Radio Brings Christ to Eager Ears in Far East

Airwaves often reach where other means of communication are impossible, a fact Christian broadcasters well know. Radio travels around the globe, to remote regions, to areas otherwise closed to the message of Jesus.

Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) is one ministry that utilizes radio's portability. Founded in 1945, FEBC has spent decades "smuggling" the gospel into the living rooms of China, the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam and other Asian nations.

During the "Peoples' Revolution" in the Philippines, for example, FEBC's local stations were the only non-government stations allowed to continue broadcasting. FEBC sent broadcasts from the heart of the revolution, trying to help people deal with the crisis in a prayerful, Christian way.

More recently, FEBC established the first Christian FM radio station in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. Just 10 years ago, there were only a handful of Christians in Mongolia. Despite missionary activity that dates back several hundred years, this predominantly Tibetan Buddhist country did not have any churches until around 1990.

"Our new station serves the local community in a Christian context and provides programs that address the needs and social problems faced by Mongolian society," Frank Gray, FEBC vice president of operations, says. The station positions itself to be a force that, in partnership with the local community, supports and promotes family life and values as a basis for socio-economic stability and growth.

Radio can also touch empty lives. Some listeners who tune in aren't even Christian. A commercial marketing survey from China shows that 86 percent of FEBC's listeners claim to have "no religion at all." The survey further said, "A spiritual vacuum created by nearly five decades of atheistic teaching, draws people toward the questions of existence, mortality and spiritual life. Millions of Chinese tune into FEBC for insight into the meaning of things."

Programs hitting specific, real needs in these areas of the world draw big audiences. FEBC is not alone; other Christian broadcasters working in non-Western non-evangelical, isolated, developing areas of the world are having similar experiences. The key is relevant, targeted programming.

FEBC president Jim Bowman recently shared with Crosswalk.com the challenges and rewards of running a broadcast ministry and ended up providing a snapshot that reflects the larger picture of Christianity in Asia.

"How you present the gospel varies from place to place in the Far East," says Bowman. "It really depends on the audience."

In Indonesia, for example, you have to present the gospel very carefully and respectfully. In China, Bowman says, "people are very receptive and hungry for instruction. The Chinese Christians tell us all the time that they don't even want to hear music. They want to be instructed in the Bible and in the meaning of the gospel. They don't even want us to fool around with anything but straight teaching."

According to Bowman, Muslims will be receptive to Christian wisdom. "If you go on the air and ask -- 'Are you having problems in your relationships? Are you confused about issues of sex and homosexuality? Are you having trouble with your in-laws? Are you depressed?' -- Muslims will listen."

So they'll often start out with a counseling ministry. Then the broadcaster can invite people to come to a rally. "In the rally context," explains Bowman, "you can be more direct. In the radio context you have to be more circumspect in presenting the gospel in a way that fits the culture."

Muslims think that Christians "are very flippant in the way we talk about God," says Bowman. "We talk about Him being our friend, and some of our hymns almost make it sound like a love affair. They don't want to hear that sort of thing. They want to hear a lot of respect."

Yet, in spite of the most careful, culturally sensitive presentation, hostility can erupt. The most dramatic episode in FEBC history happened in 1992, when two broadcasters were shot to death right in the studio by Muslim extremists.

It happened in the southern Philippines, Bowman explains, which has always been a hot spot for Muslim insurgency. In fact, the Abu Sayyaf, the same group who recently kidnapped over 20 people, including two American missionaries, did the shooting.

"What happens," says Bowman, "is that these opportunists and political extremists, like the Abu Sayyaf, use religion as a pretext to say, 'We don't want any of this going on because it is a threat to our goals.'"

Signal jamming and interference are more common than outright murder. For example, the Hmong - the hill people of Southeast Asia who live in the highlands of Laos and Vietnam - have been so responsive to the gospel that the governments now have huge campaigns, trying to get them to stop listening.

"We have our signals jammed every day of the week up there," says Bowman. He estimates that between 200,000 to 300,000 of the Hmong have made professions of faith over the last 10 years. And the governments see this as a big threat.

"The governments that are still Communist are very threatened by Christians," says Bowman. "But their reason is not as pure as we'd like to hope. We'd like to think they are rejecting Christ, but they see it as a political threat. They really see Christianity as an extension of foreign aggression."

Accordingly, the government is brutal to Hmong Christians, says Bowman. He has copies of documents that Christians are forced to sign, denouncing their faith, and many believers are being thrown in jail and beaten.

In fact, the arrests have become such a serious problem that the central Evangelical Church of Laos has sent a notice out to most Hmong churches that believers should stop listening to Far East Broadcasting to avoid arrest.

"Since there is a large number of Hmong people becoming Christians by listening to our broadcasts, the Communist government is afraid that they may not be able to control this minority in Vietnam," explained FEBC's Hmong broadcaster, who wants to remain anonymous. "Even though they know that people who become Christians are better citizens, they still fear that without jamming our daily broadcast, they might lose their power and control someday."

According to the September 2000 edition of the U.S. Report on International Religious Freedom, the update on minorities in Vietnam reveals "house churches in ethnic minority areas have been growing rapidly in recent years, sparked in part by radio broadcasts in ethnic minority languages from the Philippines."

In addition, the report states that there has been an increase in crackdowns on Protestant house church leaders, particularly among the Hmong in northwest Vietnam. Radio listeners have confirmed these instances of persecution through their letters and have expressed the difficulties they face.

One Hmong listener from northern Vietnam shares his experience: "I praise the Lord that through daily broadcasts my family and I have come to accept the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts. After becoming Christians, my family and I went through a lot of hardships because of our local government's views against Christians. Even now many believers are facing jail time because of their faith in God. After I spent a few years in jail, my family and I left and have since settled in the south."

"Yes, there is lots of opposition to broadcasting to the Far East," says Bowman, "but the thing I always remember is that opposition means the gospel is going forward. The gospel has a powerful influence against bad people and evil things, and there's always a lot of resistance from the evil one."