As the electronic media ministry of the Christian Reformed Church, The Back to God Hour (BTGH) has proclaimed the message of salvation to people around the world for more than 60 years.
Through radio, television, the Internet, telephone, and print materials, we reach people in more than 160 countries in nine major world languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
What’s New
This spring The Back to God Hour welcomed its new director, Robert Heerspink. He served on the BTGH board since 2000 and was also the senior pastor of Faith Community Christian Reformed Church in Wyoming, Mich. “Typically, when I talk to people about The Back to God Hour, their biggest surprise is the scope of our work,” he notes. “Few seem aware of the new media resources we have as well as the international reach of our witness.”
As of this year, Indonesian children can listen to a new Bible-based children’s TV program broadcast on 24 stations. Chinese-speaking children can access a new children’s website and follow the story of Yang Yang’s search for the true God. In North America, 90 new “Kids Corner” radio programs are broadcast on at least 150 radio stations and at www.kids-corner.org.
People in nearly every country can access the gospel through the Internet, even where Christianity is prohibited. BTGH operates 16 websites in nine languages.
Each month nearly 7,000 people line up at our office in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, waiting for the next lesson in the French-language Bible Correspondence Course. More than 9,000 students in Africa have enrolled in the course. Bible studies are also available in Arabic, English, Indonesian, and Japanese.
Seekers and new Christians need guidance and discipling. Our follow-up teams include pastors and volunteers in at least 40 cities around the world. Follow-up teams work in partnership with other CRC agencies and with Christian ministries to nurture new believers.
A recent partnership has launched BTGH into an exciting new ministry with Words of Hope (Reformed Church in America) and FEBA (Far East Broadcasting Association). The goal is to produce simplified English programs for listeners around the world.
Website: www.btgh.org
United States: 800-879-6555;
708-371-8700
Canada: 800-730-3490;
905-336-2920
E-mail: btgh@crcna.org
Resources
Resources provided by The Back to God Hour include
- print materials, including about 540,000 devotional booklets published in seven languages bimonthly;
- CDs and DVDs providing biblical messages in nine languages;
- children’s stories and activities;
- discipling materials for new believers;
- “Reach Your World,” a new project to help children get excited about missions. Includes an interactive poster with stickers, a CD with samples of children’s programs in seven languages, and a new mission song;
- posters, bulletin inserts, and brochures for Mission Emphasis events.
Quick Facts
- Last year 1.3 million people contacted BTGH in response to hearing God’s Word proclaimed.
- BTGH broadcasts on more than 790 radio stations plus two major short-wave outlets and nearly 300 TV stations around the world.
- Responses have been received from more than 160 countries since BTGH began.
- BTGH provides Internet or cell phone access to daily devotionals in eight languages, plus an online Korean version translated by volunteers in California.
