Update 2 Constanza

LATEST NEWS!!

Hi Guys

Just wanted to send you a quick update....a request and a few reminders.

 

Alfredo said that a number of people talked to him on the street about listening to ETH radio... these were unsaved people.

Alfredo is well known in town, so this is a good way to get feedback.

 

Yesetrday Alfredo and I went to several pastors to start showing the christian films we are using in cooperation with churches throughout Constanza, we will also use these outreaches as an opportunity to promote ETH.

 

This Sunday we are also starting a new permanent outreach in what is so far the most remote place in the mountains where we are working.

 

Recently we were in the city of La Vega and talked with the local prison of 900 inmates... however they were not very thrilled to see Audio Bibles, as the prison does not allow access to electronics for inmates.

We still need to talk with the prisons head hancho to see if we can get an exemption.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

We recently brought in 40 Audio Bibles with MFI into the city of Santiago.

Customs wanted $1000 in  taxes for the units which was negotiated down to $345.

This was a fluke thing as MFI was dealing with a customs lady they usually dont have contact with as she is new.

However we learned a few important things out of that mishap.

First of all, once anything with customs is in their computer it can not be reversed, even if it were taxed too high...at least that is what it seems like as the customs lady simply searched the internet to get a price on the units instead of looking at the actual stickers on each Audio Bible. Also the taxes cannot be returned or waived if the items are returned to the US because they are broke or because of damage. 

 

Second ... and this is the good news, MFI has a good Dominican guy on the ground who is doing all the processing with customs for all their shipments.

He told me that it is not a problem to get electronic equipment through customs if he is advised of it prior to arrival so that he can work this out with Santiago customs beforehand.....good to know as this helps eliminate at least in some cases lengthy trips to the capitol in order to get the tax exemption papers.

.... I would like to get the (ETH frequency anylyzer) equipment to Constanza so that we can start the same (frequency study) process here.

We recently talked with missionaries in the town of Jarabacoa who were surprised about radio in Constanza and asked if it were possible to get radio into Jarabacoa if possible.

Jarabacoa is half way between Santiago and Constanza and I would have thought that they could receive Christian stations from Santiago, however that does not seem to be the case.

If you want me to I can investigate more on that further down the road.

 

Keep up the good work.

Much joy in our Lord

Greetings Wolfgang

 

p.s.

Tobi and Sina are back from Australia, they send greetings and had a great time hunting Roo in the outback
.

Missionary Aeroplanes

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"One of the farmers from the first village we started working in told us that we are the only hope his village has."

Ears To Hear Radio

partners in Constanza Update

Grotendiek Update Constanza, DR

January 2014

Dear friends,

As we continue to settle in Constanza, we are thankful that the Lord has brought us here to serve Him.

The new video system is working great! Wolfgang has completed the initial outreaches in 3 villages, first showing the Jesus film and second showing a film about the Bible, called the “Hope Project.” He now plans to use the video series “Stranger on the Road to Emmaus” to help the people study through the Bible. This phase is more intense and Wolfgang hopes to visit each village once a week for regular Bible study.

 

One of the farmers from the first village we started working in told us that we are the only hope his village has. He of course was referring to spiritual hope. What a privilege it is to be a part of the work the Lord has been doing here! We know that people have come before us and we are reminded of 1 Corinthians 3:7-8 “..neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose….”

Going out to these mountain villages requires constant maintenance and repair on the motorbikes. We currently keep 2 bikes going so that Wolfgang can bring someone with him. We are praying for more helpers from the local church to share in this work and eventually take ownership of ministering to a particular village. Wolfgang usually travels out to a village in the late afternoon and returns at night. One in particular is not totally accessible by motorbike and the last trail segment requires hiking down to the river. At the urging of our Dominican friend Miguelito, Wolfgang, our friend Holger from Germany, and Miguelito hiked into this village to make initial contact and a plan of return to show a film. The next week Wolfgang returned, this time with our missionary friend Shawn from Ears to Hear Radio and his daughter Kylie. However due to rain, the river had risen and they got wetter than anticipated. Once in the village, they discovered the school was locked and they would have to show the film outdoors. Not a problem really until five minutes into the movie it started raining…. But this didn’t keep people from staying or more from coming! The villagers huddled under a tree for one and a half hours watching the entire film. Finally in the foggy, rainy darkness, Wolfgang, Shawn, and Kylie hiked back up to the motorbikes, drove down the mountain trails, and arrived home covered with mud. 

 

 

Kelly has started volunteering in the office of one of the schools in town. She hopes to learn more about the education system and how it functions within the culture. Going to school in the DR is not enforced and we know many older kids who either have a very poor education or none at all. Because of their age, we would like to help them learn something practical in order to find a job or generate income. Kelly has some ideas and is praying and waiting for clear leading from the Lord on when, how, and what exactly to start doing.

The BD-4 aircraft is still currently in Wauchula, Florida. We are awaiting completion of Stateside paperwork before Wolfgang can fly it over. Meanwhile Wolfgang hopes to meet with various airport authorities to begin investigating the building permit process for a hangar. He also continues to pursue an exemption for airplane parking and landing fees. Although we have been told this is possible, it seems actual success depends on with whom you talk and on what day. Please pray for Wolfgang, the authorities, and mostly that we remember all things are under the Lord’s sovereign control and in His perfect time.

Great news! Radio Alpha 99.5 FM Constanza now airs 4 hours of Christian programming 7 days a week! This more than doubles the airtime as before. Ears To Hear Radio provides the programming for the show while 2 local pastors (that’s Pastor Carlos in the photo) run the equipment and answer the phone. Keep praying for the positive impact of Christian radio in this community! 

 

As you have read, there are many things going on here around us. It is our joy and privilege to be a part of them, and we thank you for your part in our lives,

Wolfgang and Kelly

Give the Gift Of The Gospel This Christmas Please Click to Donate at the Paypal Donate Now button to your right. Please be sure to indicate what your gift is for in the memo field. Or feel free to mail your check to:
Ears To Hear Ministries
PO Box 367
Parkton, MD 21120-0367
with "AirTime" to support air time
with "Pastor Carlos" to support him
with  "MotorBike" to purchase a ministry bike for Constanza.

God Bless you this Christmas season as we remember the greatest gift ever given through Jesus born to redeem us!

Thank you for a great year of serving our Lord together.

February Update

ON THE AIR 102.3 FM View this email in your browser

"Every heart with Christ, a missionary; every heart without Christ, a mission field."-Dick Hillis (China Inland Missions) Radio 102.3 FM St Marc, Haiti Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Rebuilding the Voice of Salvation I know that April is almost over and I am just now getting to an update for February.  Let me just say that SO much has happened in the past few months that I am just now sitting down with a brief period of time to be able to reflect on all of the things that have happened. As you know ETH has had this Station rebuild project in Haiti on the books for over two years. In fact when we first prayed about this opportunity that God placed in our laps to partner with St.Marc Church of the Nazarene to breathe new life back in to the station there, we were careful not to commit to any specific time frame for the rebuild. When the project was released I had often prayed and knew that one day the switch would be turned back on and several times I had thought to myself that it seemed impossible when we had a budget goal of 10,000 USD for new equipment and had only seen a 25.00 check here and a 500.00 check there roll in. I remember the first time I had met Ebed Dodo. He was introduced to me my Pastor Julian of Greater Grace in Peurto Rico on one of our trips to Haiti to serve alongside Pastor Bill Cannon. Ebed is the son of Pastor Jaques Pierre who is the pastor of the St Marc Church of the Nazarene and he is also the one who owns the Radio Station in St Marc. When Ebed told me of their station which was the first Christian Radio Station in St.Marc, Haiti, and how God was using it to reach so many for the the kingdom of God, I understood that it would be a great thing to get the station back on the air. He told me of many who had committed to follow Christ because of the clear message of the gospel being broadcast over 102.3 FM. He told me of the open prayer time for the community where they would open up the phone lines to hear and pray for the requests of those in the community. He then told me that after the earthquake which took so many lives that day in January 2010 it also took the life out of the radio station in St. Marc. After the earthquake many people migrated north toward St. Marc and the population of this city has grown to over 200,000 people in the city and many in the hills and countryside near St. Marc.

This is the  Entrance to St. Marc, Haiti So needless to say God has shown Himself faithful to the people of Haiti, and through a partnership with Galcom International, God provided the funding needed to purchase the equipment for the rebuild of the Station in St. Marc. There were so many aspects to the logistics of getting the equipment to the final destination and SO many people whom God has used to be a part of this project. Chris Bartholme (VP Ears To Hear) and myself worked many hours with Engineer David Creel (Far East Broadcasting/Galcom Intl) to select just the right equipment which meant many emails and communications with Michelle Cope (Galcom) and an occasional phone call or FB message to Tim Whitehead(Galcom) to finally get the equipment on its way to Missionary Flights International. MFI flew the equipment in to Barahona, where I live so that everything could be reviewed so that we could be certain that we had everything that we needed. Then the equipment was repacked into suit cases, driven to the border town stored for a few days at the Chadasha Mission Base in Jimani, Dominican Republic where our friends from the Mennonite Mission IFM helped us transport the equipment across the border safely into Haiti. God had assembled just the right Team to go to St Marc for the install of the Station. Chris Bartholme (ETH), Pastor Julian Matthews (GGWO PR), Pastor Rob Dressel (Grace Church PR), Wolfgang Grotendeik (Missionary Aeroplanes), Tobias Grotendeik, Pastor Bill Cannon (GGWO Haiti),and myself were able to join forces and take on the repair of the tower, the install of the new antennaes ,the nstall of the new transmitter and countless other things to make this installation complete. The Roof of the transmitter room. So we arrived in Haiti at the IFM mission base in Fond Parisien. When we arrived there we had met with Aaron Lavvy and his staff, along with Ebed and a truck from Global Orphan Project and a van from Chadasha International to help get us and all of the Radio Equipment safely to St. Marc which is a several hour journey once we had safely made it through the border. Anyone who has been through the Mal-Pas/Jimani border knows that it was a miracle of God for us to pass through the border without paying any customs fees or having any trouble at all with the paperwork for the passing. Praise God for His faithfulness!! Praise God for His faithful servants along the way! St. Marc In St Marc we set up camp at Ebed's house where his mom took care of us really well! We were welcomed in as part of the family for a week as we co-labored to make this vision a reality. Pastor Julian and Pastor Rob stayed with Pastor Bill and Cheryl a little further up the mountain in St Marc. When we arrived at the station we began to sort through all of the equipment as well as taking the first day to put together a plan of action for the install. We needed to completely clean off the roof of the station, remove the old equipment from the tower, remove the old equipment from the station as well as secure the tower before anyone could safely climb it. Day 2 began with shattered dreams as we realized we still had many electrical issues that had not been solved with the power coming from the streets. We were in need of running all new electric line from the street back to the station. We had not figured any of this in the budget! Thank God Pastor Bill who lived in St Marc had the knowledge of where to go to purchase the needed wire and Pastor julian had the Creole speaking skills to negotiate the price. The church came up with half the money needed and ETH was able to cover the other amounts needed to purchase the needed wire. Pastor Julian and Chris Bartholme work on the electrical issue. I was blessed to climb and check connections before the transmitter was turned on. The work continued as we installed the new equipment inside the station as well. The new transmitter was the big deal as well as just making the studio more functional. New equipment to play digital media and also new headphones, mixer, mics, cables etc... help to make the station more modern. As we were serving to install the station, we took an evening to go to the area where Pastor Bill lived and did an outreach movie. We showed the Passion of the Christ. We had several young men dedicate their lives to the Lord after the film. Had a great turnout for our evening outreach Movie. We had many complications, but finally we were able run all of the checks and prepare to fire up the station. Chris Bartholme did the honors of pushing the button. We had a very clear signal!! Praise God the Voice of Salvaton is finally back on the air. It was pretty amazing. All the guys were high five-ing each other members of the church were clapping and we were careful to give God all the honor and the glory as we celebrated this time together. Chris did the honors of pushing the button. We spent the next few days broadcasting and training the men on the equipment. We brought with us a few Galcom Fix-tuned Solar powered Radios to distribute. What a blessing to be able to get some of these Radios into the hands of Barbara MacLeod who has a prison ministry at the St Marc Prison. Pastor Bill has visited the prison regularly as well to share Jesus with the inmates. The conditions at this prison are very poor. When we went to the prison, they decided that we could not go in at the last minute. I was a little discouraged but very determined that some of these radios were supposed to make it in to the prison. We did not have enough to distribute one to each cell so the Lord put on my heart to give them enough for each of the Ladies cells and then later in the year we will distribute the rest to the prison. Here is where I need to jump ahead of the story. Pastor Bill Cannon Pastor Bill has been a tremendous blessing to all of us. He was a huge blessing in getting the station on the air as well. Just a few days after we had crossed the border from Haiti back into the Dominican Republic and the same day Pastor Julian and Pastor Rob had made it back to Peurto Rico from the Dominican Republic on the Ferry, we had received the news that Pastor Bill Cannon had passed in the evening due to an Asthma attack. Needless to say the words brought a shock to us because we had just been working together , worshiping together, praying together, just a few days earlier. Here is a link where you can read Pastor Julians blog about Pastor Bill: click here You can also watch a video of Pastor Bills work here: click here You can watch Pastor Bills memorial service here: click here Shortly after returning to the DR I had received an email from Barb here is a small excerpt from that letter: "Hi Shawn:   Boy, it’s been a couple of tough weeks.  We are really mourning Bill’s death.  He touched us more than we imagined.  He was so humble we really didn’t know much about him.  I just watched the video of his service on Monday.  It was so good.   Just to let you know that the women in prison still have the solar radios that they received.  That is how they heard that Bill had died....." Bless you Barb MacLeod " Broadcasting after so much work was done. Rob built a fire on the roof to weld the ends on to the wires. Ebed's mom fixed us a huge celebration dinner to show thanks for the hard work. CHris found a little friend at dinner. So Thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this work . To God be all the honor and Glory. It was a great pleasure to work with such a great team and also with great partners like Galcom International. We believe this is just the beginning God has great plans for this station, for these people and for the work in St. Marc, Haiti. Blessings, A view of St Marc from the roof of the station The Team members as we met in Barahona, Dominican Republic before leaving for Haiti, Left to Right: Pastor Julian Matthews, Chris Bartholme, Shawn Rineholt, Wolfgang Grotendeik, Tobi Grotendeik, and Pastor Rob Dressel. Pastor Bill Cannon met us in St.Marc and also helped with the Radio Install. Pastor Julian and Pastor Rob brought many supplies from Peurto Rico for the School in the DR, as well as things for the children of Haiti. Packing the van for the trip to the border. We arrived in Jimani. The transfer of supplies from one PR vehicle one DR vehicle into the Haiti vehicle. Finally loaded and ready to go into Haiti The Electricians work to complete the new service to the Station. Sorting through the equipment and getting things ready for the install. Another planning and troubleshooting session. Removal of the old equipment. Using the safety harness. Tobi spent a lot of time in the air. Pastor Julian and Pastor Bill searched the city for all the parts that we needed. The Install of the antenna and the cables. A view of the city from the bottom ariel. Pastor Bill Cannon and Cheryl Cannon. Galcom Fix-tuned Solar Radio for 102.3 FM Galcom Fix-tuned Solar Radio for 102.3 FM Our visit to the Maranatha Children of Grace orphanage in St Marc. Maranatha Children of Grace orphanage in St Marc. our photo shoot on the way back out of Haiti. Share Tweet Forward to Friend

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