Rough Seas Again

January 20, 2012 By

I had one of those moments this afternoon when I asked, “What are we even doing here?!” I’m afraid our nice stretch of “easy living” came to an abrupt halt today.

I drove up to the transmitter site this afternoon to investigate a problem on the AM and our part time guard met me on the road before I got all the way up there. He had lost my and Peter’s phone numbers and was sure eager to tell me something. His Spanish isn’t as easy to understand as Romel’s. Even so, I knew there was a problem, so we drove on up the rest of the way together.

Entry Point

Entry Point

First, he took me around to the back side of the compound where the razor wire was hanging down the wall. Someone got up there and cut it, which is pretty hard to do. Juan said he discovered it when he walked his circuit Thursday morning but didn’t know how to reach us. He had not tried climbing over the wall to investigate, so neither of us knew what we would find inside. I still figured everything was OK inside. The FM was on the air and sounded good. The AM was off but I was assuming a simple malfunction. When I unlocked the titanium padlock on the gates, I saw our catastrophe.

Demolished door

Demolished door

Whoever got over the wall had a sledge hammer or something. They just demolished our heavy duty security door on the transmitter building and it was standing open with parts laying on the ground. Juan was not around when it happened. We assume it was Wednesday night. Juan had been working full time for the cell company that owns the towers across the road but, since they haven’t paid him in three months, he wasn’t working there anymore. That meant he had to come from his house several times a day or night to our transmitter site to check on things. The guard who actually was across the road said he did not hear anything. That’s impossible unless he’s deaf. Someone beat on that door very hard for a very long time to inflict that damage.

Fixing razor wire bare handed. Yikes!

Fixing razor wire bare handed. Yikes!

Inside, the place was pretty much ransacked. The first thing I saw was a big box on the floor that was supposed to have extra antenna cable in it. It was empty. My nice complete set of screwdrivers was gone. The video monitor for the AM computer had been shoved way out of place and all the cables were tangled up, but everything was still there for that system. The only things wrong were that the monitor only displayed one color and there was no audio from the computer or the control console. I didn’t know yet which was the problem. I had called Peter and when he arrived, he investigated that while I patched the breach in the razor wire. Not fun when you don’t have gloves with you! Peter found that the power cord to the control console was partly unplugged, so that got the AM back on the air. We’ll figure out the monitor later.

Gotta get a new door ASAP!

Gotta get a new door ASAP!

Then we started making short term plans. We got the door so it would close most of the way and not swing in the breeze. Juan said he would sleep there inside the compound tonight. Peter and I stopped on the way home and ordered 210 feet of 5/8″ rebar. I’ll use that to make the heaviest duty screen doors you ever saw for both buildings there. We’ll have to see if we can order a new security door tomorrow or Monday. Then we need to brainstorm ways to make the place even harder to get into.

All in all, even though this is a huge hit to the radio station finances and intensely discouraging for a while, I’m curious about one thing. Once they were in, they had all night to throw stuff over the wall with no one to stop them. So why did they leave? Clearly that was a God thing, but what did He do? Something else to try to remember to ask Him when I get to heaven. In the meantime, I’ll be doing lots of measuring, drilling, cutting, welding, painting and stuff like that. Peter said he can help much of the time, so that will definitely speed things up.

Filed Under: Blog, Events, Prayer Requests

Slow But Busy Times

January 17, 2012 By

We have sure been enjoying this period of smooth sailing here at Radio HRGS. It’s been several weeks since I got everything patched up from all the lightning damage. Well, almost everything. The AM computer is still up at the transmitter site. That’s because we don’t yet have the $2,000 plus we’d need to replace the necessary equipment and get the computer back where it belongs. It forces some minor work-arounds, but we are managing.

I’ve been using the extra time to do lots of cleaning up and working on small projects that have been waiting for times like this. For example, we had four network cables that needed repair. One was in use, but only worked as long as you didn’t bump it. The others were all spares. They are all fixed now. I’ve done some work on having a stronger and more convenient wi-fi signal in the studios and office for when people come here from the home office with their laptops.

In my wandering and cleaning expeditions, I found that we again had termites in the shop. So I called in the exterminator. He spotted a huge nest on the other side of the fence behind the shop. I shot a little video when I wasn’t helping.

And I finished a secret project. It’s something that we will activate the first week of February. Peter and I talked a little about it when we recorded the HRGS Update yesterday. You can listen to that by clicking the player at the bottom of this post.

So, part of the reason I’ve gone so long without writing anything is that there wasn’t all that much to say. The other is that the hard drive on my computer was going bad and it took me a while to get things together to replace it. It turns out that replacing an iMac hard drive isn’t as hard as the web sites make it sound, as long as you follow the directions. But getting the fans under control with the new hard drive is another matter. I’ve learned that, in order to know the exact temperature of the hard drive, rather than ask the drive its temperature through the data cable, Apple installs special firmware in the drive at the factory so the system can ask the drive its temperature via an additional cable without interrupting the flow of data. I’ve been reading the biography of Steve Jobs and I guess this is part of his obsession with perfection no matter the cost. Without that firmware in the new drive, the fan runs wild. I finally found a software solution so I don’t have to buy a super expensive hard drive from Apple. The payoff is a computer that looks like it should last forever, as long as you can keep the non-Apple made parts running. By the way, ever seen the guts of an iMac? Here you go. ;-)

27' iMac innards

27' iMac innards

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:08 — 7.6MB)

Filed Under: Blog

HRGS Is on Facebook!

January 4, 2012 By
This is pretty much what December looked like, but now that we've had several sunny days I finally got to mow.

This is pretty much what December looked like, but now that we've had several sunny days I finally got to mow.

We’ve had pretty smooth sailing here lately. Maybe after those two big lightning hits last fall, anything seems like smooth sailing. As a result, we’ve been able to press on with accomplishing some of our dreams here at Radio HRGS. I even managed to mow the yard, but it wasn’t quite dry enough to get one little spot. More about that in the Audio Update at the bottom of the post. And I’ll tell you all about our new Facebook page in a little bit. First, let’s get caught up on other stuff.

The new phone system is virtually done. I still need to get a line out to the audio shop so we can talk from there. The intercom feature will really come in handy sometimes. Mildred and Peter now each have their own phones in the office right where they want them. I got that part done today. The new phones look and sound way better than the old ones.

We now have Sunrise Serenade on the AM channel again. In the “old days” we used to air exactly the same thing on AM and FM. When we made the change to having Spanish on one channel and English on the other, we effectively doubled our available hours for programs and music, but we also made it so that our AM listeners were hearing Spanish programming in the early morning when we air Sunrise Serenade. Many people said they missed it, especially the people out on the Utila Cays who depended on our morning weather forecast before heading out in their boats. This Monday we finally managed to get Sunrise Serenade onto the AM. It’s prerecorded and we have to get to the studio a little earlier to get the weather forecast recorded and put in place, but we think it’s worth it.

And then there is Facebook. Radio HRGS has finally entered the 21st century and we are on Facebook. You’ll find our English page right here. If you like Spanish better, you can see what Romel Hernandez is up to right here. If, after listening to the HRGS Update (below), you want to see those videos Peter & I were talking about, you should be able to find them on the English Facebook page. We have questions for our listeners as well as links to YouTube videos of some of our music so you can see the artists as well as hear them. It’s a work in progress and we’ll be adding things as time and the creative juices allow.

A while ago, I’d said we were working on a surprise for our listeners. We were talking about putting Sunrise Serenade onto the AM, of course. Now we are talking about another surprise that I think lots of people will like. But I can’t tell you what it is till I know if we can actually accomplish it. That’s my next project. I can’t say what it is, but it involves making some cables and setting up a computer to use them. That’s all I’ll say for now. You’re welcome to try to guess what it is for now. Anyone who gets it right gets a free trip to the beach here on Roatán. But not a free trip TO Roatán.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:14 — 7.0MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Daily Life, podcasts, Praises

37 Amazing Years

December 29, 2011 By

I don’t think I’ll write much today. It’s our anniversary. We went to Gio’s for lunch. If you’re not familiar with them (and you probably are not, since they are local), they are arguably the most high falutin’ eatery on the island. We’ve eaten a couple times at their restaurant up in French Harbor. They recently added a new location, just a mile down the road in Flowers Bay. So Mildred and I walked down there and spent a pile of money on a really special dining experience. I wish I could share the flavors. The best I can do is share some pictures. As usual, I’ve tossed in our HRGS Audio Update at the bottom of the post.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:39 — 7.3MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Events, podcasts

What a Cool Week!

December 21, 2011 By

Christmas came a little early for Peter and Sandi. They found their missing dog, Saydee. It is a bit of a long story and, if you remember, it was while looking for Saydee that the Silseths got their vehicle stuck for a week. So let’s just say it was quite a reunion. Of course, now we’re getting lots of sunshine, after Peter spent a pile of money on people and equipment to get him back up the hill. But I’m not complaining after weeks of daily and nightly rains.

The old phone system

The old phone system

To add blessing upon blessing, the gremlins are taking a break and we’re making some forward progress on a few things. I’m almost done installing a new-to-us phone system that we inherited from the home office in Tampa. The old one has been getting a little flaky. I know nothing about it, and can’t find any instructions, and I’m afraid they quit making spare parts for it several decades ago. I’ve run new cables to all six rooms that use phones and have the cables terminated and tested. I have one more phone to plug in and check and then I’ll be ready to start learning how to program it. At least this one has a manual — a huge manual. I think it weighs about ten pounds!

Rats nest of wires and three punch down blocks will be replaced by just one punch down block.

Rats nest of wires and three punch down blocks will be replaced by just one punch down block.

We have a couple other things going on. One is our soon to be unveiled Facebook page.  Peter is heading that up and we’re pretty excited about the potential for more interaction with our listeners. Many of them are on Facebook and are already personal friends. That’s coming up on January second.

One of the things many people miss since we completed the dual language project last year was having Sunrise Serenade on both the AM and FM bands. The folks out on the Utila Cays say they especially miss hearing the weather forecast early in the morning because they can’t pick up Sunrise Serenade on the FM band. We figured out a way to get the program on the AM and then switch it back to Spanish until the regular switch from Spanish to English at 3:00 PM. We’ve also set that to begin on January second.

So we are pretty excited about the cool stuff going on at the station now. We’re also excited about personal stuff. I mentioned Peter and Sandi’s truck retrieval and Saydee’s return. When Peter and I recorded the HRGS Update (below), Saydee was still roaming the hill above the airport trying to survive.

The other big thing is that we are having our first ever Christmas meal at an islander friend’s home. We’ve dined in lots of island homes with various friends, but this will be our first Christmas as guests. We’re looking forward to it. Speaking of listeners, they say the sweetest things. Here’s part of a letter we got recently. I’ll share it virtually unedited.

Dear sisters and brothers at HRGS. Just these few lines to you all. Trusting by God’s help as it reaches your hands everyone will be well and in the best of good health. Every day I get a blessing from you all at the radio station. Thank God for HRGS and for you all wonderful Christian people. I want to wish you all a Merry Merry Christmas and God’s blessings always and may you live to see many more.

I’m thanking God for affirmations like that and for the supporters who make it possible for us to be here. Mostly I thank Him for the message we have because of Christmas and the cross.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:04 — 10.1MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Daily Life, podcasts

Gettin’ Some Traction … Oh Yes!

December 18, 2011 By

When I was in college in Kentucky, we had the worst ice storm I’d ever seen just as we were returning to school from our Christmas break. One of my friends needed four hours to drive the last 15 miles. After carefully parking in his assigned spot, he closed the car door and watched in amazement as his car slid sideways into the next car. The road where Peter and Sandi had to leave their vehicle wasn’t quite that slick, but it was close.

Rainy Season

Rainy Season

And it rained, and it rained, and it rained. It rained every day and every night for the next week. We tried several times to get the truck up the hill. At one point, as I said in my last post, we had two other four wheel drives stuck — one of them being mine.

We we finally got a little sunshine the past two days, even though it did rain a little now and then. Here’s the story in video of our latest attempt. It might be the slickest thing we’ve done here yet.

Filed Under: Blog, Daily Life, Humor, Video

Gettin’ Some Traction … Or Not

December 14, 2011 By
The day after a good wash and wax.

The day after a good wash and wax.

You might be a real four wheeler if you have ever had 2 wheels off the ground and said “We’re in good shape.” You might be a real four wheeler if you have to get the wheel barrow to clean your driveway off after you wash your vehicle. You might be a really serious four wheeler if you have driven a vehicle for 10 hours straight …and never exceeded 3 mph.

Filling up the water filters at Mark Elwin's shop.

Filling up the water filters at Mark Elwin's shop.

We’ve often done the first two on the list and we gave the third one a real go last weekend. Peter and Sandi had gone to look in the bush for their dog, Saydee, who is still missing. Now their four wheel drive Nissan Pathfinder is missing from the driveway. It’s not lost; we just can’t get it home. They went down a “road” they thought would take them to the main highway. It took them to a washout instead. If the road hadn’t washed out, it would have taken them to a dead end around the next bend anyway. Peter tried to turn around, but it’s been raining just about every day for what seems like weeks and he might as well have tried to drive up a steep, grease-covered stainless steel driveway.

Peter and I went back there Saturday morning along with an island friend named Jason. Poor Jason! He had no idea what he was in for! We only drove part way down the hill because we didn’t want to get our truck stuck, too. Peter had left their truck nearly crossways on the only spot below where I parked with any room for turning around, and it was really tight … and slick.

We decided that it was too slick and narrow to finish turning it around so, with lots of digging and rope pulling and fender pushing, we finally got it pointed downhill again. But it would not move under its own power. The mud on top of smooth rock was like grease on a sheet of glass. Since Peter was going to have to back up, up hill, over a very narrow culvert on a curve with no traction, we thought we should come back after things dry out a bit. So we hoofed it back up the hill to my truck.

There was plenty of room where I parked to turn around and then the fun began. I don’t think I got 50 yards up the hill before I got stuck. It took a few tries, but I finally got past that slippery slope. Peter and Jason followed on foot because, if I stopped, I’d never get going again. Soon I came to another steep, greasy stretch that took several tries along with some pushing and steering guidance from Peter and Jason.

Then I came to what looked like a wall of mud from where I sat. There was too little room and too little traction at the base to get enough speed to carry me up it and I lost inertia and started spinning several times. Each time I got a little farther, but I had so little control that on one trip back down for a re-launch, I was actually off in the bush, scraping paint and bending up my radio antenna. Eventually, I got about two thirds of the way up it and decided I was not going to get any farther. I set the brake and the others put rocks behind my wheels because I was sliding backwards.

We walked the rest of the way back up the hill and found a guy and his helpers who had a four wheel drive truck. They were happy to help — for a few bucks, of course. We had enough rope and tow strap to reach a fairly flat spot and hooked up the trucks. Nope! He and I just sat there with all eight wheels spinning. We unhooked and then he sat there on his own spinning his wheels on almost level ground. It took us a while, but we got him up to where he could get some traction. Then he took Peter to go get a big chain hoist and a come along from a friend. We hooked that up to my truck and spent the next three or four hours in the rain getting me up that last little bit of slope.

I had made the mistake of putting my bluetooth phone ear piece in my pocket when we began. It rained so hard and so long while we worked that the ear piece is totally dead now, even after several days of drying. My phone finally did start working again. But we were so wet coming home that, in spite of vacuuming, deodorizing, and running the seat covers through the washing machine, the inside of the truck reeks like … like … wet upholstery.

It’s now Thursday and it has rained every day since then. We had several hours of sunshine Tuesday and thought it might be dry enough to try again. But the sun doesn’t shine though all those trees and, once again, Peter just spun his wheels. Our friend, Mark Elwin knows someone with a back hoe, so that guy tried to help get it out this afternoon. That was my first time sliding sideways down a hill on a four wheel drive tractor with a bucket and a back hoe. Pretty thrilling to say the least. We hope to try again tomorrow, depending on the weather. So we continue to pray that things will soon dry out and that no one will damage the vehicle while it waits there in the jungle.

Stay tuned for the exciting (but not too exciting, I hope) conclusion. And take a few minutes to listen to our Audio Update which is below the photo gallery.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:23 — 9.1MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, podcasts, Prayer Requests

Only Up to Our Hips in Alligators Now

December 1, 2011 By

We’ve been up to our necks in alligators for so long that it’s an incredible feeling to finally be draining the swamp a little bit. Last week we received the replacement LNB for our satellite dish. Not sure what that is? Watch the video and I’ll explain there. That was the last of our significant repairs from the lightning strike on October 15, the day Mildred and I went to Ohio for vacation.

Titanium padlock scorched by grinder!

Titanium padlock scorched by grinder!

Yesterday was payday, so I had to go to the transmitter site to pay our guard. I discovered that someone had popped off the plastic weather shield and tried to grind off our titanium lock on the gate. I’ll soon be beefing that up in case they try again with heavier equipment. I’m an electrician and it’s very tempting to make it so that the next person who tries again never tries again. But I also know how to weld, so I’ll make it just too hard for them to mess with and keep it safe for kids. Then they’ll go rob someone else, which doesn’t make me very happy either. It’s such a sad state of affairs when crime is allowed to run rampant like it is here.

Pro audio cards are necessary for the work these computers do.

Pro audio cards are necessary for the work these computers do.

Getting the satellite receiver working was great, but it revealed another alligator that had crept in unnoticed. We started noticing soft voices in the background coming over the air. I wondered if someone outside was playing something that we were hearing inside. But no! It was coming over the air. I soon figured out that it was cross talk from the audio satellite receiver. (We have one that feeds audio to the FM computer and one that feeds files to another computer.) We never had that before the lightning strike but, just to be sure, I separated the cable from the satellite receiver from the other audio cables. Nope, we still had it. A little more poking around showed it to be the audio card in the computer. Glad we had a spare, but now we don’t have a spare.

Antique phone system

Antique phone system

Thankfully, we’ve fixed enough stuff that there is a little swamp draining going on now. I’m pretty sure our phone system here was tossed off the boat by Columbus in 1502 because it was obsolete. A looonnng time ago, the home office sent us a newer system that they had outgrown. At last, I think I have some time to try to figure out how to install it. So far, I haven’t made much progress, but I’m hopeful. I also got a spare router all programmed so we are ready in case of failure there. There are just tons of things I want to do to make us more productive, but like they say, it’s hard to drain the swamp when you’re up to your neck in alligators. Check out the Audio Update below for more about that’s going on here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:14 — 9.0MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Daily Life, podcasts, Video

Maybe They Should Make a Movie About This Place

November 23, 2011 By

“Sometimes I think my life would make a great TV movie.  It even has the part where they say, “Stand by. We are experiencing temporary difficulties.”  ~Robert Brault

Way too much of this lately!We’ve certainly had our share of technical difficulties lately. Last week, on Friday afternoon, the FM went off the air. The link between the studios and the transmitter refused to communicate. It said it had a link, but wouldn’t send data. After fussing with it for over an hour at this end, I decided I’d better investigate the transmitter end of things. I was almost there when the radio came back on all by itself. Since it was dark and raining, I turned right around before I got to the place where I got stuck on the last trip. I’ll let the Audio Update at the bottom of this post tell the rest of that story as well as some other things going on here.

What didn’t make the Update was what happened Tuesday morning, the day after we recorded the Update. The link went down again. Peter and I worked at it for well over four hours. We finally decided we had to get back on the air one way or another. So we took the FM computer back to the transmitter building. Rats!! But at least we were back on the air. Late that afternoon I hit upon an idea I should have had sooner but the symptoms were highly confusing. I wondered if some other wi-fi system was interfering. Peter was on his way up to the transmitter with the next day’s programs, so I called him and asked him to change the channel on that data radio while he was there. Presto!! The link was back.

We left the computer up at the transmitter while I did some more fine tuning on the radios, including upgrading them to the newest firmware. Yesterday I got all that done and brought the FM computer back down to the studio. Then this morning the link went down AGAIN! We tried changing the data radio channels several times. Nothing worked. Last time we had this I had tried unplugging everything else from the network, but it didn’t help. This time there were other strange network things going on so as a start, I pulled the cable from the wireless access point (AP) between the shop and the houses. All of a sudden the link was back. I plugged the AP back in and the link went down again. Looks pretty definitive to me, but so did changing the channel on Tuesday. Spiritual warfare? I’ll let you decide.

There is a story about two men walking through a field one day. They spotted an enraged bull and the bull was coming their way in a hurry. They sprinted toward the nearest fence as fast as they could run, but the bull was closing the gap. It was soon apparent they wouldn’t make it.

Terrified, the one shouted to the other, “Put up a prayer, John. We’re in for it!”

John answered, “I can’t. I’ve never made a public prayer in my life.”

“But you have to!” his companion gasped. “The bull is catching up to us.”

“All right,” panted John, “I’ll say the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat at the table: ‘O Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.’”

Around the table - Olivia, Sandi (standing), Mildred, Marc, Peter, Joshua, Raul, Myra, Johnny

Around the table - Olivia, Sandi (standing), Mildred, Marc, Peter, Joshua, Raul, Myra, Johnny

Mildred and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with Peter and Sandi Thursday. The food was just amazing. But more than that I’m thankful for friends like Peter and Sandi and for the other friends who were there, especially our island friends.

I also confess that I am missing family with more than usual intensity this time of year. But I sure am thankful that God led Jesse into such a wonderful family when he married Kristin. Praise God for those sweet friendships Jesse has with the Reilly family.

I met a guy today who has come back to the island for a visit. He lives in the Seattle area now. He observed that Roatán is a hard place in which to live. It reminded me again that I would never choose to live here except in obedience to Jesus. Even among the challenges of life in one of the poorest countries in the world, I’m thankful for more things, people, and situations than I could list in a lifetime. Thank You, Jesus, for Mildred. Next to salvation itself, she’s the most precious thing You’ve given to me. Thank You for coworkers with whom we get along so well. Thank you for the amazing gift of putting Mildred and me into a ministry that is making a difference in the lives of countless people in two different languages. Wow! And a special thank you to and for those of you whose prayers and financial gifts have made our participation in this amazing radio station possible.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:22 — 7.8MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Daily Life, podcasts, Praises

Hope In a Troubled Land

November 20, 2011 By

Going to church in a different culture is … well … different. The music is usually different. The order of worship is sometimes different, but often surprisingly similar. The “dress code” is almost certainly going to be different. The preaching is not what we are used to back home. None of those things make a local expression of the church better or worse though — just different. Regardless of the music or the style of preaching, if we look around during the service, we can see the effect on the faces of those among whom we worship.

That only tells part of the story, though. People may be having a tremendous experience, but are they having a tremendous impact? The church has three main ministry areas — worship, or ministry to God; nurture, or ministry to believers; and evangelism and mercy, or ministry to the world. How do those people who are singing God’s praises on Sunday morning express their love for Him during the rest of the week? That, in my opinion, is an indicator of the effectiveness of a local church. While some congregations seem to focus on community activities without putting proper emphasis on worship and nurture, if the ministry to God and to believers is effective, it will overflow into ministry to the world. The question each church should sometimes ask themselves is, “If we vanished, would the community around us mourn, or go on as if nothing had happened?”

1st Baptist Church of West End

1st Baptist Church of West End

One of the most outwardly focused churches Mildred and I have encountered is right here on Roatán — First Baptist Church of West End. Since Radio HRGS ministers to everyone who tunes in, and since the Baptist Ministries here own the radio property and the license, we have a circuit of churches we visit, mostly Baptist. That helps us touch base with more listeners and there is quite a variety of worship styles from place to place. Some sing only the hymns, some sing more modern music along with the hymns. Most are English, but one is bilingual. All of them make us feel wonderfully welcome and loved.

Pastor Eddly preaching

Pastor Eddly preaching

Each time we go to West End, it seems like there are fewer empty spaces on the pews. In fact, it’s nearly full these days, which is not very typical anymore. Many times, there is someone who comes to Christ for salvation. If you visit, you will encounter not only islanders, but some expats who live in the area and, on most Sundays, a few tourists. Pastor Eddly Bush’s messages are well prepared, doctrinally solid, and he deals directly with the spiritual challenges his people face in real life. There is genuine worship and great Bible teaching every time we visit. Not having any recent pictures from West End, I dug out some old ones taken before the remodeling and before the pews began to really fill up.

But what about impacting the community? Last Sunday Mildred and I learned about two very special things going on at West End. They seriously want to reach their community. Two new ways they have chosen are collecting used toys and children’s clothing for Christmas and repairing the homes of those who cannot do so on their own. West End is not the only church reaching out tangibly to their neighbors, but I chose to tell about them because I think they are such a great example of a healthy church.

Many of the islanders I’ve talked to have shared their concern that Honduras is disintegrating morally and economically. And from the news reports I’ve heard, they are right. The evidence is abundant. There was a lot of optimism after the last election and the focus on constitutional law and government integrity. But there has been no apparent change in how things actually work here. You can still have someone killed for the same price as a smart phone. People who defend themselves during home invasions and shootings go to jail instead of the criminals. As a result, one of our friends is praying seriously about going into politics so he can help turn things around. He wants to make his country safe for his children.

I admire his willingness to make such a sacrificial change in his life. In fact, it’s a potentially dangerous change. Knowing him as well as I do, I am sure his motives are pure. I am in no way criticizing his idea, but a nation is not healed from the top down. A nation is healed one heart at a time. Having Christians in government is a wonderful thing. But a few more leaders of integrity here and there will not fix the nearly universal corruption and rampant, uninvestigated, and unpunished crime. I am sure that if my friend chooses to enter the political realm, he will have a positive impact. However, I have to wonder who will have the greater impact — one godly government representative or a congregation totally sold out to Jesus. I’m praying for revival, partly because it leads to reform, but mostly because it has eternal benefits and not just temporal ones. If we only build a better society (assuming that is possible without revival) our only accomplishment is to make the lost more comfortable on their way to the furnace. Reaching souls for Christ makes all the difference in this world and the next.

Oh! men and brethren, what would this heart feel if I could but believe that there were some among you who would go home and pray for a revival – men whose faith is large enough, and their love fiery enough to lead them from this moment to exercise unceasing intercessions that God would appear among us and do wondrous things here, as in the times of former generations. — C.H. Spurgeon

OK, off the soap box, Jerry. Here’s an audio file to tell you a little about what’s been going on here at HRGS. It’s a little old. We recorded it back on Monday. I’ll try to get this week’s Update on here a little more promptly.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:23 — 10.4MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Daily Life, podcasts, Prayer Letters

Digging Out

November 13, 2011 By

My dad was a carpenter who had a whole trunk full of tools — a car trunk, that is, a ’55 Chevy Bel Air trunk to be more precise. One day, when I was in the fifth or sixth grade (if I remember right), we had a huge snowstorm. Our garage was in the alley and, when he got home from work that day, there was no way for my dad to get the car through the alley and into the garage. That would have required shoveling a path wide enough for the car through a half a city block of two-feet deep snow. He had to park on the street. The snow continued to fall throughout the night and the plows continued to plow.

I don't have any pictures of Dad's car, but this is how deeply it was buried.

I don't have any pictures of Dad's car, but this is how deeply it was buried.

When he tried to go to work the next morning our car, with his tools in the trunk, was buried under a ten foot deep ridge of snow and ice left by the overnight snowplows. We couldn’t even tell exactly where it was. To say that Dad was displeased would be like calling the Pacific Ocean a puddle. He eventually found a way to work and had to borrow tools from co-workers while every day, before and after school, I shoveled at that monstrous pile of snow. I don’t remember how many days it took, but I thought I’d never get done.

I’ve felt a little like that during the past two weeks since our return from vacation. This digging out is taking longer than my childhood assignment, but at least my fingers and feet aren’t frozen. Here’s a little list of our accomplishments so far in recovering from the big lightning hit, as well as some other things that we fixed along the way. It’s been a little like damage control on a navy ship, thankfully without the human casualties.

  • Solidified network communications between the audio shop and the transmitter building.
  • Reestablished network communications between the audio shop and the studio building.
  • Reestablished network communications between the mission houses and the studio building. This is vital since the satellite dish got hit and this link is our route to the Internet and the FTP sites we have to use to get all our radio programs until the satellite dish is working again.
  • Determined that it is the LNB of the satellite dish that is bad and ordered a replacement.
  • Brought the FM broadcast computer back from the transmitter building to the studio on Friday. Yesterday we were finally able to have our first live Request and Dedication program since October 14.
  • Installed a device that enables us to turn power on and off to some of the transmitter building equipment via a web browser from any computer on the radio station’s network.
  • Replaced the starting battery for the transmitter site auxiliary generator and we are close to deciding on a replacement battery charger for that machine.
  • Made improvements to over-all network performance.
  • Developed and implemented a work around to re-enable auto starting and transfer of the station’s generator until we have time to get RECO to fix a problem on their high voltage lines.

Except for the satellite dish problem and the extra work that generates, I think life is nearly back to normal here. But there is still a lot to do.

  • Replace the lightning rod on the tower here at the radio station.
  • Install the new LNB on the satellite dish, once we get it.
  • Coordinate with RECO to get us back to three phase electrical service.
  • Replace our well pipe and the pump’s electrical cable and see if we can get it deeper into the well. We hope that will help us be able to go back to supplying the community with water for four hours a day. We have had to cut back to two hours a day even with all the rain we’ve had.
  • Decide if we want to keep the AM computer at the transmitter site or bring it back to the studios. Since we do not do live broadcasts on AM, it will be happy wherever we put it. We just need to figure out what is best for us.

The list of things to do is essentially infinite, so I’ll stop there. I don’t think any of our listeners — or really anyone other than our staff — can comprehend what it’s been like for the past two and a half months here. I’ll just say that this sudden spurt of successes over the past week have really lifted my spirits. So, too, have some of the comments I’ve heard from listeners. One of them told me Friday how he could see that Satan would be out to get us because of all the Biblical truths people are hearing on HRGS. I guess if you’re going to take a poke at the enemy, you shouldn’t be surprised if he swings back at you. He fights dirty, too, but the battle is still ours because of Christ. Thanks for praying for us.

Cruise Ship From Plaza Mar

Cruise Ship From Plaza Mar

Here’s a look from one of the grocery stores we shop at. Roatán can be beautiful even in rainy season.

Filed Under: Blog, Photography, Praises, Scenery

Just Call Me Willoughby

November 10, 2011 By

If you read our previous post, you’ll know that we’ve been buried under an amazing pile of things to fix. The pile is still there, but it’s smaller than when we got back here from vacation about a week and a half ago. Now, if you want to get everything in chronological order, scroll on down to the bottom of this post and listen to the HRGS Update. (Yes, we finally have enough of our system working to be able to get the Update on the blog again.) That will tell you where we started our week and you’ll probably get to learn a new word toward the end of the Update. Then scroll back up here for the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say.

Sometimes I feel a little like Willoughby, the beagle in Warner Brothers’ classic, Of Fox and Hounds. “I know every tree in this forest.” BAM!! “There’s one now.” It seems like every time I fix something and think we’re ready to put everything back the way it’s supposed to be, I run full speed into another road block.

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I think I finally have the data link between the studios and the transmitter site pretty speedy. But before actually committing ourselves by moving the broadcast computers back to the studios, I thought I’d better run a test. I’m sure glad I tested it. I fed music into the system in the studios and took some equipment to the transmitter site so that I could listen. I got there, hooked up my gear, and put on the headphones. NOTHING!!! Now what?!

It took a bit of sleuthing, but I finally tracked down the bad actors. Yes, there were two of them although I didn’t know that at the time. When the audio stream arrives in the shop behind the radio station, it goes through a processor and from there to an analog to digital converter (A/D convertor) which feeds the digitized audio to a long range wireless access point for transmission to the FM transmitter site four or five miles away. The audio processor was acting like the “Roach Motel.” Sound went in, but it didn’t come out. The left and right channels were both dead. Thankfully, we had a spare processor on hand and it worked fine. But that led me to the next bad actor — the A/D converter. It had audio to both the left and right channels, but only the left channel could hear what we were feeding it. And those rascals are expensive!

So, for now, it’s time to improvise. We will need to leave the AM broadcast computer at the transmitter site. That way we can bring down the FM computer and use one of the AM A/D convertors on the FM side of things … after we finish testing the revised setup.

So, unless I slam into another tree, maybe I can jump over the same fence, fall down the same cliff, and this time finally land on a pile of mattresses instead of the hard ground.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:36 — 7.3MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Daily Life, podcasts
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