In mid-March a radio frequency engineer and an antenna tower rigger from the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., traveled to LaJeune, Haiti, to upgrade the equipment for the Christian radio station there.

In mid-March a radio frequency engineer and an antenna tower rigger from the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., traveled to LaJeune, Haiti, to upgrade the equipment for the Christian radio station there.

Affiliated with Radio Lumière, the largest Protestant radio network in Haiti, the LaJeune outlet was first established in 1969 as a 1,000-watt AM station along with a small local studio. Due to aging equipment, beginning in 2000 the station had frequently been off the air, sometimes for months at a time.

A scouting trip to evaluate the station's needs took place in 2005, and equipment and supplies were shipped soon afterward. However, repairs were delayed by political unrest and lack of police security in the area.

After the situation calmed down, HCJB Global missionaries were finally able to visit LaJeune in March, tackling a long "to-do list," checking off items one by one. They installed a new 1,000-watt transmitter and set up the old one as a backup. The radio tower was also plumbed, maintained and re-tensioned, the signal was tuned; and the main power supply-a diesel generator-was repaired and tuned.

As a result, the station's much-improved signal can now be heard as far away as Radio Lumière's studios in Port-au-Prince, making Christian broadcasts available to a "greater area of Haiti than ever before." In addition, staff members trained Radio Lumière's network engineer and radio technician on how to perform similar repairs and maintenance at other outlets in the network.

Additional project funds will provide further improvements such as new paint for the rusting radio tower and possibly some new studio equipment to improve broadcast quality.

"It's our prayer that with the broadcasting of the gospel throughout Haiti, lives will be changed, resulting in greater peace and security in the country," said Curt Bender, manager of radio planting and development at the HCJB Global Technology Center.

The network, operated by the Mission Evangélique Baptiste du Sud d'Ha?ti, was established in 1959. Broadcasts are within hearing range of more than 90 percent of the Haitian population. In many rural areas it is the only radio broadcasting available to the local people in either of the two local languages, Creole and French.

Sources: HCJB Global, Radio Lumière