Saturday mornings in Brazil are much like Saturday mornings in North America. Children sit with eyes glued to the TV, watching to see their favorite superhero once again defeat the enemy.
But on the Saturday morning before Christmas last year, children watching Globo Television Network (GTN) in Brazil learned about the ultimate superhero.
This year GTN, the number one network in Brazil, will once again air the Portuguese-language version of The Back to God Hour’s Prince of Peace video, a 3-D animation of the Christmas story.
Rev. Celsino Gama, the Portuguese-language ministry leader, had been prepared to pay for the broadcast. Instead GTN agreed to pay The Back to God Hour for the rights to air the video. And they gave it a prime viewing spot: a Saturday morning when an estimated 6.2 million children between the ages of 4 and 11 are watching television.
Responses to all of the Portuguese-language ministries have been overwhelming. In December 2005, 460,000 copies of a special edition of CADA DIA (TODAY) were distributed over the Christmas season. Last January more than 10,000 listeners contacted The Back to God Hour’s follow-up center in Campinas, Brazil.
“Now our prayer is that God will provide more follow-up volunteers for our expanding ministry,” Rev. Gama said. Pray also that God will continue to work in the hearts of those who respond and that he will provide the resources for discipling those who commit their lives to Christ.
GTN was so pleased with the viewing numbers that it is negotiating for the rights to air the program in future years.
In the media world, numbers determine market share. Even for The Back to God Hour, numbers help measure the impact of ministry. But to God each number, big or small, represents someone precious in his sight.
For information about obtaining a copy of The Prince of Peace or The First Easter, visit www.btgh.org.
About the Author
Nancy Vander Meer is a staff writer with Back to God Ministries International in Grand Rapids, Mich.
