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Unrest threatens freedom throughout Middle East, boosts ministry

The instability plaguing the Middle East and North Africa hurts the region but is actually boosting a Christian radio ministry, reports MNN.

HCJB Global's Curt Cole says they're experiencing exciting growth. Since the launch of the broadcasts, they've grown at least a half million listeners weekly from the region.

If you scale growth by the latest information from Morocco alone, "We've seen about six times the amount of listeners that we had back in 2004."

Aside from the fact that people have had time to get used to the ministry programs HCJB provides, Cole says, "I think we attribute that to just the maturing of the different services." Seven or eight years of making the process efficient has contributed to growth, along with getting the word out about what they're doing and moving to shorter segments.

Unrest itself played a unique role, too. Although HCJB doesn't target young people, they have found that a large segment of the listening audience from that age group is responding because they're concerned about the violence and its effect on their future. "We have sensed and have heard from other youth organizations that the youth of the region are really questioning the realities of what they're being told."

Cole says their approach has had to change to meet the needs. What they offer is diverse. From music to women's issues, their programs tie into a web-based community which allows people to safely ask questions about Christ. "We have chosen to share Christ in a way that is not confrontational. It's more a sharing of Christ as He is. It's a much more open approach in trying to gain access to listeners where they can develop a deeper relationship with us over time.

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[02/05/2008]

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