Broadcasters from KTIS in St. Paul, Minn., joined with staff members from HCJB Global and local Thai Christian radio stations at a conference for station managers near Bangkok Feb. 21-22.

(March 5, 2013 - by Harold Goerzen) It may have been "just a beginning," but a two-day broadcasters' workshop for 28 managers of Christian radio stations from across Thailand late last month was significant for a few reasons. But the most important results always come in the form of eternal impact on individual lives.

Shortly after the event ended, a pair of local pastors associated with two of HCJB Global's partner stations in the Thailand Christian Radio Network (TCRN) testified about the impact of the broadcasts.

"Before the radio station in our town was planted, I had a neighbor with whom I had shared the gospel, but he never accepted Christ, and ultimately moved to another area of the city," said one of the pastors. "We lost touch, but one day he called the radio station (Good Radio), and I visited him in the hospital after he developed a serious kidney problem. He told me that he always listens to our radio station. Last Friday I went to visit him again to pray for him, and had the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with him. This time his heart was open, and he prayed to accept Christ."

Another pastor said he received a telephone call at the local radio station from a man whose sister is a believer. "She was sick and she told her brother it was because she had taken the Lord's supper improperly, and this made God angry, causing her sickness," he related.

"From that moment he thought the Christian God was an angry God. Then he tuned in to Good Radio and called us. He said he would like to know why our God is so angry. I explained to him who God is, and that He is a God of mercy. The conversation took so long that my phone battery died. I found my charger and called him back to keep the conversation going. We spoke until late that night, and the guy finally understood that our God is a God of love, and his sister probably believed some erroneous teaching. The best part, he prayed to accept Christ that night!"

*Daw, a businessman who is a part of the group that conceived of the strategy to plant 100 Christian radio stations across Thailand by 2020 in conjunction with a larger church-planting effort, was also encouraged by the pastors' reports.

"I am crying!" Daw wrote in an email message. "These stories keep us going toward 100 stations, [but this is only] a minimum for Thailand. We have 8,000 smaller cities in Thailand, 64 million people. I am greedy! We need to [hear these stories] while we're still living on this earth. We don't only want to hear them when we reach heaven."

Presenter Neil Stavem referred to the "three legged radio stool": programming, technical and promotion/marketing.

The event, held near Bangkok Feb. 21-22, was also significant because it involved two veteran broadcasters, Neil Stavem and Dan Wynia from Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn., who joined with two national trainers and HCJB Global engineer John Brewer to lead the training. Prior to the event they also visited a TCRN station near the Cambodian border.

Radio Station KTIS, one of six stations in the college's Faith Radio Network managed by Wynia, recently donated nearly $100,000 to HCJB Global to train local radio station staff and to conduct further radio planting in Thailand and other parts of Asia.

Presenter Dan Wynia

"The [Thai] managers are really sharp young guys who are keeping their broadcasters focused on what needs to be done," Stavem said. "They're detailed about what it takes to get a station running and to have the right programming and listener follow-up. Organizing this broadcasters' conference provided a lot of useful information to these dedicated men and women who want to use radio to reach their country for Christ."

"This was the first time the managers have been brought together since HCJB Global began working in Thailand [in 2009]," added Derek Kickbush, training director of the mission's Asia Pacific Region. "This allowed managers working in similar regions of the country to get to know one another and hopefully pool resources where possible. It was encouraging as they understand their issues are not unique and that they're not alone."

"It was so great to read these stories," Wynia said. "What a privilege to have seen and experienced firsthand what God is doing through this partnership in Thailand-and it's just the beginning."

*Pseudonym used for security reasons.

Source: HCJB Global