NRB Strategic Partnerships Prayer Newsletter

Welcome to 2012!

Yes…I know it is March, not January. But things have been busy in our Strategic Partnerships and NRB work, and I’m just getting my official 2012 greeting off to you.

After getting back from Eastern Europe for the dedication of the first Christian radio station in Kosovo, it seemed like we blinked and it was time for the 2012 NRB Convention in Nashville. We were blessed with many internationals at the convention, including first-timers from India, Pakistan, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, to name a few. And it was good to see so many of our international friends returning to the convention. It is a rich time for us all, as we are reminded how God is working all over the world, using dedicated servants to touch many with the Gospel of love and hope found only in Jesus Christ.

As a result of our many visits with international guests, I am somewhat sensitized to the challenges that many followers of Christ face because of their faith. Challenges may be too mild a word. In Kosovo we stayed with a man in a village who had been a Muslim all his life. When he came to Christ, his family gave him grief. For a Muslim to turn his back on Islam in this country was like turning your back on your culture and your nation. His wife destroyed several of his Bibles when she found them…until God broke through in her life and she trusted in Christ alone for her salvation. Even today this man cannot see one daughter and her children…his grandchildren…because of his faith in Jesus.

In other countries believers face far worse. In China, it may be prison. In Iran, it can be death. For most there is rejection and ridicule, hate and hostility. We know so little of that in the U. S. What we might call “persecution” here is usually just inconvenience. I am so challenged by the faith of those who serve our Lord with such boldness. The Christian broadcasters that God has raised up in so many countries who boldly proclaim His Truth in sometimes hostile environments encourage me and strengthen me.

God is opening doors in countries where it has been difficult to evangelize. Pakistan, India, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Indonesia, China and throughout the Middle East. If Christian broadcast stations are not allowed in a country, faithful servants beam programming into the country via shortwave, FM, and the Internet, which means both radio and TV programming. Stations in Albania are impacting the neighboring countries of Kosovo, Macedonia, and Greece. Those in Romania reach out to their neighbors across the border, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, and Serbia. These are just samples of what I see God doing through His servants.

There are countries we cannot name where Christian broadcasters are at work using the airwaves and the Internet to share the Hope of the Gospel. Some have broadcast stations. Some record programs in secret, ship the programs out to Christian broadcasters to be beamed back in country, often in peril of their lives.

So my prayer request is simply this: Pray for God’s people who are risking much to share His Love and Hope found only in Jesus. For the few I have mentioned, that I know about personally, there are many others who are willing to risk all for the sake of Christ. Pray for them. Tell your children and grandchildren of the faith of these giants of our faith. And lead them to pray for God’s protection and blessing…and for many to follow Christ as Lord of their life.

India Christian Media Training

At the 2012 NRB Convention last month we presented a new project to the NRB members. In my trips to India and Nepal this past year, I heard again and again the plea for media training for Christian broadcasters and communicators in that area. Working with Christian broadcast leaders in India, NRB’s Strategic Partnership division will develop a Christian Media Training Institute. As we did in the Balkans in 2010, we will ask NRB members to serve as faculty in the training of those in radio, TV, Internet, and other new technologies.

Those at the Convention worship service had the opportunity to give to support this effort. Though exact costs for this effort won’t be known until we look at locations, conference centers, etc. we know it will likely be over $50,000. U. S. broadcasters will once again be asked to pay their own transportation costs, and Christian broadcasters in India will pay registration fees to help reduce the costs.

We have not the remotest conception of what is done by our prayers, nor have we the right to try and examine and understand it; all we know is that Jesus Christ laid all stress on prayer. “And greater works than these will he do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do.”
 

While we certainly have our challenges in the U. S., we need to be diligent in our prayers…and even more as the Lord leads…to assist our fellow believers around the globe…for the glory of God.

Ronald L. Harris, DD
Senior Vice President for Strategic Partnerships

National Religious Broadcasters
 
817-446-1094 (Direct)
703-330-7000 (NRB HQ)
rharris@nrb.org
www.nrb.org/international

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