NRB Strategic Partnership Prayer Newsletter

Harvest Time...Helping the Laborers

The Christian programming on the car radio was strong and clear as we drovealong the streets of Barcelona, seeing sights we had never seen in a land we had never visited. Spain. Another country with a rich culture and religious heritage…in need of the Light of the Gospel of Christ. While many missionaries have served there, while evangelicals have established churches and schools and seminaries, still the number of born-again believers remains low. 

Our host, Pastor Julio Pérez Giménez took us to an overlook to the beautiful city, to see its vastness and concentration of population, numbering over 4 million. We had heard of the spiritual condition of the people in Spain that, like many places in Europe, thought little of a personal relationship with Christ. While churches seem to abound, these cathedrals are more like museums than vibrant houses of worship to the Lord.

Enter Radio Onda Paz. Begun by Pastor Julio as an outreach of his church in Barcelona, this station has been on the air for ten years. Its low power in the early years led to interference from adjacent signals. Then a few years ago NRB members stepped in to help. A 1000-watt transmitter was donated, and with its tower on one of the high hills surrounding Barcelona, now Onda Paz could be clearly heard by millions. With encouragement and support from Dr. Manny Fernandez of World Link Ministries, and help from NRB members like Stu Epperson, Sr. and Ed Atsinger, Radio Onda Paz is impacting many lives. But the station needs your prayers for a strong future.

Pastor Julio’s church is one of the largest evangelical congregations in the area. For most of the years of Radio Onda Paz’s existence the church has underwritten the cost of the station. But last year the dramatic downturn in the economy began to take its toll. The church could no longer afford to fund the radio ministry. Pastor Julio was facing the very real prospect of losing the license for the station. Again, NRB members and friends of the Strategic Partnership initiative stepped in to help.

Financial support was provided quickly to meet the payroll and pay the bills to keep the radio signal and Christian programming on the air. At the same time, others were stepping up to helpthe station look at ways, over time, to become self-supporting. That would include leading the station to hold on-air fundraising, giving its listeners an opportunity to give back to the station that has provided years of spiritual input into their lives.

Our recent trip to Spain was to undergird and support the work that is already going on. In our several hours with Pastor Julio and other Christian broadcasters there, we told of how God has blessed these funding efforts in other parts of the world, giving listeners the opportunity to tell how the Lord has touched their hearts and guided their lives through the broadcast ministries. We told stories, similar to what you could no doubt tell, of dramatic, life-changing experiences as listeners were impacted with the Truth of God’s Word.

Radio Onda Paz will hold their “Radio-thon” November 16-18, preceded by a day of testimony and praise. I hope you will mark your prayer calendar to remember this broadcast ministry in Barcelona…that you will pray for Pastor Julio and his staff, and that God’s people will do something unusual in support of a ministry that is a beacon of Light in the darkness that grips our world…including Spain.

Balkans
As you are reading this, the Balkans Media Training is getting underway in Timisoara, Romania. A top-notch team of instructors has assembled there to teach about 170 Christian broadcasters from throughout Eastern Europe. There will be 20 workshops and seminars, plus lots of time for networking and fellowship.

My deep thanks to our instructors, who are covering their own travel expenses, for their time, experience, and willing hearts. Teaching in the radio track:  Sharon Geiger, KCBI, Dallas; Jon Hull, KSBJ, Houston; Wayne Shepherd, Wayne Shepherd Communications, Chicago; Bill Blount, Blount Communication, New Hampshire. Teaching in the TV track: Stan Jeter, CBN News, Costa Rica; Richard Klein, CBN News, Kiev, Ukraine. Teaching in the management track: Drew Dickens, Need Him Ministries, Dallas; Todd Isberner, Share Media Services, Minneapolis; and me.

 
Thanks and prayers for the planning team from the Balkans: Lucian Despa, Radio Voice of the Gospel, Bucharest, Romania; Tudor Petan, Alfa Omega TV, Timisoara, Romania; Enkelejda Kumaraku, Radio 7/Media 7, Tirana, Albania; Sasko Bogeski, ELION Media Ministry, Belgrade, Serbia; and Dr. Stoyko Petkov, Studio 865, Sofia, Bulgaria. Their outstanding work and leadership have helped prepare the ground for an outstanding week.
Pray for those attending the conference. Already we know of some who have not been able to attend due to cultural problems between countries. Others have been hit with the economic crisis and have not been able to come. Yet we believe that God is going to do a work in the hearts of all of us that goes beyond training in media skills. We are praying for a reviving of our spirits and a deep bonding of hearts for a more effective proclamation of the hope found only in Jesus. I hope you will pray with us.

Sweden
We will also be heading to Sweden this month to visit with our friends at HopeFM.After a little more than a year on the air, this ministry is growing. We’ll be helping them think through programming, funding, and strategic planning for the impact of the Gospel in a very secular country.

Finally…
Thank you for your continued support and prayer for this ministry work. This year God has given us unusual opportunities to see His fields and His faithful laborers…and to lend a hand in preparing for the harvest. May our Lord be glorified in it all.
Because some ask from time to time, you can make a contribution to any of these specific ministries that God puts on your heart. You can send a check to NRB, 9510 Technology Drive, Manassas, VA 20110. Just mark the name of the country or ministry on the memo line of your check. If you would like to give to help with our travel expenses and other administrative costs, just mark on the memo line “Strategic Partnership.” We are grateful for all gifts for God’s work.

In His service…by His power,

Ronald L. Harris, DD
Senior Vice President for Strategic Partnership
National Religious Broadcasters
 
817-446-1094 (Direct)
703-330-7000 ext. 400 (NRB HQ)
rharris@nrb.org