(June 3, 2014 - by Ruth Pike)  The certificate was torn in places, browned and wrinkled with age, but clearly a prized possession. Dated Oct. 8, 1957, it was a cherished memento of a dearly loved wife and her favorite radio station, HCJB, La Voz de los Andes (Voice of the Andes).

“My wife was crazy about that radio station; she loved it,” recalled Cuban Pastor Miguel Angel Entenza. For more than six decades, listeners across Latin America were able to pick up shortwave signals that emanated from the station operated by HCJB Global (now Reach Beyond) until the international transmissions from Ecuador were discontinued in 2009.

During recent pastors’ training workshops in Cuba led by Ecuadorian leaders, Entenza met Pastor César Monserrate of HCJB-2, an FM station in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city.

Entenza told him that he and his late wife, Disney Martínez Ferrer, had listened to Radio Station HCJB daily in the 1950s. An avid fan, she’d treasured the certificate that came from the station’s Christian Academy of the Air (now owned by Reach Beyond partner Inspiracom), signed by former President Abe Van Der Puy. The document acknowledged her completion of a preliminary correspondence course called “Conocimiento de la Biblia” (Biblical Knowledge).

Cuba has seen unprecedented church growth in recent years. According to estimates cited by the American Bible Society, evangelical Christianity is currently growing at a rate of 10 to 25 percent per year in the country.

While the island nation has a number of seminaries, a significant number of lay leaders have had little or no Bible training, and many believers do not own a copy of the Bible, forcing them to share copies. There are only four Bibles per 50 people in Cuba, according to the United Bible Societies (UBS).

“There is such a need for people to read the Bible and know God through it,” related Pastor Juan González from the Assemblies of God church in Jagüey Grande, Cuba.

In response to this need, UBS (comprising some 146 Bible Societies worldwide) has joined with the Bible Commission of Cuba to launch a campaign called the “Million Bible Mission.” The goal is to provide 1 million Bibles for Cubans as well as additional resources and church leadership training to support the country’s growing church.

HCJB-2 has been helping raise awareness among Ecuadorian listeners through a campaign known as “The Bible Changes Lives in Cuba,” featuring key leaders of Ecuador’s evangelical community and local Christian musicians. So far, Ecuadorians have raised funds for 10,000 Bibles toward the station’s overall target of 50,000.

From May 2-16 a group of 37 Ecuadorian Bible scholars, pastors and leaders visited eight provinces in Cuba where they led Bible training workshops with more than 1,000 church leaders. In October, another group of Ecuadorian leaders will carry out similar training workshops in the remaining provinces in Cuba.

In an interview with UBS after one of the training workshops, a Cuban pastor from Ebenezer Church in Sancti Spíritus said, “We’re learning how to study the Bible and to take from God’s Word what he wants to tell us.”

Leaders affiliated with Ecuador’s UBS office plan to continue providing training for Cuban pastors during a three-year period. Next year will focus on equipping leaders to minister to different groups of people in the church including children, teenagers and women. The following year will emphasize training leaders to train other leaders.

HCJB-2 will continue to support this effort through raising awareness among listeners and promoting the “Million Bible Mission” campaign.

“The contribution of media is significant,” said Monserrate. “Cuba remembers and greatly loves HCJB, ‘The Voice of the Andes.’”

Sources: Reach Beyond, United Bible Societies, Seeds in the Wind by Frank S. Cook