(February 18, 2011 - by Ralph Kurtenbach) Ecuador-based partner ministry Vozandes Media recently added two languages to its program schedule, airing from its shortwave transmitter on Mount Pichincha above Quito. Begun in mid-2009, Vozandes Media now airs 12 languages, the majority of those from South America.

Programs in the Cha´palaa (also known as Chachi and Cha´palaachi) and Shuar languages, both indigenous to Ecuador, began airing in mid-January, according to Stefan Thiemert, a German computer scientist volunteering his time in Ecuador.

Hymns with Shuar lyrics, for example, had already been recorded on tape, then later digitalized. "This music is used for broadcast a half-hour every day," Thiemert said. The intended audience, members of the Shuar Indians of Ecuador's Amazon region, was first evangelized by Protestant missionaries in the 1940s. Newly printed Shuar Bibles were presented last summer in jungle communities of Ecuador's Amazon region.

Likewise, a half-hour each day is dedicated to a broadcast in Cha´palaa for the Chachi (Cayapa) people group living in Ecuador's northwestern province of Esmeraldas. The Chachi, numbering about 15,000, live mainly by agriculture, fishing and hunting.

Using the Dalet system at Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Thiemert digitally mixes all parts of the daily half-hour programs even though he doesn't understand either language. "We first have an announcement in Spanish, then in Cha´palaa, then come the readings-for instance at the moment we are broadcasting [a reading from] Exodus," Thiemert explained. "Afterwards we broadcast some music and 'A Verse to Remember.'"

The recordings were done by an evangelical from Esmeraldas province, Mártires Tapuyo. He worked with missionaries Neil and Ruth Wiebe of Wycliffe Bible Translators on written texts, then began serving as a liaison between HCJB Global Hands water technicians and Chachi communities. He also took on the task of recording biblical texts from Genesis, Exodus and the New Testament. The Wiebes have since retired in Canada.

In Ecuador since October 2010, Thiemert comes from Darmstadt, Germany, where he has studied computer science. He also posts programs to an Internet site for delivery to CVC International (Voz Cristiana) an international broadcaster with headquarters in Birmingham, England.

Languages airing on 6050 kHz from Ecuador include Cha´palaa, Cofán, Quichua, Shuar, Spanish and Waorani. For a half hour respectively, Cha´palaa airs at 2130 UTC and Shuar at 2330 UTC Monday through Friday.

Programming in German, Low German, Portuguese and Kulina (indigenous language in the Brazilian Amazon) airs from CVC International in Chile. (The Chile site is part of the organization, Christian Vision, with headquarters in the U.K.) German and Low German both air on 9835 kHz at 1630 and 2330 UTC while Portuguese and Kulina air on 11920 kHz at 2245 UTC. Additionally, a shortwave site in Sitkunai, Lithuania, airs programming in Russian and a Central Asian language on 9770 kHz.

Vozandes Media has added satellite broadcasts in Europe as well as podcasts on the Internet to further spread the gospel. Program delivery on Phonecaster is also an option in which Europeans can select from a variety of German-language programs by calling a specific telephone number. The Low German program enjoys top popularity with a daily broadcast on Phonecaster.

Recognized by Ecuador's authorities, Vozandes Media works under the auspices of HCJB Global's World Office in Germany. Formerly it was under the mission's Latin America Region. Several staff members continue to work in the Quito office.

Sources: HCJB Global, www.britannica.com, www.native-languages.org