More New Spanish Language Programs

I must apologize, in advance, for the crazy proliferation of fonts and type styles contained in this post. I hope you don't find it as annoying as I do. But I don't have the energy to try to fix it, given the idiosyncrasies of the Blogger interface. Actually they have a new improved user interface, maybe I should give it a try...

There is increasing interest in our nighttime Spanish language transmissions on 800AM, both from listeners and from ministry partners. Back in July I posted a video clip from when our TWR representative Alberto, who lives in Havana, visited radio listeners all across Cuba.

Alberto records a daily five minute program which we broadcast on our Bonaire transmitter. He has been overwhelmed (literally) by the response to this program and now has two other pastors helping him answer letters and provide counsel to listeners. Our Spanish language programming begins at 8:30 in the evening and goes until 3 in the morning. The people in the west of Cuba listen to ALL the programming. People in the east listen until midnight and then fall asleep listening to the late night music and messages. One woman said she stands up leaning on a door post during the late night hours so that if she falls asleep during a program, she tips over, which wakes her up so she can continue listening. Others record the programs for friends who can’t stay up that late for one reason or another.

Alberto, seen on the left in this picture, also visited a church that exists solely as a result of the Bonaire radio programs. This congregation’s first contact with an outside Christian was when Alberto came to visit them! It is hard to overstate the significance of our nightly broadcasts to the people of Cuba. For many of our listeners, TWR’s broadcasts were the means by which they came to faith in Christ, and for almost all of them, it continues to be a major factor in their continued spiritual growth. They eagerly share about the programs on 800AM with others. We’re seeing “viral” growth, but using radio technology, not YouTube.

We had a couple new ministries join our evening program lineup this past summer. Here is what one of them had to say after a few months on the air from Bonaire. Our sister organization is now broadcasting on TWR on Sunday nights, giving out the same contact information. We are receiving dozens of contacts every month. We are very pleased with the results from our programming on TWR and would very much like to continue.

Beginning Saturday, January 7, two more Spanish language programs will be joining our lineup. The first is called, "Dr Lucas." From the Dr Luke Web site, we read: This is a series of talks, which discuss basic concepts of health. That is how can we live healthier. Certainly when we are healthier we not only feel better but we also are able to do better and more work. However, regardless of how good and healthy we try to live all of us will eventually die. Further, even in the best of health all of us experience times of suffering. This suffering can be either physical or mental or both at the same time. The Bible though has a lot to say about health. In fact the main writer of the New Testament portion of the Bible was a doctor. His name was Dr. Luke..." Dr Lucas presents groups of episodes dealing with topics such as; general medical health, family health, mothers and children, agriculture, and medical ethics. "Dr Luke" will be also be on the air from other TWR sites around the world in three African languages, as well as in Hindi.

The second new radio program that will hit the airwaves from Bonaire this weekend is titled, La Verdad en un Tubo de Ensayo, or Truth in the Test Tube. This program recognizes that the widely perceived contradiction between science and faith is a stumbling-block for many. It explores the whole faith/science relationship, showing how faith and science are compatible, and how ultimately only a relationship with God, whose creation is the subject of science, can meet our deepest needs. In La Verdad en un Tubo de Ensayo, Christian astronauts, doctors and scientists explain why they believe in God and why the Bible is credible. David Fisher has been writing this program, originally broadcast in the Russian language and titled, "Radio Academy of Science" for more than 30 years. The series has also been adapted into Mandarin and is now being produced in Spanish by our RTM Uruguay office.

Sandra and I are personally pleased to see these new programs join our evening lineup here on Bonaire. We've known David Fisher of "Truth in the Test Tube" for many years, and Sandra's dad's relationship with a doctor at the Duke Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina was the catalyst for the "Dr Luke" partnership with TWR.