Welcome to the FEBC Family

Feba UK is just one of 26 offices which make up FEBC International.

Whilst the Far East Broadcasting family has been in existence for more than 60 years, Gill Knowles sat down with Bob Chambers, Feba UK Chief Executive fresh back from the Association Annual Conference, to find out what’s new.

GK: The FEB family has been around for a while so what is new about FEBC International Association?

BC: Well, one of the reasons for having this year’s FEBC Annual Conference in Hong Kong is that FEBC Hong Kong was celebrating their 60th anniversary. There are other members of the Association a similar age and Feba UK is approaching our own diamond anniversary next year. FEBC and Feba have always been sister organisations but over these 60 years or so two parallel networks have developed. Then work was done to come together with a new charter and to create a new association in 2014. So in that sense we’ve got individual members who are relatively mature but operating in a new, joined up way globally.

FEBC and Feba have always been sister organisations...

GK: In what way are each of the FEBC and Feba offices independent?

BC: Each of the offices has its own country director and local board, and they have a fairly high level of local autonomy, for example, decision making around the way they engage with their supporters or the projects they choose to invest in. For ministry fields, those offices which do the broadcast work on the ground, their autonomy means that they have a lot of freedom to determine how best they think they can serve the needs of their local communities.

GK: And then working together, what does that look like?

BC: The accountability we have within the Association counters some of the autonomy that offices enjoy – it’s not unfettered. There are checks and balances as the Association, so there’s that confidence that comes from someone else keeping an eye, which I think is a positive thing. Working together also includes the sharing of resources and the sharing of good practice. The existence of the Association in its present form is a good thing. I acknowledge that it is still developing but it has real potential to grow into something that enables us to achieve more through being joined up than a very fragmented group of individual offices.

Feba UK CEO Bob Chambers at the ICC in Hong Kong 2018

Feba CEO Bob Chambers at the International Council in Hong Kong, 2018

GK: Some of the resourcing fields [fundraising offices like Feba UK] join together to support a ministry field. How does that work and what does that partnership look like?

BC: A recent example of that is the Yemen Project, which is a long-standing project in the portfolio here in Feba UK, and we receive contributions from some other fields for that. We have a written document that sets out an understanding between the two offices. Not all contributors have the direct contact we have with our partner on the ground, so we adopt a lead partner role. We are also exploring possible new projects where we would be the contributing partner and one of the other resource fields would be the lead partner.

...people working creatively to use radio and other audio media to inspire people to follow Jesus Christ with a concern for the whole person

GK: So that’s something Feba UK supporters should look out for?

BC: I think in the immediate, short term, the lion’s share of our portfolio is likely to be made up of projects that people are already familiar with. But I do think there will be a fresh injection of some new projects under the Association banner, within the family. And I think there’s a lot of really encouraging, good work that’s happening in the Association that is closely aligned with the sorts of projects and approaches that we’ve been known for in recent years; people working creatively to use radio and other audio media to inspire people to follow Jesus Christ with a concern for the whole person.

Prayer suggestions for our International Association