In the isolated countryside of Bolivia, Bruce and Janice Johnson were laying the footings for a new radio studio. A man approached them, said he’d been curious, and had to come investigate. He told them his daughter listens to a radio station in San Borja (Bruce and Janice’s first station).
“She listens to it all day and night, even when other languages are spoken, because she knows they are talking about God. You see, she was born blind and that radio station is her world!”
Bruce and Janice serve with Ethnos 360. They have worked in Bolivia for over twenty years setting up radio stations and producing programs in six different languages. Bolivia is a country in west-central South America and runs from the peaks of the Andes Mountains in the west to the Amazon Basin in the east. About three dozen people groups account for sixty percent of the population.
The original station has been on the air now for almost twenty years, and the second station has been operating for nearly five years. The goal was to translate and produce programs in the Chimane language, but it didn’t take long for other tribes to begin requesting programs in their language too. Currently there are programs in Ayore, Chimane, Yuracare, Trinitario, Simba, and Ese Ejja! Spanish programs are also rebroadcast from BBN.
The Johnsons started broadcasts with a boom box, twelve-volt battery and a solar panel. Since that time, they have become partners with SonSet Solutions, and we have assisted them in upgrading their equipment.
Bruce and Janice wrote, “We thank you for your concern for this outreach via radio, the equipment your ministry put together for us, antennas, and transmitter. We are deeply grateful for your knowledge and support.”
Written by Alysia Kinney