page_title: World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc.
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc. / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Radio HCJB Deutsch: Radio HCJB
context_page_description: World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc., also known as Reach Beyond, is a corporate entity and nonprofit, noncommercial, interdenominational worldwide missionary organization with headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
context_section_description: World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc. - Reach Beyond - began in 1931 as Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, South America. The ministry was the vision of Clarence W. Jones, a musician, graduate of Moody Bible Institute, and the son of a Salvation Army minister. Following his graduation from Moody, Jones worked under evangelist Paul Rader and was part of the founding staff of the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle where Jones assisted in leading music, working with youth and overseeing Rader's weekly radio ministry called "WJBT" (Where Jesus Blesses Thousands) Impressed by the impact Rader's radio ministry had made, Jones felt called to establish missionary radio in Latin America. As a result, Jones traveled to Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Cuba on a seven-week trip in 1928 looking for a suitable location for his envisioned radio station, but was unable to obtain the necessary government permits. Back in Chicago nearly two years later, Jones met Christian & Missionary Alliance (C&MA) missionaries from Ecuador - Reuben and Grace Larson, John and Ruth Clark and Paul and Bernice Young. These missionaries encouraged Jones to consider Ecuador as the place to start his missionary radio station.
  As the first step in fulfilling his vision, Jones needed to obtain a contract of approval from the Ecuadorian government for setting up the radio station. Reuben Larson and D. Stuart Clark, along with Ecuadorian lawyer Luís Calisto, worked to procure the initial contract. On August 15, 1930, the Ecuadorian Congress approved a bill which granted Jones a 25-year contract to operate a radio station in the country.
  
  As with all countries having a governing body over broadcast operations, the call letters HCJB were obtained through the government of Ecuador, beginning with the internationally allocated prefix for Ecuador's broadcast stations (HC). Station co-founders Jones and Larson advocated for, and were granted by the government, call letters that were an acronym indicative of the stations' agreed upon purpose.  The result was Heralding Christ Jesus' Blessings. In Spanish (one of the original broadcast languages of the South American station) the call letters represent Hoy Cristo Jesús Bendice.
  Jones incorporated the World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc. (WRMF) on March 9, 1931 as a non-profit entity and overseeing organization over HCJB. Jones was also the non-profit corporation's first president. The corporation's first officers were Adam Welty as treasurer, Ruth Churchill, secretary, and Lance Latham and his wife, Virginia, along with Howard Jones and Reuben Larson serving on the board of directors.
  HCJB's first broadcast on Christmas Day, 1931 had the potential of being heard by the six radio receivers capable of receiving the program and existing in the country at the time. The inaugural program was broadcast in English and Spanish from a studio in the Joneses' living room and powered by a 200-watt, table-top transmitter.  The antenna used was a simple, single-wire antenna strung between two makeshift telephone poles. The broadcast lasted 30 minutes.
caption: The grounds of radio station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador
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