When you think about a project to help people learn English, you might expect to see grammar textbooks, verb conjugations, and word memorization. But for English learners who engage with Reach Beyond’s innovative Share English program, the focus isn’t on grammar but on fascinating stories and issues that relate to their daily lives. The program also challenges English learners to think about their beliefs, attitudes, relationships, and even what happens after they die.

Share English began 25 years ago as a specialized English radio program produced by FEBA Radio in the UK. God originally gave Mike Procter the idea while he listened to a public radio broadcast aired by Voice of America. The show was called “Special English,” and it used a controlled vocabulary and shorter sentences to teach English. It had been on the air since 1959, but no one was using this approach on Christian radio.

Mike recognized this could be an opportunity to reach non-believers. He said, “I discovered that English is the most sought-after foreign language. People who would not be interested in listening to a show about Jesus would be drawn to a program teaching English.” Mike believed God could use this approach to open doors in countries closed to traditional missionaries and the Gospel message.

In 1999, FEBA began airing these new English programs weekly on a single radio station. A few months later, Reach Beyond began broadcasting the program on HCJB and HCJB2, our local Spanish radio stations in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador.>

ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLUBS

Janine was serving as a Reach Beyond missionary in our English radio department in Quito. She wanted to also have some sort of direct ministry to help reach local Ecuadorians but struggled with learning and speaking Spanish. She wondered if there might be a way she could use English. Then God gave her an idea—to start a club for English Learners—utilizing FEBA’s radio programs that were being aired on HCJB. She decided to invite English learners to gather and listen to the radio programs. Janine would make copies of the radio program scripts to hand out so that everyone could follow along. The group would then practice speaking English in small groups as they talked about what they had heard with missionaries and Christian volunteers.  The idea proved to be a popular one and it soon outgrew its space. People liked that it was free and for the opportunity to practice speaking English with native English speakers from around the world.

Janine wondered if God could do something like this in Quito, might He be able to do the same thing through listeners clubs around the world. God led her to move to Asia to help believers start new English clubs.

GROWING TOGETHER

As the Internet developed and expanded, so did Share English’s reach. Mike explains, “We realized that, at the time, most of our target audiences were unlikely to have internet access, but we felt this was the future and we should be in it from the get-go.” He adds, “Plus the value of the programs to English learners would be greatly enhanced if they could access them at will.” Mike developed a website where listeners could read the scripts and listen to the programs any time they wanted.

Eventually, the radio programs and conversation clubs merged to become a single ministry as the sponsoring missions, FEBA, ReFrame Media, Words of Hope, Reach Beyond USA, and Reach Beyond UK collaborated to write, record, and produce content. In 2016, Reach Beyond USA and Reach Beyond UK assumed total responsibility for the project.

Roger is the interim team leader of the Share English project. He says, “We see God doing amazing things to expand Share English’s impact. In 2015, we had 1,400 subscribers to our social media channel. In 2016, the Lord doubled that number. By God’s grace, our number of subscribers has continued to grow off the charts—we now have over 400,000 subscribers, with more than 23.5 million views since we started the channel! Even more amazing is that our largest audiences are in countries that are highly restrictive to the Gospel and even closed to traditional missionary efforts.”

While the Share English team is thrilled with statistics, Roger points out that it is the individual “changed lives” that really matter. He said, “Nancy* is a young woman in a restrictive country who came to know Jesus through Share English. She brought her father to church, and he became a Christian. And now she has been sharing the Gospel with her grandmother! This is why we do Share English—to share the love of Christ. Praise God for what He has done and continues to do!”