Reaching Mexico and Central America for Christ through the airwaves has been the mission of David and Lorna Daniell for many years, but doing so in Mexico has been like trying to run a radio station from car batteries.
Actually, that is exactly what Radio Berea in Setul, which is in the K’ekchi’ region of Guatemala, does. It operates exclusively off car batteries for its 10 watts of power, because electricity has not yet come to Setul. But Christian radio is making strides in many parts of Latin America and is beginning to in Mexico. Many stations use conventional means of power, especially in the larger cities.
“David has always referred to radio as an electronic ‘John the Baptist,’ a voice on the airwaves, preparing the way for the gospel,” said Lorna Daniell.
The Daniells, both International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries living in Mexico City, plan to retire soon and live in Alabama, where they have family living already. David became a media missionary to Mexico in 1966. Lorna Daniell has worked as a part-time professor of Christian education and graphic arts at the Mexican Baptist Theological Seminary, Lomas Verdes, Estado de México. This means “state of Mexico.”
David Daniell, who is the IMB media consultant for Mexico and Central America for the IMB, said that Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama have had the freedom for generations to broadcast religious programs.
Partly because of this, he estimates that in Central America as a whole that 35 – 40 percent of the population is evangelical Christian, while in Mexico, where broadcasting was extremely limited before 1992, he places the percentage at 6– 10 percent.
Despite difficulties, the Daniells and other Christian broadcasters have persisted in sending the Christian message to the people of Latin America in creative ways.
“Over the last 30 years or so, Baptists have been some of the major producers of Christian radio drama in Spanish. We produced “iQué Familia Mas Felíz!,” a series of about 173, 14-minute dramas; Así Es La Vida,” a series of 27-minute dramas; “Otro Camino,” a series of 30, 27-minute contemporary dramas; and about 144, 12-minute Bible dramas,” David Daniell said.
Thanks to pressure from the United States that Mexico practice religious freedom, Mexico’s government lifted many of its restrictions on religious activity, clearing the air for Christian broadcasting. This began in 1992 with changes in Mexico’s constitution, but widespread saturation of the radio markets with Christian programming is taking time — and money.
To help keep Christian stations on the air and operating smoothly, David Daniell has broadcast engineers Larry Baysinger of Louisville, Ky., and George Franklin of Big Spring, Texas, who are volunteering their skills, and more volunteers are needed, he said.
David Daniell said that to the best of his knowledge, there are three Christian radio stations in all of Mexico — Radio Bekal, a 1-kilowatt AM station in Bekal, Campeche, a 500-watt short-wave station in Linares, Nuevo Leon, and Radio Luz/1040 AM, a 24-hour, 5-kilowatt station in Chihuahua, Chihuahua.
“Now that Mexico has this freedom on their airwaves we are noticing a groundswell of Baptists who are wanting their own programs and even their own stations. God is beginning to open doors and we are excited to think about what this is going to mean to this generation. We think big things are getting ready to happen,” Lorna Daniell said.
“Groups of Baptists in the City of Veracruz; Orizaba, Veracruz; Tecolotilla, Tabasco; and Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, are seeking licenses to operate 250-watt FM educational-cultural radio stations,” David Daniell said.
“The catch is a $21,000 mortgage and a $6,000 bond up front. The $21,000 is refundable upon the government’s receipt of proof that the station’s equipment was purchased here in Mexico — and the 25–35 percent importation taxes paid. The $6,000 bond stays in the bank for the first license period (five years). And the bank charges about $600 dollars a year fee for this.”
Throughout Central and Middle America, Daniell works with 11 Baptist radio stations as well as with many pastors who buy time on secularly owned stations. He makes sure the pastors have programming materials, spots, workshops and technical assistance from volunteer engineers and assistance in choosing and acquiring equipment.
As a way to reach people by radio since 1968 and up until July 20, 1980, Baptists placed public service programming on 29 secular stations in Mexico, including big markets like Monterrey.
The programs were five minutes and covered topics including alcoholism, child discipline, youth, ethics and marriage. There were programs such as “ Sabia Usted?” and “ Tia Sofia?” aired Mondays through Saturdays. “ Tia Sofia?” is Bible stories for children.
David Daniell, with more than 40 years’ experience in radio and TV broadcasting, has been putting his skills to work for Christ in many ways, one of which was producing two made-for-TV dramas, “En Sombra de Muerte” (In the Shadow of Death) and “Vidas Cruzadas” (Mixed-Up Lives).
The National Baptist Convention of Mexico’s media department, called Medios Educativos, Asociacion, a nonprofit organization, helps pastors with religious broadcasting.
Medios helps them use proper techniques of producing radio programs and supplies them with promos, spots, closings, openings and bridges — all important components to an effective, professional presentation.
The Daniells hope to see the same kind of success in Mexico that they’ve seen in Guatemala, where people “poured out of the mountains and river areas to the station saying that they believed what they were hearing was truth, and they wanted someone to come to their village to help them start a church.”
Radio K’ekchi’
In the first 15 months Radio K’ekchi’ in Guatemala began broadcasting 14 years ago, 15 new congregations were started in the K’ekchi’ region.
Many people were hearing the gospel in their own language for the first time. K’ekchi’ is a language that traces its ancestry to the Mayan civilization. K’ekchi’ is spoken today in some of southern Mexico, as well as in Guatemala and parts of some other Central American countries.
IMB missionary Jim McGriff, working in the K’ekchi’ region of Guatemala, said that 51 new congregations had recently begun in an area of very strong resistance.
Lorna Daniell said, “We look for that same sort of thing to happen here in Mexico as attitudes are changed by these radio programs. I’m sure many of these pastors who are on the air have stories to tell of the impact Christian radio has had on lives. Many local people will listen to an evangelical preach or sing in the privacy of their own home who would never want to be seen going into an evangelical church.”
In late May, Radio K’ekchi’ will increase its power to a full 5 kilowatts, enabling it to be heard all over Central America and southeast Mexico, said David Daniell.
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