China (MNN) — It's been more than three months since the devastating earthquake hit Sichuan Province, China, but the needs for the victims remain. According to reports, it'll cost more than $150 billion to rebuild schools, hospitals, businesses and homes for the nearly four million people displaced by the earthquake. Rebuilding is just a part of the problems. People are suffering from the incredible loss of life and more.
Far East Broadcasting Company is helping in a simple way, by providing radios. FEBC's President Gregg Harris says, "When all of the infrastructure of a particular city or area gets knocked out, radio becomes an incredibly effective and important way to give people information about what's going on in their world because most of the infrastructure has been decimated."
FEBC isn't only handing out wind-up short-wave radios, Harris says they're producing special programming to help people deal with their loss. "Although this programming is not explicitly evangelistic, after people have listened to the special programming about how to deal with the grief and the anxiety, they'll then be able to keep listening and tune in to the more explicitly evangelistic programming we have on the air."
Harris says giving a radio does more than provide a link to the outside world. "It's extremely important psychologically. And of course, when you add to that, specially produced programming that is really targeted to meeting their emotional and psychological need, with a view toward ultimately meeting their spiritual need, it's a great recipe for ministering to people."
According to Harris, this type of programming is for one purpose. "Everything we do at FEBC is about winning people to Christ, and sometimes you start with just making the introduction, getting somebody to listen to your programming."
FEBC is trying to place 20,000 radios into the earthquake-damaged area. "We're able to buy, distribute, and cover all the costs for getting it into a qualified listener for $30."
As you give, you can be sure that Christians will strategically place these radios because they're working with the local church. "They know the people who are going to really use the radios to listen to FEBC's program. And often in situations like this, people will form listener groups, and one person will take one radio and gather a group of 20, or 30 or more people."
