In 1986, Larry and Barbara Podmore, with their four children under five, became the first FEBC Australia missionaries on the island of Saipan. Little did they know their mission would span 30 years across multiple countries and witness many testimonies of God’s faithfulness.
Missionaries: Larry and Barbara Podmore
Dates of service: 1986–2016
Locations: Saipan, Philippines, Mongolia, Cambodia, Australia
Roles: Engineering Management, Operational Management
Their first months in Saipan tested their resilience. Within weeks of arrival, Larry found himself shouldering increased responsibilities when one colleague departed on furlough and another tragically passed away. Then came the super-typhoon with 200-mile-per-hour winds, destroying the station's antennas and leaving the island without power for three months. But the challenges only deepened Larry’s faith. “It's like you've got all this sort of stuff happening, but where's God? It's always there that you get confronted with the story and that you're not listening through the story, as it were, to what God was doing all the time.”
Pastor-Engineer
Throughout their service across Saipan, Philippines, Mongolia, and Cambodia, the Podmores witnessed how God wove engineering work into pastoral care and leadership development. “Within engineering, we were always working with or through people, even with engineering. Since God is first in everything, discipleship became a natural part of what we did.”
In the Philippines, Larry's role expanded from technical projects to supporting FEBC Philippines' organisational development. Working alongside FEBC Philippines President Carlos, he helped implement new management approaches while building trust across cultural boundaries. God used his coaching and mentoring skills further in Cambodia and Mongolia.
1986, the Podmores' prayer card.
Bearing Fruit
Seeing the work bear fruit in the hearts of listeners fuelled their passion for the ministry. One of their most moving experiences occurred when they visited South Korea, where new technology enabled live call-ins from mainland China. During one broadcast, they listened as a caller wept for twenty minutes, pouring out his heart for his countrymen. Such moments revealed God using radio's unique power to touch hearts and cross borders that physical missionaries couldn't reach.
In Cambodia, on a trip distributing radios, they witnessed a governor of another faith publicly endorsing Christian radio programs, recognising the positive impact on his community. At dinner, this was reinforced when a Khmer pastor, who had witnessed his parents being macheted during the Khmer Rouge genocide, shared that afterwards, when he met Christ, God’s love dispelled the impact of all the evil he had witnessed under this regime, like bringing light into the darkness.
FEBC’s ministry extended even to prisons, where radios passed from inmate to inmate became instruments of hope. “The aim was not to keep people as listeners but to link them into a local fellowship. Sometimes this couldn’t happen, as in the case of the prison. And sometimes the nearest church would be several kilometres away, whilst they may have been the only believer in their village,” Larry explained with deep conviction on the impact of FEBC’s media ministry.
Staying Faithful
The Podmores' approach to ministry was founded in Habakkuk's declaration of faith (Habakkuk 3:17-18): ‘Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.’ “God rarely shows us how our words have landed in someone's heart, life and mind. He doesn’t need to. But when He does shine a light on where we have been fruitful, this is special. And that's where you should be thinking, not about all the (difficulties),” Larry shares insightfully.
“As American evangelist, author and Bible teacher Beth Moore illustrated, we may not see where all our 'oranges' land, but God always receives what we give in faith. This is FEBC’s story – we don’t know how much of our words are received, and we can’t measure this, but we faithfully follow what God wants us to do and believe He will use our broadcasts. God’s Word doesn’t return to Him void. And as Romans 10:13-14 says, everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. But how can they call on the one they have not believed, and how can they believe in the one they have not heard, and how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
Larry and Barbara celebrate FEBC's adaptability in sharing God's Word. “We've kept to being faithful to getting the Word out. He will continue to raise up people who are Word people who also want the Word for the people. They have a heart for the gospel and understand how technology can be used for great effect. It is God who is the faithful one who takes our responses to His great love and uses them for His purpose of building His kingdom. That we, or someone, would respond to such love is a small thing when seen in the light of His incomparable and great gift.”
FEBC's journey from shortwave radio to digital platforms shows how innovation serves God's purposes. Whether through traditional broadcasts or new initiatives like sign language programs for Vietnam's deaf community, the mission remains unchanged: sharing God's Word faithfully, just as the Podmores have experienced.