Source: HCJB Global

On a steep and narrow street in Oruro, Bolivia, Dr. Carlos Pinto wasn’t too sure he’d found the radio station he was looking for.

“I checked the address and it was correct,” said Pinto, a trained psychologist serving with HCJB Global, “but found no sign indicating it was a radio station. I tapped the bell on the door of what looked like a garage, and quickly a person’s very friendly face appeared.”

Intermingled joy and pride at receiving a visit from an HCJB Global staff member bubbled forth as Radio JHV’s general manager, Fernando Valdivia, greeted Pinto.

“And what does JHV stand for?”asked Pinto as the pair became acquainted. “Jehovah” was Valdivia’s reply.

At 13,000 feet above sea level, the mining town of Oruro is inhabited by about 200,000 people mostly of Quechua origin. Several years ago, Fernando’s wife sensed a leading from God that He would provide Christian radio in the community.

Source: HCJB Global
Clutching their diplomas, four communications graduates were hugged and congratulated by professors, family and friends after an Oct. 17 ceremony at Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador.

The graduates of the Christian Center for Communications/Northwestern College (CCC/NWC) were admonished by NWC President Dr. Alan S. Cureton that tough times may lie ahead, but that “dark days give God an opportunity to show Himself strong.”

Class 2009 valedictorian David Changoluisa told the crowd, “The reward is large after completing this. We don’t leave with just one diploma, but with three. We’ve gained friends, confidants and experiences that have helped us grow.” The other graduates were Santiago Clavijo, Sara Ortiz and Mónica Posligua.

Ortiz said later that she had enrolled after hearing about the school from a friend and from a university exposition in her home city, Quito. She hopes to begin work at a newspaper and move to being a magazine editor. Each student must complete a final project before graduation, and hers analyzed the communications strategy of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.

Little Jhony (Johnny) Chuin Vargas is getting fat.

The bane of many, weight gain is blessed news for Jhony. At 4 months old, his plumpness connotes health despite the odds formerly against him. He began life in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest with a brain/facial malformation called frontonasal encephalocele.

Jhony needed medical attention, but the geographic barriers to care were only outdistanced by what seemed like economic impossibilities. That’s where Patti Sue Arnold and the Love Fund at Hospital Vozandes-Quito (HVQ) were used by God to divert Jhony’s life from pain to gain.

His Achuar parents, having few economic resources, took him to Casa de Fe (House of Faith) in the jungle town of Shell. He was then referred to HCJB Global Hands’ Hospital Vozandes-Shell and finally taken to HVQ for an operation by neurosurgeon Dr. Hugo Velasco. The hospital’s Fondo de Amor (Love Fund) paid $2,668 of his nearly $9,000 bill. (photo shows Jhony, mother and uncle)

“He’s doing great [and gaining weight],” Arnold said. “I have a therapist who comes two days a week and he says as far as he can see his development is that of a normal 4-month-old.”

Jhony’s case represents tens of thousands of patients helped with outpatient or hospitalization costs. The concept dates back to 1949 when Canadian physician Dr. Paul Roberts envisioned a full-service hospital to serve Ecuadorians of all social classes, regardless of their ability to pay. In fiscal year 2007-2008 alone, the fund helped 8,014 HVQ patients with $323,451.

The cost of private healthcare is prohibitive for the average Ecuadorian. Many rely on the country’s social security system or government hospitals, but the realities can be harsh and stark. A mid-2006 editorial in the Quito newspaper, El Comercio, spoke of “reluctance—even fear” of going for care at a government hospital. That same year, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa campaigned on healthcare improvements as part of his platform.

By Jessica Siekmeier, working visitor, HCJB Global

Early Sunday, Oct. 4, a 19-year-old woman gave birth to the first set of triplets known to be delivered at Hospital Vozandes-Shell. Tania Caiga arrived at the hospital at full term, expecting to give birth to twins.

She had learned by an ultrasound at 30 weeks that she was expecting twins, but after delivering two babies early Sunday morning, it was clear there was still another baby on the way! One girl and two boys were born between 2:55 and 3:05 a.m.

Drs. Mark Nelson and Becky Brice delivered the triplets and were as shocked as the parents to discover there was a third baby. Brice was the first to suspect something was awry when she felt Caiga’s abdomen after the second baby was born.

“I looked at the mom and said, ‘Are there three babies?’ And sure enough there was another head,” Brice recounted. The third triplet had to be resuscitated, but like his siblings weighed almost 5 pounds and recuperated quickly. Caiga was treated for high blood pressure after the delivery and spent a day in intensive care, but by Wednesday the mom and all three babies were ready to go home.

Source: HCJB Global
Missions topics ran the gamut during workshops offered in Quito, Ecuador, as part of HCJB Global’s launch of the missionary mobilization initiative called Corrientes.

Altogether, the seminars drew 150 people—ranging in age from the 20s to the 80s—from Quito-area churches. The workshops took place late last week amid missionwide and citywide launches of Corrientes that aims to help prepare Latin American bi-vocational missionaries to serve in other parts of the world.
Cutting-edge digital media and use of social networking was highlighted by HCJB Global President Wayne Pederson who spoke on the topic, “Evangelism Through Digital Media.”

Sources: HCJB Global, Stemm Lawson Peterson Funeral Home

Edmundo E. Zarria, an Ecuadorian technician who worked at Radio Station HCJB in the 1940s, died Saturday, Sept. 19, in Elkhart, Ind. He was 91.

Zarria was born on Aug. 18, 1918, in Quito, Ecuador, to José María and Julia (Chávez) Zarria. As an adult, he owned an electronics repair shop and also worked at Radio Station HCJB.

Zarria helped with live radio links during the station’s coverage of relief efforts after a devastating earthquake struck the central Ecuadorian city of Ambato in August 1949, leaving thousands dead and even more homeless. He also helped with the “Gospel Sound Truck,” a vehicle fitted with radio equipment and public address speakers in which station staff performed music and preached the gospel message across Ecuador.

Source: HCJB Global
A pill or an injection cannot cure the ailment of many who live along Peru’s Ucayali River … because the problem goes beyond physical needs.

And the solution is the gospel of Christ, according to Paola Vélez, an Ecuadorian third-year resident at HCJB Global Hands’ Hospital Vozandes-Quito. A family practice physician, she visited Shipibo indigenous villages such as Nuevo Ahuaypa along the upper Ucayali in late September.

A laser focus is important, but even more so during one’s last months of life. So it was for Pastor Brian Cooke. In failing health and with his own mortality looming before him, Cooke marshaled his energies for a long-held earthly passion before meeting his Savior.

Cooke coordinated one last church work team, traveling thousands of miles to help Ecuadorians build and maintain a clean water project.

Cooke died on May 31, 2009, with loved ones and friends holding a thanksgiving service honoring him at Mayfield Community Church in Harrogate on June 11. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Enid, a son, Tim, and a daughter, Alison.

Ruta de las Iglesias

HCJB GLOBAL TROTTERS, RUNNERS and WALKERS

Sources: Mission Aviation Fellowship, Mission Network News, NASA, HCJB Global

A small but significant symbol of evangelical missions is orbiting the earth during the 13-day mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery which launched late Friday, Aug. 28. On board the Discovery is a piece of the Woodbee, the yellow Piper PA-14 plane flown by missionary pilot Nate Saint of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).

Click here for opening segment of Call of the Andes from 1981

A number of people who formerly served with HCJB in Ecuador were surveyed to determine a adequate name for this new communications tool. Although it was close to call between “Call of the Andes” and “Saludos Amigos”,

the favorite was “Call of the Andes.” Both of these were once English-language programs on HCJB, so congrats to Ken for choosing a catchy title “Saludos Amigos.” It was Nate who pointed out,

“Saludos Amigos is too close to the Amigos publication from Healthcare and Community Development,” which I deemed an excellent observation. “Call of the Andes” was also a radio program and maybe one of you can tell the history of the name. Thanks to all of you who replied promptly.

It is intended as a community page, with several of you helping me to review material before it is posted and all of you to contribute with stories, anecdotes, clarifications and comments. Thanks for taking the time to stop by. As they say in Ecuador . . .

Ciao!

Ralph

Communications Coordinator

Latin America Region, HCJB Global

Hospital Vozandes del Oriente, HCJB Global’s mission hospital in Shell, Ecuador will celebrate its 50th anniversary September 12-14.

Activities will include: an open house, a program featuring testimonies by missionaries, hospital employees, and special guests, and a program by the hospital worker’s association.

Eighty-one-year-old retired Wycliffe missionary John Lindskoog looked into the face of a Chachi man, Santiago Añapa, at the dedication of the Scriptures in the Chachi language last month, culminating 53 years of translation work.

“If you had not come, where would we be now?” asked Añapa, referring to the Wycliffe missionaries who have seen the project of translating Genesis, Exodus and the entire New Testament through to completion.

Uncharacteristically, Añapa then broke into sobs, according to Neil Wiebe*, who along with his wife, Ruth, headed the project since 1970 after receiving it from Lindskoog and his wife, Carrie.

“Twenty sets of 40 CDs of Mártires Tapuyo’s recording of the Chachi Scriptures, a five-CD chronological series of 40 lessons on the character of God, and a CD of Chachi music are intended for group use in Chachi communities that agree to listen to them regularly,” said Wiebe. Tapuyo has been one of the main Chachi translation workers for several years.

The 10th patient to receive medical care at HCJB Global Hand’s Hospital Vozandes-Shell in Ecuador was among those attending the facility’s 50th anniversary celebrations Sept. 12-14.

Presented with a plaque, former patient María Dávalos mentioned some of the first missionary doctors: Ev Fuller (founder of the hospital), Art Johnston and Wally Swanson.

“María was delighted to learn that Dr. Swanson was actually present, and she was able to share a few words with him afterwards,” said nurse Florence Judd.

The weekend event included a video presentation showing original footage from 1958 when the hospital was dedicated as Epp Memorial Hospital. Nate Saint, a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship, donated land for the hospital as he saw the facility as a way to care for needy jungle dwellers and assist the many missionary efforts in the area.

Sources: HCJB Global, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor

As the “sí” and “no” factions in Ecuador wrap up campaigns aimed to convince voters of either the benefits or drawbacks of a proposed new constitution, Radio Station HCJB in Quito stands on ground it has occupied for decades—praying for God’s will.

Duncan Bell, an HCJB Global missionary engineer for 18 years before retiring in 2006, died of an apparent heart attack at Hospital Vozandes-Quito in Ecuador the morning of Friday, Sept. 26. He was 77.

Born in Hamilton, Scotland, on Aug. 4, 1931, he married Wilma Chapman in Washington state on March 30, 1974. Their children are Duncan, 30, of West Covina, Calif., and Shona, 28, who is married to David Boyes, Jackson Hole, Wyo.

“For most of my life I believed that Christianity was old-fashioned and that in this modern era that we had outgrown the need for superstition and religion,” Duncan wrote in his application to HCJB Global. “I believed in a god because I assumed that it all had to have come from somewhere, but the god that I believed in was one of my own imagination and certainly not the God of the Bible. I had no need for the person of Jesus Christ.

“Twelve years later [at the age of 43], I started attending church to please my wife, and after two years I was converted, having seen for the first time my fallen life, my despair and my need for a Savior, Jesus Christ.

Note: The HCJB Global Technology Center in Indiana, USA was featured in Radio World Online recently. I include a portion, published on this blog with permission by RW Online. A number of staff members at the Technology Center have worked in the Latin America Region of HCJB Global, including the Jacobsons (see below), the center´s director, David Russell, and others. Read about ways that our co-workers use technology for God’s glory and the furtherance of His Kingdom. -Ralph

HCJB Global considers itself a pioneer in its work on Digital Radio Mondiale, the digital broadcasting system for broadcasting bands below 30 MHz, which includes international AM broadcast and shortwave bands.

Source: Mission Network News

While Ecuador now has its 20^th constitution in the nation’s history, HCJB Global Voice emphasized the need to seek God´s will in matters of governance. Doug Weber of Radio Station HCJB said instead taking a side, his staff provided air time to pastors to pray for the referendum that determined whether or not Ecuador would adopt the charter. Weber believes the HCJB programming built church unity. He says the station´s apolitical approach to the election spoke volumes to the government.

Note: Ruthie J wrote this quick update, signing off as “The Idaho Potato”. She writes in all caps, but she is not shouting. I think it has more to do with macular degeneration in her eyes. I will try to add a photo of the Jordan Studio, more commonly known as “The Cave” to those of us who worked in English Language Service.
I have set up a category tag called “Mailblog”, a name which hearkens back to the old “Musical Mailbag” letterbox program on Radio Station HCJB. If you correspond via e-mail with me about your time with HCJB Global in Latin America Region, please include an “okay” if your update is also shared with others on calloftheandes.wordpress.com.
I have added a link to our own blog where I featured Ruthie, as well as Leonard and Imogene Booker in an entry called “Aging With Grace”.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Wayne Pederson will become HCJB Global’s new president Nov. 1, the international missions organization announced today.

Pederson, now vice president of Moody Broadcasting, will replace David Johnson, who stepped down in June after serving for seven years. Dr. James D. Allen has been serving as acting president.

Pederson is the seventh person to serve as HCJB Global’s president. He has been a member of the board of directors of HCJB Global for two-and-a-half years. He also has worked with the ministry to raise money for key projects, including the launch of its satellite ministry in Latin America and Russia.

“The board is delighted that Wayne has accepted the call to become HCJB Global’s president. With his combination of godly character, seasoned leadership skills and passion for HCJB Global and its mission, he is uniquely equipped to serve as our president,” said John Baugus, chairman of the board for HCJB Global.

“Wayne Pederson has a great heart for missions, and he is intimately acquainted with HCJB Global,” said Glen Adams, the HCJB board member who headed the search team that selected Pederson. “He is an exceptional leader with many years of experience in Christian broadcasting.

Sources: HCJB Global, Lansing State Journal

Former HCJB Global missionary Ross M. Sattler of Eaton Rapids, Mich., died on Tuesday, Nov. 11, just weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was 61.

Born on Dec. 14, 1946, in Grand Rapids, Mich., Ross graduated from Grand Ledge High School in 1965. He then completed his masonry apprenticeship and worked in that field for 41 years. His biblical studies were at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

In mid-1983 Ross and his wife, Sherralyn “Sherry,” began missionary service as short-term workers with HCJB Global Hands in Ecuador as Ross worked on the construction of Hospital Vozandes-Shell, replacing a 25-year-old facility.

Source: HCJB Global
Photos: M. Harrison

A nativity scene and the musical strains of “Joy to the World” played in shocking contrast to “Vía Dolorosa” (way of grief) and crucifixion scene on the same stage at concerts by HCJB Global’s Vozandes Chorus, the Quito Metropolitan Symphonic Band and a Christian arts team in Ecuador recently.

The HCJB Global events were staged at the Sucre Theater in Quito’s historic downtown section on Dec. 4, 6 and 7. Central to the concerts was the baby Jesus, but Ecuadorians also watched the story unfold as Mary considered the Savior’s tragic yet glorious mission on earth—death by crucifixion. The musical was performed by Navidascua (translated as ChristmasEaster).

This colorful and lively dance drama was dedicated “to those who are passing through certain doubt and the improbable truth,” according to a printed program. By the drama’s conclusion, events and thoughts have pushed its main character to a Scrooge-like revelation about Jesus Christ and His claims about Himself.

Source: HCJB Global

file photo: HCJB Global

Crews removed the last of the tall antennas and towers at Radio Station HCJB’s international transmitter site in Ecuador since they would obstruct the flight path of the future international airport for the capital city of Quito. As earlier agreed upon by the Quito Airport Corporation (CORPAQ) and HCJB Global, the towers were removed prior to a Dec. 31, 2008, deadline. “The last of these tall towers were taken down on Dec. 24 at 9:30 a.m.,” said Geoff Kooistra, operations and engineering director for the station.

Sally Schroeder Isaak, a German broadcaster at Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, for 30 years, died of cancer in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, on Monday, Jan. 19. She was 82.

The daughter of Mennonite parents, Wilhelm and Sara Schroeder who emigrated from Ukraine to Canada in 1925, Sally was born in St. Françoise Xavier, Manitoba, on Feb. 19, 1926. Her parents had excellent singing voices, and they became known as the singing family. Sally loved music all her life.

HCJB Global Voice brings a philosophy of Christian radio to all its efforts around the world, encouraging, assisting and enabling partners to promote Christian radio. The mission trains evangelicals to operate their own stations, seeking to empower and mobilize local radio stations to make a difference within their communities. In Latin America, the staff works in live programming and radio production, as well as distributes high quality programs.

The pincers grab and pull, then grab and pull again. But it’s not a scene playing out in a B-rated horror flick.

The steady beep . . . beep . . . beep of a heart monitor reveals that this is, instead, a surgical theater. More accurately described as a needle-holder, the pincers use a small curved surgical needle and thread to sew a stitch, then another, and another.

Meanwhile, physicians and medical students watch the surgical procedure on a monitor in a Hospital Vozandes-Quito (HVQ) conference room as the surgical team in the operating room two floors below provides commentary and updates on the surgery via cell phone contact.

A portion of Vivaldi´s “Four Seasons” on the strings of a violin begins the dedication of the Barbara Roberts Chapel at Hospital Vozandes in Quito. Flowers, lights and music establish a solemn scene for an audience gathered in expectation.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

A gentleman takes it all in, deeply moved but also with heart grateful to God for His many blessings to him.

“He makes me lie down in green pasture.”

Certainly remembrances of the early years, perhaps names, places, events crowded into his mind …. doubtless the memory of his wife could not escape him.

“He restores my soul.”

Many years have passed since January 2, 1949, when Dr. Paul Roberts and his wife, Barbara, first came to Ecuador, where they stayed and ministered for 11 years. Roberts, a servant of God and a physician, dedicated his life to serve and was of tremendous blessing in God’s hands to lift the Hospital Vozandes Quito.

Source: HCJB Global
If you want to know how well a radio station is communicating its message, ask a taxi driver.

Recently in Huancayo, Peru, HCJB Global missionary Carlos Pinto hopped into a cab to visit the Tambo neighborhood. When the driver learned that Pinto was heading to Radio Armonía (Radio Harmony), he immediately called on his dispatch radio to ask for the address.

“Three fellow taxi drivers gave the exact address and said it was a Christian station,” Pinto said.

Former HCJB Global missionary Judith “Judi” Cook Harrison died at her home in Colorado Springs, Colo., early Thursday, April 9, following a 12-year battle with cancer. She was 56.

Born to Robert and Jean Prescott Cook in Springfield, Ill., on Jan. 9, 1953, Judi graduated from Glenwood High School in Springfield with many notable achievements. She was class president for three years, a member of the National Honors Society and Illinois State Scholar, recipient of the “Daughters of the American Revolution” award, a member of the Glenwood Singers, and winner of solo musical contests in piano and flute.

Judi met her husband, Jack Harrison, at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., where she was active in several college music groups as principal flutist, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1975. Jack and Judi married on June 19, 1976, after which Judi worked as a teacher of mentally challenged children and with an insurance company.

Source: HCJB Global

In light of the recent H1N1 flu outbreak, HCJB Global Hands’ Hospital Vozandes-Quito (HVQ) in Ecuador is tracking new flu cases and leading Ecuador in monitoring the threat of pandemic influenza.

“We’ve been thinking the world is ready for a flu pandemic, but we’ve been focusing on the avian flu,” said HCJB Global missionary Dr. Richard Douce, an infectious disease specialist and resident expert on influenza in Ecuador. He and Ecuadorian Dr. Wilson Chicaiza have been actively tracking flu cases at HVQ for nine years in collaboration with the U.S. Navy tropical medicine lab in Lima, Peru. As a result of the data collected, they have isolated two types of influenza and are now watching for the latest strain in Ecuador.

by Jessica Siekmeier
photos: Eckehart Wolff

Source: HCJB Global
For many children, their diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP) means spastic muscles, dislocated hips and the inability to walk. Determined to change the story of Ecuadorian children with CP, doctors from Chile, Colombia, Venezuela and Argentina come to Ecuador each January to learn from each other and perform life-changing surgeries on cerebral palsy patients.

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating” was a message that set a high standard.

“The test of ministry,” former HCJB Global President David Johnson told missionaries at the 2003 Annual Members’ Meeting, “is not so much what happens in the lives of the people to whom you and I minister, but what happens in the lives of those they minister to.”

Borrowing from family life, Johnson (pictured in file photo) said parenting skills are not as much reflected in the children, as in the grandchildren. His message, emphasizing discipleship as well as evangelism, came several years before HCJB Global missionary Allen Graham had met Cirenio in a remote area of Brazil.

Sources: HCJB Global, El Comercio

Ecuador’s Ministry of Health said cases of the influenza virus H1N1 have risen to eight just days after a report of the nation’s first case. The first incidence of the illness was confirmed on Friday, May 15, by Ecuadorian Health Minister Caroline Chang (pictured at left in file photo).

The parents of Adriana Elías, the first person in Ecuador to be diagnosed with the illness, challenged whether their 12-year-old daughter, a student at Colegio Americano in Guayaquil, indeed had the virus. They claimed in a media briefing that she suffered from rinopharynitis, not influenza A (H1N1), commonly referred to as swine flu.

Source: HCJB Global

“FamilyLife Today,” a popular U.S.-based radio program that airs on Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, received an added boost when more than 300 people attended the station’s recently sponsored seminar on fathering.

The Spanish version of the program is fairly popular in Ecuador, said Doug Weber, HCJB Global Voice’s radio director for Latin America. “We’ve received many good comments from listeners about it, so we wondered whether or not people would come to our station to attend a seminar on the family,” he said.

“FamilyLife Today” is a radio outreach of Campus Crusade for Christ International’s FamilyLife ministry. Weber’s production team handles the Spanish-language translation, production and distribution of the program throughout Latin America.

Sources: HCJB Global, God’s Fuel: The Story of John Douglas Munday

Known to many as “Don Juanito,” John Douglas Munday died Saturday, June 6, in Quito, Ecuador, at the age of 80. A funeral service and burial was held the following day in Quito.

Born Jan. 24, 1929, to Edwin and Jessie May Munday in Victoria, B.C., he later left his home country for a lifetime of missionary service. After several months with missionaries in Peru, he arrived in Ecuador in 1958.

An English teacher, Munday was commissioned as a missionary from a Plymouth Brethren assembly known as Victoria Gospel Chapel. During two decades he directed the orphanage, Diospaj Ñan (God’s Way), for boys. Diospaj Ñan offered a home and hope for orphans.

Source: HCJB Global

What do recent giant steps of ministry transformation mean to Esther Neufeld, longtime program producer with HCJB Global Voice’s German Language Service (GLS)?

Fewer steps to arrive for work.

Not that she commuted great distances before, but the new offices of Vozandes Media are just upstairs from her apartment. She lives less than a block from Radio Station HCJB in Quito. For years via international shortwave, the voice of Neufeld and other producers has traveled via the airwaves to German-speaking audiences across the Americas and Europe.

Vozandes Media–newly formed and officially recognized within Ecuador–is continuing the ministry to German-speaking listeners who respond from 60 countries. Its administration shifts to HCJB Global’s World Office in Germany instead of remaining under the mission’s Latin America Region.

Sources: Shortwave Central, Radio World, Microsoft Watch, The Inquirer, HCJB Global

Brazil’s announcement in late May that its Communications Ministry would seek input on a national digital radio broadcasting standard brings new encouragement for the growing adoption of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) standard in the AM, FM and international radio bands.

Brazilian Communications Minister Helio Costa announced a 180-day public consultation period to select the best digital radio system for Brazil. In its blog site, Shortwave Central called the announcement a “major breakthrough” for the DRM Consortium that anticipates contributing to the dialogue.

Herb's record 60 years make the cake. Sweeter as the years go by!!

Herb, Paul, Marian, John, Herb, Dave and Marty were among 100 or so HCJB Global retirees and staff who attended the Forever Family reunion in mid May in Colorado Springs.

Leonard and Imogene, Norma, Lois and Dee, Norm, Helen. These HCJB Global alumni had a smile and a song at the Forever Family reunion in May.

Travis, Bill,  Leonard, Elizabeth, Ruthie, Margaret, Marylee, Mac and Nan enjoyed testimonies of the Lord’s care and the Lord’s work recently. About 100 HCJB Global alumni gathered in Colorado Springs for a Forever Family reunion.

Longtime HCJB Global missionary Lois Hatt Vásconez died Thursday, July 9, in Quito, Ecuador, after a valiant battle with cancer. She was 83. A memorial service was held in Quito on Friday, July 10. Lois retired from the mission on Jan. 1, 1996, after having served for more than 42 years, but she continued to be active, helping in music ministries and teaching piano lessons long after retiring.

Born in Ohio on Oct. 16, 1925, she attended schools in Adrian, Mich., and graduated from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in 1946. With a sacred music degree, Lois joined the staff of Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music (now Cornerstone University) in Grand Rapids, Mich., heading the music department and serving as dean of women.

Longtime missionary Jorge Zambrano, a veteran of 35 years of ministry with HCJB Global, died Thursday, July 23, at his daughter’s home in Norristown, Pa., after battling cancer. He was 63.

Born in Ambato, Ecuador, on Jan. 3, 1946, Jorge was raised in a religious home, yet without the knowledge of Jesus’ love for him as an individual. At 18 he came to the U.S. seeking a new life as a guitar player. Instead, he found new life in Jesus Christ through the ministry of Hawthorne Gospel Church in New Jersey.

As his wife, Denise, of nearly 37 years put it, “Jorge embraced God’s gift by admitting his sin, believing in Jesus and committing his life to the service of his Savior.” In an interview several years ago, Jorge said he knew about Radio Station HCJB since childhood. “After I accepted Christ as my Savior in May 1965, my initial spiritual growth took place through listening to the Voice of the Andes all the way from Ecuador via shortwave.”

Source: HCJB Global
The end date for international broadcasts from Radio Station HCJB in Ecuador has been moved up as the missionary radio ministry defines new strategies for future outreach.

Anticipating the opening of the new Quito airport near the station’s international transmitter site in Pifo, staff member have already dismantled all but 14 antennas and towers. Present shortwave broadcasts in Portuguese, Spanish, German and indigenous languages, including Quichua, had earlier been announced to end no later than April 1, 2010. These international broadcasts will cease between September and November 2009.

Announcing the earlier closure date of Pifo, Graham Bulmer, HCJB Global’s director for the Latin America Region, said, “These times stretch us, causing us both to doubt and to grow in faith and hopefully drive us to confess our dependence on God. We believe He is guiding us. We hold all things with open hands and pursue understanding of what God expects of us as stewards of the resources of His kingdom.”

Sources: HCJB Global, IBB Fact Sheet

HCJB Global and the International Broadcasting Bureau* (IBB) are cooperating on a series of digital broadcast test transmissions on shortwave that began on Aug. 17.

The test broadcasts from IBB’s facilities in South Carolina utilize Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) equipment that was developed in part at the Indiana-based HCJB Global Technology Center. DRM is a universal, openly standardized digital radio system boasting near-FM sound quality plus the ease of use that comes from digital transmissions.

The improvement of analog shortwave listening compared to AM is immediately noticeable. Countries such as India and Russia have chosen DRM for their future radio systems, while Brazil is considering it.

by Jessica Siekmeier
photos: Courtney Potter

Prevention was the order of the day at HCJB Global Hands jungle hospital in Shell, Ecuador, Saturday, Aug. 22, as more than 100 residents from the small town on the edge of the Amazon came to a health fair, providing various medical screenings and workshops.

Staff at Hospital Vozandes-Shell offered free eye screenings, glucose tests and pediatric growth checks along with talks on physical therapy, dental hygiene and nutrition throughout the event.