Printing with a Purpose: The HCJB Print Shop
HCJB began Heralding Christ Jesus Blessings via radio on Christmas day 1931. Today HCJB also proclaims the gospel through television, health care, education, the world wide web and printed media. In 1948 the founder of HCJB, Clarence Jones, saw the need to help train pastors and leaders in Latin America. So in 1949 HCJB began the Bible Institute of the Air to produce radio programs along with a series of correspondence courses. As that ministry grew, HCJB began its own print shop in 1960 in order to mass produce the course materials. Over a period of 35 years, the Bible Institute of the Air produced and printed some 186,000 course books for Spanish speakers in 37 countries. |
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Today the print shop produces more than 2,500,000 pieces of literature annually such as brochures, radio program schedules, prayer letters, prayer cards, tracts, training materials and books.
In the printed edition of this On Location you would see four examples of work done by the print shop. 1) Our prayer letter 2) The return address on our envelopes 3) The design of the 70th anniversary stamp by Kym Giles (Duane provided the photos used for the stamps). 4) The photo above shows one of HCJB’s print shop's latest projects, the printing of the New Testament translated by Wycliffe into the Awa Pit Language. |
I recently had the chance to spend most of one day helping the print shop do the final compiling of the Awa Pit New Testament. The work itself was not very glamorous. It essentially consisted of walking around a table and picking up twelve sections of the New Testament and then placing it on another table where they are carefully boxed and sent to be bound. On the other hand, it is sort of neat to think that I had helped with the final assembly of some 500 copies of the Awa Pit New Testament. But most exciting is to think about the impact that this printed portion of God’s Word will have on the lives of this small tribe in northern Ecuador which has never had a portion of the Bible printed in its language. I’m thankful for HCJB’s print shop and its many years of wonderful ministry. Most of all, I’m thankful for the incredible impact that it has had on the growth of the Latin America church. DB |
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One of the things I enjoy doing each year is participating in the annual CCC retreat. For me it is a great chance to get know students outside of the classroom and on a more personal level. Of course it is a great time of fun, sharing, worship and learning. This year’s theme was "Celebrating who we are in Christ." DB |
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Praise Items: Praise that Duane has completely recovered from a staph infection that put him in the hospital for six days in December. We were glad that he was home for Christmas! Thank God for the 500 children who came to HCJB’s annual Christmas party. Pray as local churches follow up with 60 children who made decisions for Christ. Praise for 2200 people who attended the annual Christmas party at Zambiza, the Quito dump. Praise for the those who accepted Christ as their Savior during follow-up visits. Prayer Items: Pray for our Home Ministry Assignment this summer. |
Requests include: safety as we travel, good health, good speaking engagements and that the girls will travel well and adjust well to all the changes. Pray that the Awa Pit New Testament will have a positive impact on the Awa community living in northern Ecuador and southern Colombia. Pray for Duane over the next several weeks as he finishes various photography projects and as he completes teaching his photography class at the CCC. Continue to pray for Yuvi, Karina and Monica, women in Cheri’s cell group. Pray that they would grow in their relationship with the Lord. |
ON LOCATION The Birkeys’ prayer letter
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