As the world looks forward to Spring 2021 and to a life without the restrictions due to the Covid-19, our Chinese Language Service provides listeners a beginning written by God. Starting from the Book of Genesis in March, our Bible Reading program is broadcast seven hours daily. Diligent seekers for God have been able to hear the entire book of the Bible twice on their shortwave radio this month, chapter by chapter, about ten chapters each hour. We are convinced that “God’s word shall not return unto Him void, but it shall accomplish that which He pleases and it shall prosper in the thing whereto He sends it” (Isaiah 55:11). Please pray that the Lord will help increase the number of Chinese listeners worldwide.
In order to help those listeners who feel an urgent need for more instruction and comfort from God, in our regular daily program we select one chapter each day from the Bible reading which appeared in March and accompany that with two or three segments produced by our staff members or by stringers with topics relevant to the communicated messages by God in that chapter. While doing so, we still keep the magazine format for our regular program in which listeners get to hear other topics of interest every day. Our regular program appears on shortwave three hours daily.
Our website is an important arm of our outreach. Our radio program is audio which appears only during the broadcast hours. It comes and goes in places where listeners live. Our website stays, however, with our listeners both in audio and in visual forms. Listeners get to listen to God’s word twenty-four seven. They can hear our regular program daily as well on our website, and they could share the link with their friends when they are touched by what they heard. Because our radio programs stay on our website, listeners can revisit our online service as many times as they wish. While they visit, they get to choose either to listen to our programs, or to read the scripts.
For example, in March we featured a script about humility. Website visitors could learn how the attitude of humility effects people when they read the way Mr. Lewis Short, an American missionary to Tanzania, serves the Alpha Omega Secondary School in Monduli, Tanzania. Mr. Short was asked to serve as the president of the school, but he chose to assist a Tanzanian man who was hired later to be the president of the School. Although he is capable to serve as the president, yet he rather helps empowering a local citizen to serve the children of his home town. In order that our website visitors and listeners be inspired by the featured missionary further, we broadcast in March a life interview in Mandarin Chinese language with Mr. Short in which he highlighted God’s life transforming power which witnessed in the lives of two Tanzanians since their decision to become Christians. Lewis Short was born in Taiwan while his parents were missionaries to the Chinese people in Asia.
As flowers and buds are popping up on trees in the Spring, Chinese staff members are busy producing new programming. A few examples are listed as follow. Christian testimonies are stories of the eternal God at work even now. Mrs. Martha Garvin serves the Lord faithfully all her life. Recently she was flown to the hospital due to illness and wondered if her life would end soon. God assured her of His care by a note card on the floor of the plane with quotes from First Peter 5:7 and Colossians 2:6. Mr. Wan and Mr. Yan were drug addicts, now they are church ministers. Their new lives are like new songs praising God’s life-transforming power.
God is alive and helps those who seek His guidance. Children need to be loved by their parents, particularly in times when they made mistakes. Parents who seek God’s help know to carefully choose the last word to say before their child goes to bed, words assuring the parents’ love, forgiveness, and acceptance. Parents who know God know to imitate God as they build character in teaching children to respect authority and learn wisdom of making good choices to the right attitudes in their children, and do it gently, firmly, consistently, and without raising voices.
As the world focuses on vaccination in extinguishing the pandemic, we make known to our listeners what God suggested to His people twenty-seven hundred years ago when the Israelites faced a plague. God called His people to turn toward Him and repent. The segment ends with a couple of examples of how Christian churches repented during Covid-19. Mrs. Ida Nelson of Iliugig, Alaska, lay in bed sleeping, while she heard a small plane having difficulty to land. She got up and found out the runway lights were out of order at this remote Alaska airport. She quickly waked up her neighbors. Twenty people in town drove their own cars, lined up straight along the runway, turned on the far light. The pilot, then, could land his airplane safely. Nelson’s story is used to illustrate Jesus’ calling for His disciples to be the light to the world.
In a similar way, World Christian Broadcasting tries to serve our listeners by reflecting God’s light through the Scripture and through Christian services. As we do so, we realize that this is a task much bigger than us. And we do understand how important your prayers and support mean to our ministry. Thank you for your interest and thank you for reading this article. You are a dear coworker and a friend. May our God get to save numerous people around the world as you and we unite our efforts to follow Christ Jesus faithfully. Please pray for listeners. Thank you again for reading!