Producers of HCJB Global-UK's Easter radio programming in Hindi (l-r):  Shely Ganguly and Chris Singh.

(March 28, 2013 - by Harold Goerzen) Listeners to a popular Asian radio station in the U.K. known more for its upbeat Bollywood music than its religious messages will hear the story of Christ's death and resurrection this Easter weekend.

A potential audience of 175,000 across West Yorkshire will hear a selection of readings, interviews and vox pops in a mixture of Hindi and English during the special Easter broadcast on Sunrise Radio 103.2 FM. In addition to Hindus, the station attracts Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist listeners.

"We are delighted to be able to pair up our award-winning radio team, Whistling Frog Productions, with our friends at Radio Worldwide (part of WEC) to make this piece for Hindi listeners," said Colin Lowther, HCJB Global-UK's chief executive officer.

"Our hope is that people will get a chance to hear for themselves, in their own language, about what happened to Jesus 2,000 years ago," he added. " It's  not just about learning how the Christian faith began, but the difference it is making to people right now."

"Good Friday is more than just a bank holiday, it's to honor the Lord Jesus Christ," says Christopher Singh in the program called "Sunrise Passion," speaking in Hindi. "It's because Jesus gave His life on the cross on this special day."

"And why did He give His life? Because I, who was born in sin-we are all born in sin-need forgiveness," Singh states in the program. "God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins. By believing in Him, we can have a new life, salvation."

A busy street in downtown Bradford, home of HCJB Global-UK's office and studios.

The "Sunrise Passion" follows an Urdu Christmas production made last year made for the same station. The Easter program will include interviews with prominent Pakistani Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali and Canon Yaqub Masih, a lay minister at Wakefield Cathedral. The 15-minute program will air shortly after 7 p.m. (GMT) Thursday, March 28.

"The Urdu Christmas program was a success and received some positive comments from the station personnel," Lowther said.

HCJB Global-UK has also prepared special Easter radio programming in English. One is a five-minute feature that will air on Easter Sunday-the same day as the historic Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race-to 16 stations across England.

"This program talks about the history of the boat race, and we hear from three Olympic gold medalist rowers who tell about the event and their Christian faith-all related to Easter Sunday," Lowther explained.

The staff also made three radio spots for Pulse 2-a pop station in West Yorkshire. "These three episodes follow the adventures of-Wurloc Gnomes and Spotson- two Christmas elves who are in search of the real meaning of Easter," Lowther said.

In addition, the staff made a 30-second public service announcement for a product called "The Real Easter Egg"-a chocolate Easter egg-with a copy of the Easter story inside the box. A portion of all sales will go toward charity. To view the ad, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2zzI8yWwmvM.

Source: HCJB Global-UK