HCJB kicks off 75th anniversary celebration

USA (MNN) — In 1922 the first public broadcasting radio station opened in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Many Christians during the early days of radio thought this invention was of the devil. Since Satan is referred to as the prince and power of the air, many were convinced this was true.

There were others, however, that thought radio could be used to share the Gospel. That was the dream of Clarence Jones, the founder of HCJB World Radio. 75 years later HCJB World Radio continues to share the Gospel not only in Ecuador where they first went on the air on December 25, 1931, but around the world.

HCJB’s President David Johnson says, “Right now we have five regional offices for every region of the world. We have work in, I would say, most countries within those regions — either radio training, putting in radio stations or doing broadcasts. And, of course for years we’ve been broadcasting on short-wave into practically every corner of the world.”

According to Johnson, their work is more than just airing Christians radio programs. HCJB is helping national Christians build and effectively run radio stations with funding, training and engineering. “A big part of what we do now is really helping the local believers, the local church, as a body to use this as a tool for ministry. And so, we’ve planted probably now well over 250 radio stations in every continent of the world, other than Antarctica.”

Internally, HCJB kicking off its 75th year privately, says Johnson.”We’re having a mission-wide day of prayer and we are going to have a live broadcast within the mission that’s going to go to our various regions where people can listen in and just help us focus on what God’s done in the past and to really help us see that there is a future there and a calling still until He returns. The real celebrations are going to take place in December.”

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