(Feb. 7, 2014 - by Roger Reimer and Harold Goerzen)  Each year an estimated 50,000 churches open worldwide, and studies have shown that church planting is still one of the most effective strategy in reaching people with the gospel message.

“More people come to Christ in a new church than in an existing church,” states a website report from Global Church Planting Sunday, an event that falls on Feb. 9 this year. “Yet there are many places in the world without a Christian church or too few churches.”

How are these churches established? In some cases, a key factor is Christian radio broadcasting, especially in under-reached countries where listeners who come to Christ through the programming form local churches. HCJB Global (now Reach Beyond) stations and its partners worldwide have been instrumental in planting churches using the tool of radio.

“There are many instances in the 10 years we’ve been planting radio stations in our target areas of Indonesia, Thailand and Nepal that radio stations in unreached towns have opened the door for church planters to establish relationships with folks in these communities,” explains Ty, executive director of the Asia Pacific Region. “This leads to sharing the love and truth of Jesus and starting churches.”

“How many churches have been planted in these countries with the help of local radio? I’m not certain, but a conservative estimate would be at least 30,” Ty added. “And how many churches have been built up in partnership with local radio? Hundreds.”

New Converts Boost Thai Church

One of Reach Beyond’s radio partners in Thailand is Pastor Wiwat*, the son of a witchdoctor who became a church planter after coming to Christ. He felt a tug to return to the province of his childhood, and in 2008 he moved his family and established a church there.

Two years later, Pastor Wiwat remembered someone he’d met years previously, a radio planter from Reach Beyond who was talking with other pastors about starting radio stations to reach their communities for Christ. Although skeptical about the effectiveness of radio, he bought some used equipment and opened “Happy FM.” He was the sole on-air personality.

But leaders with the majority religion spoke out against the station, and those who were making professions of faith would sometimes recant the same day due to pressure from family members. Feeling discouraged and rejected, the pastor shut down the station.

Then in May 2012 a team from Reach Beyond came to Pastor Wiwat’s church, helping with a transmitter upgrade, radio production training and a supply of programs for on-air use. Happy FM went back on the air with programs focused on strengthening families, spiritual discussion, praying for the sick and hurting, and even music request and comedy programs.

The impact was immediate as people from all walks of life began receiving Christ through the broadcasts. At least one listener, a woman who decided against committing suicide, gave her life to the Lord after talking with Pastor Wiwat. Other listeners have been saved from desperate family situations, depression and loneliness.

In 2013 Pastor Wiwat stepped out in faith to plant a second church and a radio station in a town about 12 miles away. During the station’s launch event at the church, about half of those present raised their hands when the pastor asked how many people there came to know Christ through Happy FM.

God moved in several generations of a family, using multiple missionaries in various parts of Thailand to fulfill this small part of His plan and purpose—a real demonstration of the impact of church planting in a community and the role that radio can have.

An Illustration from Russia

In the autonomous Russian republic of Chuvashia, an area with only a smattering of evangelical churches, so many listeners responded to Christ as a result of a biweekly radio program aired in the republic's capital of Cheboksary, 750 miles east of Moscow, that they formed a church within months after it went on the air.

A small group of believers in Cheboksary began producing the program after attending a training session in the city. Reach Beyond’s David Kealy and his team taught them how to produce programs and run a local station. They also used studio equipment from the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., much of it designed by the center’s engineering staff.

The believers quickly applied what they’d learned about radio production and began recording their own programs. Then they bought airtime on a local station—five minutes every two weeks—risking persecution and alienation from their friends and workmates.

When Kealy heard what the Christians were doing, he encouraged them, but he also expressed his disappointment. “You need to be on the air at least 30 minutes a week to build rapport with your audience,” Kealy insisted.

“Within a few months I learned that a church was formed—all because of that five-minute program. And the church is still going strong today! It’s not what we do, it’s what God does.”'

During the Cold War era, Russian radio program producer Wally Kulakoff, who had served as a Reach Beyond missionary, estimated that 39,700 “radio churches” scattered across the former Soviet Union were started as a direct result of Christian radio. “These were churches where people gathered in homes to fellowship and listen to Christian broadcasts—the radio was their preacher.”

Setting an Example

From Reach Beyond’s beginnings in Ecuador more than 82 years ago, radio missionaries and national staff members have been involved in the formation of local churches in the communities where they lived and served.

Pastor Ramiro Baez is a staff member who played an important role in the evangelical church in Pifo where Radio Station HCJB operated an international transmitter site for nearly 60 years.

Working in various departments at the station’s campus in Quito, Baez was able to watch the lives of missionaries as he studied at a local seminary in preparation for ministry. Engineering families living on the property in Pifo had helped form the town’s local church and served the congregation by volunteering in various capacities.

When the church began seeking a new pastor, Baez, who had recently graduated from a local seminary, was chosen. The model from 2 Timothy 2:2, “entrusting faithful men who will be able to teach others,” has been demonstrated at this church—one that has been instrumental in forming five churches in the province. Two summers ago, Pastor Baez reflected his passion as he preached in his church with a television camera recording the message for a local station.

Training has always been a key component of Reach Beyond’s strategy, and mission ambassadors Ron and Barb Cline continue to offer workshops and weeklong conferences on leadership for community and church leaders involved in radio.

Radio programmer Allen Graham invests his time in training radio leaders around the world. Stories could be told about how he has impacted the lives and ministries of people wherever he goes. And it began with his involvement with a Chinese church in his hometown in the U.S.

As Reach Beyond’s new organizational name implies, the mission wants to reach beyond its boundaries, using new and useful technologies, ranging from satellite networks to social media, in an effort to assist partners and encourage church planters worldwide.

* Pseudonym used for security reasons.

Sources: Reach Beyond, www.churchplanting.com