Thanks for such an incredible year of support, prayers and partnership in 2019. You will read from the stories shared in this Summer Edition that our ministry really has made an impact on so many lives across the globe.
With 2020 now underway, this past Christmas will have been the first for many who did not know Christ before. Reached via an FEBC Christmas gift, or through one of the thousands of radios distributed, these souls will have received the water and bread of life for the first time.
I recently returned from a trip to Thailand where a gathering of 17 different ethnic people groups was held. The first of its kind - my heart has been challenged again of the way FEBC is so effectively reaching the unreached and the reality of so many more people groups still to reach. What I can testify is, of those who I had the privilege of meeting, not one complained of facing persecution for coming to faith. As they come to know the Good News they are simply changed. Once one person in a language group shares with another, soon hundreds are wanting this Good News. The impact has been so positive, there is now a strong desire to have further gatherings for them in the near future.
Also in Thailand, those impacted by the flooding at the end of last year heard the hope of Christ in their darkest time and now continue to tune in. I encourage you to continue to pray for them.
With so many new believers, what does this mean?
It means a commitment to community-led programming, to raising up local workers who will be the hands and feet on the ground (as we share in this issue). It means resourcing our stations with training, teams and talent to produce much needed, locally-produced content that speaks into the hearts of listeners in their languages. It means providing thousands more radios, particularly for the hardest to reach ethnic groups, so the voices behind them can continue to be heard.
What is it that they need right now?
New people groups are desperate to know and hear the Good News - but to do so we need finances for more airtime. Our desire is to continue to reach the hearts of those who are so eager to hear. It’s an increase of our broadcasts as we reach into restricted and persecuted regions to continue reaching those who bravely share our faith and love in Christ. For those devastated by natural disasters, or isolated in remote areas, it is our radios themselves, the programming and the broadcasts that consistently remind them of the love and hope of Christ in the darkest of times. The hope that they are known, that they are loved and that they are not alone.
So yes, Christmas is over. And as our trees and decorations are packed away, I pray amidst it all you will take time to be challenged in the ways God wants to use you to keep bringing the gift of His Good News to a seemingly broken world. Perhaps you may consider an extra gift to introduce more hearts to the message of Christ? One single radio given to a remote, isolated village is shared by up to 25 people and brings the message of hope to many who have never even heard the name Jesus before.
Kevin Keegan
National Director, FEBC Australia
"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
