(Sept. 30, 2016 - by Theresa With)  Sometimes big changes begin by taking tiny steps.

That was the case for Juan, a Hispanic man living in South Texas near the U.S.-Mexican border. One day he was at his wits’ end, so he jumped into his car, took off and began driving erratically. On the highway he found himself scanning through the stations on his car radio.

Just then he heard the words of a song on the radio, “nunca te dejaré” (I will never leave you), that caught his attention. The lyrics continued, “I will not forget you; I know your problems; I know your situation; recognize that I am your God; I give you all my love so do not be discouraged; I am your God; I have everything under control.”

Realizing these were God’s words directed to him, Juan pulled off the road and poured out his exhausted heart to the Lord. At the end of the song, through his sobs, he heard that the program was coming from Radio Cadena Manantial (RCM or Springs of Living Water Radio Network).

Something about the radio name struck him as familiar. He reached into the glove box and pulled out a packet that he had stuffed there just a week earlier. In the upper left-hand corner of the envelope were the words, “Radio Cadena Manantial.”

Juan was handed the envelope full of materials after walking into a local church. The packet included a brochure from RCM, the Spanish-language satellite radio service of Inspiracom (formerly World Radio Network), a partner ministry of Reach Beyond.

Now he excitedly looked through the items in the packet and found the station’s telephone number. The envelope also included a New Testament and a tract explaining how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Juan called the station immediately, and staff member Josefina Ríos from RCM in Pharr, Texas, answered the telephone. After thanking the Lord and the station ministry for the amazing timing of the message and the song that he had heard at a most crucial moment, Juan prayed with Ríos and committed his life to the Lord.

This is just one of the many stories received at Inspiracom in recent months, showing how the broadcasts are making a difference in the spiritual lives of listeners. The ministry has a network of 14 Spanish- and English-language FM radio outlets along the U.S.-Mexico border. Among the potential listeners are 13 million Spanish speakers on both sides of the frontier. Sometimes staff members also get involved in relief efforts locally following catastrophes such as floods, wildfires and tornadoes.

One listener named Norma from El Centro, Calif., wrote in response to the Spanish-language broadcasts she had heard from KYRM in Yuma, Ariz., “It was through RCM that I began to understand more about the Bible. Rest and joy entered my heart when I began listening to your station.”

Her letter continued, “I became aware that Christ had accompanied me, that He had been beside me in my years of loneliness and pain, and that I was never alone.… All the programs that you air have ministered to my life.… May your station have a long life! May the Lord watch over you.”

The stories and impact of Inspiracom do not end there. The network also operates Academia Cristiana del Aire (ACA or Christian Academy of the Air), a Spanish Bible correspondence course supplemented by a 15-minute radio program that airs on Inspiracom stations.

Some 4,000 students worldwide are enrolled in the program, offering 23 courses, most of them on a Bible institute/seminary level. It’s designed to bring Bible and theological training to Spanish-speaking pastors and church members who are unable to attend a Bible school or seminary. Approximately 1,000 of ACA’s students are incarcerated.

Javier, a prisoner in Mexico, wrote, “I am in maximum security. When I arrived here I felt lost, without hope, thinking I would never be free. I lost my wife and children. I had read the Bible in the past, so in my cell, in desperation, I knelt before Jesus Christ and asked for pardon and for another opportunity. The Lord heard me, and I felt hope that I would leave here soon. I read a little book where I found your address…. Could you send me some Bible courses by mail? I want to study the Word of God.”

Another inmate from Taft, Calif., wrote, “It is my great desire to be able to finish this course which has been a great blessing. Your good words are like soothing balm to my life. I preached last week to about 120 people, and it produced a joy inside that made me cry—a joy I had never felt before. God has broken the hardness in me, and not only in me but in my family as well. Most of them are not believers, but the Lord will bring them to Himself.”

Sources: Inspiracom, Reach Beyond