Oct. 15, 2010

HCJB Global Joins Moody Radio in Campaign to Fund Radio Sets, Scholarship
Sources: HCJB Global, Moody Radio (written by Harold Goerzen)

HCJB Global has entered into a partnership with Moody Radio in a campaign that will send thousands of radios to Africa and fund a Moody Bible Institute Global Leaders Scholarship for an undergraduate international student from the continent.

Moody Radio's Global Partners Project, which launched Monday, Oct. 4, will be featured during sharathons on Oct. 27-28 and Nov. 10-11. Participating stations include Moody Radio Chicago, Moody Radio Quad Cities (Illinois-Iowa border region), Moody Radio South (Alabama and Mississippi), Moody Radio Spokane (Washington) and Moody Radio West Michigan.

HCJB Global President Wayne Pederson-along with other mission representatives-will be present as on-air spokespersons for the campaign.

The goal is to raise $250,000 that would send 5,000 fixed-tuned, solar powered SonSet^® radios to five community stations operated by three HCJB Global partners in Ghana (each receiving 1,000 radios) and finance one four-year scholarship.

"These radios you provide will continue to proclaim the good news to hundreds of people for years to come," Pederson said. "There's no way to predict how many lives will be changed and how many communities will be improved because of the impact of each radio. We're grateful for the vision and shared mission of Moody Radio."

For every $50 donated, one radio will go to Ghana, and a donation will be made to the scholarship, helping provide an education for someone to study at Moody and then return to his or her community to serve Christ in ministry.

The rugged handheld radios, designed by engineers at the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., are part of the mission's Turn the Radios On initiative that encourages donors to purchase radios so partner stations can give them to listeners in needy areas worldwide.

Two Moody graduates, Stephen Asare and Peter Awane, both serving at HCJB Global partner stations in Ghana, inspired the creation of the scholarship.

After graduating, Asare worked part-time at Moody Radio for almost two years. He now serves alongside his father, Theo Asare, at Theovision in Accra, Ghana, overseeing the ministry's radio division.

Awane completed his master's degree through Moody Theological Seminary's distance learning program. His 35-year dream to open a Christian station was realized this summer when HCJB Global helped him put a station on the air, making gospel broadcasts available to northern Ghana's Frafra people for the first time.

In August, six Moody Radio employees traveled to Ghana to learn more about the Turn the Radios On program. HCJB Global works with its West African media partners, in particular Theovision International stations, to distribute the radios that are pre-tuned to local partner stations.

The radios will be handed out in prisons, care homes, hospitals and remote villages. Through this ministry, listeners receive broadcasts about the good news of Jesus Christ along with programming that helps them resolve relational conflicts and local healthcare issues.

Bruce Everhart, manager of marketing and development at Moody Radio, said by visiting the project, "We were also able to witness how a Moody graduate is contributing to the well-being of these communities through radio. Our goal is to provide similar students, who are leaders in their communities, with scholarships to receive solid Bible educations from Moody with the intention of returning home to minister to their people."

Catch phrases for the campaign include, "Turn the radios on to a message of hope" and "For you, it's just a radio, for them, it's a lifeline."