Baptism in the Mountains

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!

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!

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

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

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.