Far East Broadcasting International broadcasts in around 130 different languages.
We prepare programs in so many different languages because people ‘hear’ best in their own heart language
Heart Languages
When you are in a foreign place and you suddenly hear your own language, particularly when it is spoken with your own accent, you’ll always turn and listen to that speaker.
It is no different for those who hear their own language on the radio, especially when in their own country they may have many different languages being spoken around them or when they are refugees or perhaps migrant workers in another land.
Many languages - audio clip
People make spiritual transactions in their heart language. In the deepest part of our heart we think in our childhood language. It is the best way to think and respond on a deep spiritual level. That’s why FEB International tells the gospel in so many languages.
Millions do not have radio broadcasts produced commercially or by anyone within their own government. They will rapidly connect when they hear the radio speaking in their native language with accent and colloquialisms, metaphors and cultural context.
Radio - a lifeline - audio clip
Using Indigenous Broadcasters
An indigenous broadcaster is a person who shares his faith with his own people. He has a great advantage over foreign born missionaries because he understands the language and culture and is thus more effective in leading people to Christ.
One of the reasons for the massive growth in Christianity among minority groups is the sense of dignity and worth that indigenous broadcasts offer them. Many people from these groups grapple with persecution and discrimination most of their lives, but when they hear a radio message spoken in their own language, it validates them. Many minority groups see the broadcasts as their only means of Christian instruction and fellowship.
Unreached People Groups (UPGs)
Of the six billion people in the world today, an estimated 1.2 – 1.4 billion have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Many regions that are inaccessible, geographically or politically, can easily be reached by radio programs. Radio has a proven record of leading hundreds of thousands of unreached people to the Lord, such as the Hmong who are scattered through a number of SE Asian countries.
FEBC makes programs for over 100 UPGs in Asia. Feba Radio broadcasts to approximately another 100 UPGs throughout Africa, India and the Middle East.
Almost every day we hear from UPGs who listen to FEBC broadcasts. Here is a note from a Hmong man in Myanmar.
'Dear FEBC, I hear your broadcasts every day. Most of the Hmong in this area are uneducated. They don’t have anywhere to go. A majority of them don’t know how to love, and they only worship evil spirits. Even worse, these people cause conflicts among each other and don’t even know how to take care of themselves. It is only through your broadcasts that we hear good things. You really touch our lives and we are thankful. Since your program tells us to be better people, our children will grow up and become better people too, and they will also listen to your programs. Your program will allow them to have an education, a place to go and teach them how to love and worship only the Lord. We pray that God will strengthen you, and we pray that you will always be able to broadcast to us.’