(July 22, 2016 - by Roger Reimer)  A community radio station in a popular beach resort area of Thailand is again broadcasting a message of hope some two years after being silenced following a military coup in the country in May 2014.

Reach Beyond missionary engineer John Brewer and two Thai engineers recently met in the community to reinstall the FM outlet—one of 44 local partner stations taken off the air by the new government that had imposed restrictions on all media outlets.

Since then, 25 of Reach Beyond’s partner stations in Thailand have had their licenses renewed and the broadcasts reinstated.

“Because the station had been off the air for so long, we had to retrain the staff and update the station’s automation program,” said Brewer. Local staff members, together with Reach Beyond radio trainer Janice Reid, also held a full training program for about a dozen new announcers.

“The station had an old tower and antenna that our partner had acquired secondhand five years ago, so we had the old one taken down,” Brewer added. “The tower crew then erected a new 60-meter (200-foot) tower, which is twice as high as the old one and covers the area better.”

One of the trainers had met a listener named Phi, the owner of a small salad shop, who said she had become a Christ-follower through the station’s broadcasts before they were ended by the military government.

Phi shared that she had been a nominal Buddhist, following the path that many take—making offerings at the temple in the hopes of having their prayers answered. Eventually, though, she began questioning her Buddhist faith. She wondered if Islam had the answer, especially since one of her daughters had become a Muslim.

Then one day Phi started listening to the Christian radio station in her coastal town, and she liked what she was hearing—both the messages and the music. She tuned in frequently—nearly every day.

One Sunday morning, after more than a year of listening to the broadcasts, she decided to investigate Christianity further.

Phi recounted to the trainer that she had prayed the following words: “If you exist, God, let me find the church that has the radio station and lead me to somebody who can tell me about you.” She drove along the street where she thought the church was located and noticed a cross atop one of the buildings.

Initially Phi was too shy to visit the church, but eventually she mustered the courage to enter the building. This happened during the middle of a Sunday worship service, so Phi quietly slipped into the building and sat in the back, waiting for an opportunity to speak with the pastor. After the service he counseled her, and she put her faith in Jesus.

“I love this church,” Phi told the radio trainer. “They treat everyone equally and don’t look down on you if you’re poor or from a different social class.”

Phi saw this philosophy lived out when her mother was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. Many church members went to the hospital to pray for her recovery even though she wasn’t a Christian. “That really spoke to me,” she confided.

Phi added that she’s thankful that the station is again airing helpful, informative programs to the community and sharing the life-changing message of the gospel. She hopes the programs will have a big impact on the people in her town and plans to hang a solar-powered, fixed-tuned SonSet® radio in her small business so customers can learn more about Jesus.

It took many pieces—local radio programmers and church members, engineers, radio trainers, listeners and a trusted person to guide the decision-making process—but all were instrumental in completing God’s plan to bring gospel broadcasts to a remote community in Thailand.

Source: Reach Beyond