Lausanne World Pulse – Leadership Development and HCJB World Radio

By Jon Hirst and Dee Nyamieh Walker

Leadership development needs to be a core methodology to produce strong Christian leaders today and in generations to come.

Everyone wants to know the secret when it comes to developing successful leaders. One can find books, television interviews, magazine articles and blogs which chronicle the elements of long-term success in developing leaders. Even the most trite resources will give a list of ten items that will ensure a leader’s skills; more enlightened authors will talk about the hard work and diligence necessary to see personal development realized. We tend to buy the Top-Ten list just for the sake of convenience.

But deep down most of us know the truth about leadership development—especially when it involves work in God’s harvest. We know that it is God’s hand that guides, and it is only in his time that people’s hearts are engaged. So with a kingdom perspective on leadership, what lessons can we learn about the development of leadership?

Lessons from the Past
HCJB World Radio is charting a course for the future that views leadership development as a core methodology. As we press forward, we have learned a few simple lessons and are developing new strategies. We share these not to serve as a roadmap, but rather as the story of a fellow traveler.

Lesson #1: Long-term dedication to the work of discipleship in a given place. HCJB World Radio is a unique mission agency because technology caused us to do the opposite of what a mission agency usually does. Instead of sending people around the world to share the good news, people from around the world began to come to one location—Quito, Ecuador. The reason was simple: Due to high-power shortwave technology, it was possible to make Christian broadcasts available to a significant portion of the world’s landmass from one location high in the Andes Mountains.

This created an interesting dynamic. All of the broadcasters spent time in the studio ministering to invisible audiences globally; however, their work did not stop there. Out of the momentum of a single missionary radio station launched in Quito on Christmas Day 1931, HCJB World Radio has helped start churches, found growing healthcare ministries and spearhead leadership development efforts.

Because the radio ministry started when there were just a handful of radio receivers, the work was very local. But as it gained global impact, the local leadership development continued. While we have seen many struggles in our passion for leadership development, the long-term investment has allowed God to work through those struggles. Nothing can replace the long-term investment we make in people and their development as leaders.

Today, many Ecuadorians consider HCJB World Radio a national treasure. They see the ministry training Ecuadorians and Latin Americans in media, medicine and, most importantly, God’s Word. Long-term investment has great rewards. Two examples of this include (1) the Bible Institute of the Air, launched in 1949, which helps people study scripture via the airwaves and (2) the Palmer School of Nursing, founded in Quito in 1955, which trained nurses to practice medicine throughout Ecuador and Latin America for a time. Both efforts have expanded in many ways. HCJB World Radio is involved in Bible teaching around the world via the mass media, and its medical training includes new areas such as family practice residency programs.

Jon Hirst is communications director for HCJB World Radio. Dr. Dennis “Dee” Nyamieh Walker is director of global education for HCJB World Radio. He also serves as visiting assistant professor of education at Trinity College of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, USA.