A Looonng Meeting!

August 29, 2010 By

But it was a good one. As I’ve mentioned, we have some of our leaders here this weekend from the Bible Basics home office. The reason they chose this particular time was to participate in the celebration of Dr. Glen Solomon’s 50 years in the ministry. Dr. Solomon is president of Baptist Ministries of Honduras, the organization that has invited Bible Basics to be here and operate Radio HRGS.

The celebration began, theoretically, at 2:00 Saturday afternoon. We got there at about 1:45, expecting a packed house and looking for a good seat. It actually started at about 2:35. Not bad considering that we are on “island time” here. We found good seats and the house was packed soon after we got there. There were many tributes and lots of music. The mayor and the congressman each shared briefly. There was even a contingent from the Baptist church in La Ceiba, over on the coast. They brought their choir and, as always, did an outstanding job. This little video contains excerpts from several of the tributes as well as tastes of most of the songs sung that afternoon. I hope it gives some idea of the variety of worship music popular among islanders and a sense of what it’s like to attend an island church.

Celebration Vignettes from Jerry Petersen on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Blog, Events, Video

I love it when a plan comes together!!

July 19, 2010 By

Yes, indeed, we are now on the air all day in English and all day in Spanish. The liftoff was this morning and went off without a hitch. We go on the air at 5:00 AM, so Peter and I both got there a little ahead of time to move the AM feed to the new dedicated AM computer’s control console and also do some file maintenance that can’t be done while we are broadcasting.

We have spent the rest of the day fine tuning the various settings and automatic file copying processes. A little before lunch I started working on the computer that used to be in our middle production studio. When I get done it will be our new FM broadcast computer. That will take several days to set up and we’ll want to test it for a day or two so it doesn’t give us any unpleasant surprises once it’s on the air.

We are highly excited about our expanded programming hours and the new speakers (preaching/teaching programs) we have on HRGS. Tomorrow (Tuesday), for example, we’ll have the following English lineup:

FM

  • 7:00 – The Islander’s Hour may be our longest running program. I think it goes all the way back to 1990.
  • 7:30 – The HRGS Update, which you can listen to using the player at the bottom of this page.
  • 8:00 - Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah. We started airing this several months ago and it’s been well received.
  • 8:30 – Guidelines with Dr. Harold Sala.
  • 8:42 – The Love [Read more...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:32 — 7.2MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Events, podcasts, Praises

Good News — Bad News

July 7, 2010 By

Aunt Cora

The good news is that we went to yet another funeral yesterday. Read on and you’ll understand why I call it good news. We’d been expecting this one for a while. Cora Wood was “Aunt Cora” to everyone who knew her. She had a special affinity for the teens of Oak Ridge and taught a teen Sunday school for many years. Her health and strength had been fading for the past three years and she finally went to be with her Savior and Best Friend in the wee hours yesterday morning. Most people are not embalmed here, so the funeral is usually within 24 hours or so of death. Even though she was bed ridden for a long time, she never stopped telling everyone she could about her Jesus. Whether someone called her on the phone or stopped in for a personal visit, Aunt Cora wove God’s love into every conversation because it was an integral part of her life.

Quite often there have been hysterical displays at the funerals we’ve attended, even those of believers. But we were greatly impressed by the comportment of everyone yesterday. Aunt Cora had a tremendous testimony and even though there were lots of tears, this funeral was a celebration of the happy home-going of a servant of the Most High. We rejoice for Aunt Cora, but we’ll miss her too.

Now here is the bad news. We got a very discouraging email yesterday from our immigration lawyer and we would appreciate your prayers. It is ten days until the third anniversary of our re-arrival here at Radio HRGS. Our resident visa application has been an uphill battle all the way. Yesterday we learned that Immigration has “expired” our application because [Read more...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:07 — 7.6MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Events, podcasts, Prayer Requests

Audio Update – Week of June 28, 2010

June 30, 2010 By

We have visitors! A team from a church in Livonia, Michigan is here to help with the painting. It’s a group of young people from a church that supports the Silseths, and they are some great workers. They just started on Monday and as of the end of today, they did some finish painting on the radio station building and the shop building and are almost done with the two houses. The radio and shop buildings were a project begun by a group that was here about a two weeks ago for just one day. By the time this team was done with those buildings, I was almost finished pressure washing our house and they started on that. Now, they are almost done with our house and most of the way done with the Silseths’ house. If the weather holds up, they should be all done by the end of the day tomorrow and they can do some fun stuff on Friday before they head back north on Saturday. The Audio Update below features some of the team.

Mildred and I are mostly over our intestinal ailments. We still get tired easily (Monday’s pressure washing marathon about did me in!) and restroom duties are not quite the way they used to be yet. But it’s a lot better than last week. The past two Sundays we were too ill to go to church, so that has really put us off schedule. We’ll probably be answering “Where have you been?” questions for the next several weeks as we resume our circuit of the churches where we go to keep in touch with our listener friends.

At last, the shipping company brought the hard drives and audio cards today that we need for our dual language project. The work team here now is from the church that financed quite a chunk of that, so the timing is very exciting. I hope that I can get started on Friday with setting up the computers. All the existing computers will need three new hard drives each, operating system upgrades, and automation software upgrades. On top of that, we are adding another computer to the mix so that we will have one dedicated computer for FM and another one for AM. This entails a total remake of four computers. Once that’s done I need to set up a not-as-old computer for Mildred to use for the station finances. Hers is quite long in the tooth and, in the process of revamping studio computers, I can put a new one in a studio to start the leapfrog process and then have one left at the end for a replacement business manager computer. It’s going to be a busy time.

Travis and Emily Mitten, along with their girls, got away on time last weekend, even with Tropical Storm Alex hovering around here. Emily went almost straight to the hospital when they got there to complete tests related to her pregnancy. She is home now at her parents’ place along with the rest of the family, but she is still not able to keep down much food or liquid. Please pray for her safety and that of the baby. She’s had this kind of trouble with all of the babies, so it’s not unexpected, but it is miserable and potentially dangerous.

So, that is the week’s news in a nutshell. We do appreciate your prayers, and ask you to keep on praying for the Mitten family, for our dual language project, and for the progress of plans to replace the guy wires and to repaint the AM tower on the island of Utila later this summer.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:17 — 10.3MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Events, podcasts

Audio Update – Week of June 14, 2010

June 16, 2010 By

It’s been a bit of a wild and woolly week so far. We lost electricity for about 12 hours the other day and night and for the better part of a week the power has been off and on like the lights in a room where a 3-year old just discovered the light switch.

I think I might have the “sort-of-new” split mini air conditioner working in the audio shop now. It’s in “watch and see” mode now. It’s a very long story, but after barking up lots of wrong trees, it boils down to appearing that the voltage was just too low for it. I put it on an electrical phase with higher voltage and so far, so good. Funny how motors made to run on 220-230 volts get hot and shut down when you only give them 190 volts. You’d think an electrician would discover that quicker. Oh well. I think I’ll be shopping for a line conditioner or a transformer to boost the voltage a little for it.

It was crowded here today, as the little video below will show you. Emily Mitten’s brother-in-law is a youth pastor in Lima, Ohio and he brought down a ton of kids. Well when you multiply the number of people by some typical average weight, it has to be well over a ton. They’re doing youth ministry in schools and churches, but they spent most of the day here today painting the exterior of our studio – and our shop buildings – and themselves – and each other – and so on. They got the primer and first coat done, leaving just the final coat for us to get done before some major events this summer.

Youth Painting Project from Jerry Petersen on Vimeo.

We’re moving along on our dual language project, but about to come to a screeching halt as we await the arrival of the hard drives and sound cards we ordered. As you’ll hear on the Audio Update, we have set ourselves a deadline and we hope shipping delays don’t spoil it for us. I had to run some errands during the recording of the Update, so this week is “Jerry-less.” But Travis and Peter did an admirable job as usual and they even had a few of our special guests in the studio with them.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:07 — 10.2MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Events, podcasts, Video

A Taste of Church – Roatán Style

June 14, 2010 By

We went to the Annual Conference of the Bay Island Baptist Churches yesterday. It actually started on Thursday, but we had various things that kept us away until Sunday morning. This year, they had what I think is the best speaker in years. Dr. Randy Von Kanel, a missionary pastor in the Cayman Islands, was simple and challenging at the same time. And he sprinkled in some fun while he was at it. This is my first video project with the new computer and software. It was fun trying to condense Dr. Von Kanel’s points into sort of a “Reader’s Digest” version of the message.

Several people were baptized. Folks came from all over the islands as well as the mainland. Among those who traveled some distance was the superb choir from one of the Baptist Churches over in La Ceiba. I wish my camera microphone had better bass response because the men did a great job, but I think you’ll get the idea.

The conference is a really big deal here for the Baptist people. The little church in West End was so packed that, rather than have a bilingual service, they had to move the Spanish only speakers to another location. And, even then, the building was filled to overflowing. Take a look and have a listen. In fact, “look” and “listen” are two-thirds of the pastor’s points. See? I remembered. ;-)

2010 Baptist Conference from Jerry Petersen on Vimeo.

By the way, if you click the link below the video (2010 Baptist Conference), it will take you to the original video which is much larger.

Filed Under: Blog, Events, Video

Homeward Bound

May 8, 2010 By

Well pretty soon anyway. This is a quick update on Saturday before we begin the trek back to Roatan tomorrow. Yesterday was a big, big day. After 10 years of part time classes, full time work, and more than full time management of his cystic fibrosis, we finally got to see Jesse walk across the big platform with over a thousand other graduates to have his picture taken with the president of the University of South Florida. Woo hoo!! See the pictures and video below.

Later this morning, we’ll be going up to Land ‘O’ Lakes to spend some time with our church family from Candlewood at sort of an open market where they set up a booth once a month to meet other people in the community. Then we’ll be heading to the beach for a baptism service, joining up with our other home church, Oakwood.

Tomorrow, after church, we’ll be heading over to Orlando. There’s a restaurant Jesse wants to go to. Then he and Kristin will be dropping us off at Eddie and Janie Upchurch’s home there in Orlando where we’ll take a brief nap before Eddie and Janie take us to the airport for a 7:00 am flight back to Roatán.

We’ve had an incredible time, but now Roatán is calling us home and we are ready.

Jesse’s big walk! from Jerry Petersen on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Blog, Events, Family Happenings, Video

A busy week and a new blog feature

March 23, 2010 By

Our calendar is filling up! We’ve been having a great time reconnecting with our supporters here in the Tampa area. We’ve been touching base with someone nearly every day and sometimes more than one in a day. For example, this coming Sunday we will be at our home church, Candlewood Community, in the morning. In the afternoon we’ll be at our mission headquarters for a picnic and open house. And then we’ll go to Tampa Shores Baptist Church for their evening service. Leading up to that, we’ll be with a different family or group every evening this week. So you can see that furlough is not vacation. But for an extrovert like me, it’s a lot of fun. Mildred has fun too, but she gets tired long before I do. ;-)

As Mildred and I visit our wonderful supporters, we’re thankful to the Lord for their faithful gifts and prayers that make our ministry at Radio HRGS possible. But we wondered if, perhaps, someone who is not a regular supporter might feel led to make a special contribution to our ministry account. With that in mind, Brett Pruden at the home office has set up a special Paypal account for us and our coworkers so that we can make it easier for our friends to make those special gifts.

Near the top of this page, you’ll find a new link in the navigation menu that says, “Contribute.” That link will lead you to an easy means to make a gift toward our fund. In case you are wondering, all gifts made to or through Bible Basics International are tax deductible. Because BBI is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), you can have confidence that your gift will be used responsibly.

Whether or not you choose to use this tool to support our work at Radio HRGS, we hope you will pray for us, our coworkers, and our listeners. Thanks!

Filed Under: Blog, Daily Life, Events Tagged With:

BBI Day at Oakwood

March 18, 2010 By

What a morning we had this past Sunday! Well, the whole week has been special, but Sunday’s BBI Day at Oakwood Community Church was just about as good as it gets.

I’ve never been to a mission conference dedicated to one mission organization. I’ve usually been a little frustrated by most mission conferences both as a missionary and in our pre-missionary days. The reason is that there are usually too many missionaries scheduled for them to give an adequate presentation of their ministry in the time available.

This was Oakwood’s first attempt at this new format and we think it was a success. So did everyone I talked to about it. Gerry and Sharon Pruden were emcees and had time to share about their ministry. After a couple worship songs, Mildred and I gave an [Read more...]

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Events Tagged With:

Audio Update – Week of March 1, 2010

March 3, 2010 By

If you are wondering why the blog has been so quiet lately, there is a simple answer. I’ve just been way too busy! With the usual work here, the unusual mini-emergencies, that are only unusual in type and not in frequency, working ahead on studio work for our upcoming furlough, and the actual planning for the furlough; Mildred and I have been putting in some very long days.

I think that the long days finally caught up with me last night. My throat got more sore by the minute. So now I’m tanked up on cold medicine and getting the rest I should have gotten before. Or at least some of it. And Mildred just came back from her trip to the bank, grocery store and hardware store in town and brought me some real orange juice. Mmmmm… That’s good stuff. I love that woman!! (Note from Mildred: what Jerry means by “real orange juice” is 100% juice. Most of the “juice” available here has sugar or sweeteners added. Of course we pay more for the brands from the US, but he’s worth it!)

But, as they say, the show must go on. We recorded the HRGS Update on schedule Tuesday morning, but this is my first chance to get it processed and uploaded. It starts out with fun stuff, but then takes a turn toward the serious, as you will hear when you listen to it.

We plan to leave for the U.S. this Sunday the 7th and arrive late Sunday night in Orlando. Emily Mitten’s parents are planning to pick us up at the airport, let us spend the night with them, and then drive us to Tampa on Monday. It will be great to finally meet them.

Sunday the 14th is BBI day at Oakwood Community Church in Tampa. Oakwood will be commissioning our co-workers at Bible Basics, Brett and Leanne Pruden. The people of Oakwood are pulling out all the stops for us, even making a mock radio studio on the platform so that Mildred and I can host a make believe Sunrise Serenade program. Part of the program will be a video of some interviews with a few of our listeners. Our roots are in Oakwood. That is where we first felt the call to full time missions and where we received our commissioning, so they are especially dear to us.

But Oakwood is no longer our home church because we were blessed to be part of the task force that launched a daughter church from Oakwood and that is now our home church. We plan to be at Candlewood Community Church on the morning of March 28 (Palm Sunday). Having helped to found Candlewood, you can only imagine how precious they are to us. Then, that night, we plan to be at Tampa Shores Baptist Church.

We have many more places to visit than we can list here, but those are a few of our earliest ones. Perhaps we will see you there, and maybe I’ll put more of our schedule into a future blog entry. Let’s listen to the HRGS Update now. Thanks for praying and may the Lord bless you richly.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.5MB)

Filed Under: Audio, Blog, Events, podcasts Tagged With:
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