmitter damaged as well. However, the electric company had run a special power line to the station to help them get back on the air, however with a greatly reduced coverage area.

We determined as best we could what the station was going to need to get back up to full power and sent an engineer in to help. Radio Veca had managed to piece their radio tower back together, but the cable that goes to the antenna at the top of the tower was not available in the country. So our engineer had to make a stop in Miami on the way (OK, so its not exactly on the way) to buy some cable.

We were able to get the station back up to almost full power. This was crucial since the station was being used by rescue workers to broadcast key information to the community. This is an example of how HCJB Voz Global is partnering with Christian radio stations all over Latin America to help them more effectively minister to their local communities.

Bible Marathon

2007-09-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

This week HCJB, The Voice of the Andes, and The International Bible Society in Ecuador launched a special joint project..... a Bible Marathon. What is a Bible Marathon? We are asking people from all over Ecuador to help us write the Bible in Spanish by hand. The catch is, each person can only write 1 verse. That means that over 30,000 people will have to help us write this Bible.

The Bible started at the HCJB studios in Quito and is there through today, saturday. Then it will begin to make its way around the city of Quito until the end of October visiting churches and Christian book stores where people can come to add their verse. After October, it will begin to circulate around the country. We will use the radio station to inform people of the location of the Bible. We expect this project to take a full year to complete.

Why do a Bible Marathon? One reason is to unify the church in Ecuador. We will need the participation of many people from many different churches to complete the Bible. Last year the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association did a "Festival of Hope" here in Quito and this year they did one in Guayaquil. These two events brought the church together in a way that has not been seen in recent history. We are hoping the Bible Marathon will be the next great unifying event.

The second main reason for the project to promote the reading of God's Word. We are asking each participant to give a free will donation to the project. The Bible Society will use their half of the proceeds to buy Bibles which they will give to HCJB to distribute throughout the country. HCJB will use our half of the proceeds to cover our air-time expenses as we follow the Bible around the country, letting people know when the Bible is in a location near them.

Many people have already come by our studios to write their verse. I stopped by today and the studio was completely packed with people. There was standing room only. Word is getting out about this project and people are coming from all over to add their verse. We started the project at 4 different books in the Bible; Gensis, Job, Mathew, and Romans. I started off the book of Job and Ruth followed me with Job 1:2. We have had over 1000 people participate in just these first 3 days.

Please pray that this project will fulfill its goals of unifying the church in Ecuador and promoting the reading of God's Word.

The Dedication

2007-09-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Sorry it has taken so long to give you an update on the church dedication. We have been experiencing some computer problems lately.

The dedication of the El Tablon church took place on Aug 25th. We had a great crowd turn out for the dedication. Most of the visitors were people from outside El Tablon though. The churches in the towns of Pifo, Mulauco, Papallacta and Chaupimolino were all invited as they had all helped in one way or another with the construction. We estimate that between 400 and 500 people were in attendance based on the amount of food we served. The church was built to fit 200 people so needless to say there was standing room only. In fact, some people just stayed outside and looked through the windows or helped cook the food.

The service lasted about 3 hours, but by the time the food was all served it stretched into 5 hours. We had a great time of thanking those who had helped with the construction and ministry including work teams from Costa Rica, Northland U.B. (Michigan) and College Park U.B. (Indiana). We had lots of music as two of the churches brought along their Christian folkloric music and dance groups. (Dancing in the church??? I know, I know.... Its a cultural thing...) Then we did some reminiscing about the early days of the ministry when we had to tread through 6 inches of mud every week just to get to the house we were meeting in. Rachel put together a video chronicling the history of the ministry including the building of the church. We even sang Happy Birthday to Rachel, our daughter, who turned 18 that day.

Not everything went right though. My laptop computer picked the day before the dedication to decide its useful life was over. So Saturday morning I was scrambling to find another laptop to use. Then as we were about to the start the service, one of the Power Point music presentations became corrupted, so we couldn't use it. Someone brought a sound system, but the microphones they brought were not compatible with the sound system mixer. So we didn't use that either. Fortunately, these were relatively minor things in the big scheme of things and Ecuadorians are used to improvising.

All in all it was a great day though and we dedicated the building to the Lord and His use there in the community. One of the exciting things about the day was that we saw some of our people take some leadership in organizing the food for the day. It was good to see them step out and do that. We are encouraged about the future in El Tablon and trust that the Lord will use that building to bring more people to him. Thanks also to many of you who came to Ecuador to help us build the church. Our folks in El Tablon wanted to make sure we especially thanked you...

Doug

Welcome to our blog

2007-08-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings all and welcome to our blog!

We decided to try blogging as a way to keep you updated on what is happening in our ministry and lives. With a blog we can give you more updates than is really possible with out prayer letters. There are often so many things happening in between prayer letters that we have a hard time choosing what to include in the prayer letter. Hopefully this way we can change that.

This blog does not replace the prayer letters that we send to you 4 times a year. So if you receive those now, you will continue to receive them either through the mail or electronically.

I will also send out an e-mail message when we update the blog with a link to this page so that you won't have to waste time checking the blog, only to find that we have not updated it. However, if you want to be removed from that list, or you know of someone wants to be included on the list, please write to us at dweber@hcjb.org.ec.

Pray for today:

* On Saturday the 24th we will be dedicating our new church building in El Tablon. Some of you helped us in the construction of the building, others have prayed for the construction. Please pray that the building will now be used by the Lord for his work in El Tablon.

* We also expect lots of visitors to the church in El Tablon for the dedication. Please pray that those visitors will accept the Lord and return in future weeks to grow spiritually with us.