It could be a symbol of vanity if it weren’t for the fact that the mirror faces away from the announcer.

“A mirror should be in the studio,” explained radio trainer Allen Graham, a missionary with HCJB Global (now Reach Beyond) who helped organize a recent international radio training event in Quito, Ecuador. “And it should be facing away from the announcer to remind us that our programs—everything we do on the radio—should be a reflection of the listener’s life, not our life. And most importantly, as a Christian radio station, it should be a reflection of Jesus Christ.”

For five days (Jan. 27-31) Graham and colleagues from Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and the U.S. met together at Reach Beyond’s offices in Quito to engage in training, planning, brainstorming and fellowshipping, topped off with some team-building during weekend trips to colonial Quito and nearby Mindo for zip-lining.

The team of radio trainers, calling themselves Hagamos Radio (Let’s Do Radio), work for different radio stations and ministries across Latin America, but collaborate on joint radio training sessions.

“There had been some contact between the partners, but we’d never all been together all at one time,” said Graham. “It’s been a dream for several years to bring all my colleagues together.”

Many of these partnerships have been formed through previous radio training sessions.

“We’ve seen their excitement, their passion for doing Christian radio so we’ve asked them to help teach another session that we’ve done somewhere,” explained Graham. “There are several who are graduates of the Christian Center of Communications, so they’re now involved in Christian media elsewhere and they’ve trained with [Reach Beyond].”

During their time together in Quito, the team carried out a “SWOT study,” evaluating some of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to Christian radio in Latin America. They looked at how they could improve their training materials and make better use of new media.

“Radio is very accessible to most people in the region,” said Graham. “Radio can reach many places where other media cannot reach.”

However, challenges were also identified such as radio stations struggling with finances and doctrinal tensions, and avoiding the pitfalls of trying to run a radio station like a church.

“In radio we have one opportunity to communicate our message because the listener cannot go back and reread it if they didn’t understand something,” added Graham. “We need to write for the ear.”

Hence the mirror concept: “That’s where I use the idea of the mirror where our programs, music and messages should be a reflection of the life of the listener.”

Al Oído (A Listening Ear) is a program on Radio Station HCJB that focuses on reflecting the life of the listener. The counseling program looks at different issues that affect listeners, giving them the opportunity to interact through social media as well as via phone lines. A recent program, for example, focused on addiction.

A listener responded on Facebook: “I want to ask you a question. I have a brother who is 34 years old. It turns out that he is taking drugs, but now this problem has become even bigger. I’m worried about my nephews because [my brother] is meant to be looking after them when my sister-in-law goes out to work.... What should we do as a family?”

Another listener asked, “What can I do to leave alcohol and cigarettes behind. Help me.”

Listeners with questions such as these are often able to meet members of the radio team for further follow-up meetings. By learning to reflect Jesus and meeting listeners where they are, Christian radio stations are able to provide better support to listeners and communicate Jesus’ love more effectively. Radio training groups like Hagamos Radio can play a significant part in making this happen.

Following the conference, “everyone went away with a great desire to be able to help in the radio training ministry and to do everything they can,” said Graham.

Source: Reach Beyond