Radio Ministry in the Philippines
by David Harris
Brother Rick Martin in Iloilo, Philippines, wrote a recent prayer letter about the radio ministry in the Philippines. The Lord has opened the door to start Christian radio ministries in many cities throughout the country. This is miraculous as the government has allowed access, permissions, and licensing for new Christian radio stations to begin. With the help of Brother Gene Sharp, a friend to ministries around the world, many stations have been started. Other stations are nearing completion. This will result in millions of people being able to hear Gospel preaching, teaching, programming, and music. In this open door for ministry in the Philippines, thousands of people are hearing the Gospel and scores of souls are coming to Christ.
Brother Martin said…
“Brother Gene Sharp, who has started all 12 radio stations here in the Philippines, is planning to come in the next few months to set up more stations. Lord willing, he will set up the station in Quezon City which is a part of Metro Manila. The tower has been installed on top of the Laloma Baptist Church’s 6-story building.1 The broadcast studio is ready for the equipment to be installed. This amazing church is pastored by Ramil Olalia and has sent missionaries to many countries around the world.
“Lord willing, Brother Sharp will also be putting a station in General Santos City on this trip. This city is the home of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church where BIMI Missionary Doug Sisson is located. This church, like the one in Quezon City (Manila), is an amazing church. It is seeing a real revival and has the personnel to operate the station.“Bible Baptist Church in Mandaue City, Cebu, is ready to start their station. The pastor of this church is Rogelio Baladjay. His father was the pastor who started this church in the 1960s. His father also helped Missionary Bob Hughes operate his Bible College in the 1970s. The Broadcast studio and tower are ready. They also have a recording studio where they can record music and messages.
“Brother Sharp and his family have sacrificed much in finding ways to help the stations he has built around the world. When he built his first station outside the United States he went to New Guinea and built his own house in the jungle. He stayed there with his wife for one year until the station was finished. There are a lot of projects Brother Sharp could work on if he had the finances. We have a generous donor who will match any funds Brother Sharp receives for the radio ministry here. We have 10 applications for cities to start stations.
“Lastly, I wanted to share a story about the radio ministry here in Iloilo City. About five years ago, one of our broadcasters and assistant pastors, Pastor Jack Tupaz, was doing a program called The Morning Light. A lady contacted Brother Jack during the program and shared her burden for her family to get saved.
“It was during COVID-19 and Brother Jack could not visit her but asked her to bring her relatives to the Christmas musical at our church. They came, and when Jack preached, he went through the plan of salvation. Some of the family members raised their hands to receive Christ as Savior.
“We use personal workers but that year it was very hard to do during the service because of COVID-19 rules. About three weeks later on January 9, Brother Jack was finally able to go to their house and made sure they all understood about salvation. The family of eight received the Lord that day and have been faithful to the services for the past five years. “One of the daughters, April Esparagoza, became very involved in several outreach ministries including the Saturday classes for the poor kids in the neighborhoods, the youth ministry, and others. She started learning violin and in less than two years she became a member of the orchestra. This past October she was diagnosed with Leukemia and died this past December. Her funeral was on January 9, exactly five years after she got saved. She was 18 years old. Her death has affected our church and our young people in a good way, as she had a wonderful attitude. Of course, the radio ministry was the tool God used to bring her to Christ. I am so thankful for the radio ministry because of the lives that are changed just like April’s.”
If you would like to know more about this ministry and want to help start a radio station, contact Far East Director David Harris for further information (fareastdirector@bimi.org).
1 Laloma Baptist Church was started by former BIMI missionary Mel Brown many years ago and continues to be a church with a strong worldwide outreach.
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