It was 60 years ago when countless soldiers were returning from the conflict in the Pacific at the close of WWII, FEBC founders newly aware of the great spiritual needs of Asia and they envisioned a ministry that would bring the Gospel to the millions of Asia. One country especially was on their hearts: China!
Far East Broadcasting Company’s first broadcast went on air in the Philippines on June 4, 1948. Today, Edwardo Lo, FEBC USA Chinese ministry director, affirmed the ministry’s vision of proclaiming Christ through broadcast to the ends of the earth, and that the slogan of "Christ Loves China" will be changed to "China Loves Christ."
At a music prayer meeting held in Oct. this year, Lo said that during the 60th anniversary celebration held in July in Hong Kong they’ve for the first time invited the loyal listeners from various provinces in China to celebrate this meaningful day together. That night’s event was broadcasting to all of China.
“Today’s Far East Broadcasting has entered a new generation. In the past, we’ve only used broadcasting to speak to our friends, but today the listeners can directly participate and engage in mutual dialogue,” he said in Chinese.
In addition to broadcasting the gospel message, Lo emphasized the importance of “chuan chen” or inheriting the God-given vision passed down from the FEBC founder.
In order to effectively push for “chuan chen”, FEBC started a “Barnabas Case”, which will be for discovering characters like Barnabas who is generous in giving, has the courage to believe in others and is willing to sacrifice, and has the talent to discover those who are gifted and has a heart to partner with others.
In a recent statement released by FEBC, Mei Fang, a Chinese-Indonesian Buddhist who used to suffer from depression after her baby died which kept her in bed all day, began listening to FEBC-Indonesia’s broadcasts upon her sister’s suggestion and her outlook changed dramatically.
Mei Fang asked to speak to a counselor at FEBC and the counselor visited her home, where the young woman and her friend expressed their testimony of learning about Jesus through the broadcast.
“I used to be very stressed, but ever since learning about Jesus and being born again, my spirits are much improved and I’m ready to face life again.”
In July, Mei Fang asked to be baptized. “My strength comes from Jesus now,” said Fang to FEBC. “I’m much happier, even though my husband and I recently found out that he has lung disease.” Mei Fang has been sharing her new found faith with her husband, who also asked to meet with a counselor from FEBC-Indonesia.
While Mei Fang speaks Indonesian, it’s not her native language. “Hearing the Word of God preached in Mandarin made it much easier for me to understand.”
Since the launch of FEBC, one of their priorities has been airing broadcasts in a variety of ethnic languages as well as using indigenous broadcasters, because people respond best to the Good News in their native language, according to the statement.
Founded in 1945, FEBC is a non-denominational, international Christian radio network that broadcasts the Good News in more than 130 languages from 128 transmitters located throughout the world. Every year, the ministry receive more than 850,000 responses from listeners through letters, phone calls, e-mails and text messages.
