Radio program producer speaks in Honduras

WINNIPEG

When Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras, the heart of a Winnipeg radio producer, Ernesto Pinto, felt the blow. In January, Honduran pastors organized three crusades with Pinto as speaker. A native Honduran, Pinto produces a weekly Spanish program Encuentro in the Winnipeg studio of MB Communications/Family Life Network. Twenty-five churches of various denominations cooperated to host the crusades held in the central city of Juticalpa and near the coast in San Pedro Sula.

Hondurans, still piecing together their lives after Hurricane Mitch, were grateful for Pinto's spiritual guidance. One night near the close of a meeting as Pinto prayed individually over those surrounding him, the audience broke into applause. Later the people explained, "The town witch came up to you for a special prayer. We were so happy!"

Several radio producers arranged for call-in shows with Pinto. The topic, "Who are the real delinquents--the parents or their kids?", aroused a strong response in Central America where traditional family structures are weak. After hearing Pinto's talk, a 53-year-old caller broke down and cried on the broadcast, "Now I know why I am so abusive to my wife and children."

Pinto visited his own relatives affected by the hurricane. "In one of their homes, the walls were still standing, but they had lost everything. A nephew lost some fingers when concrete blocks crushed them. The people have nothing. They've been left with nothing, but say, `We are so content just to be alive.' I was happy to give the people a donation gathered by Mennonite Brethren pastors of Colombia."

Pinto, 39, a family man with two sons, produces one weekly Encuentro (Encounter) program that airs on 46 stations in Honduras and about 350 more all over South, Central and North America. About 70% of the stations that use it run repeats on a daily basis. This has resulted in many invitations to speak, including a trip to Mexico in February.--MBC/Family Life Network release

Return to the M.B.Herald Vol. 38, No. 5 Home Page