TheBuzz
TheBuzz
On the air Up There
New Hope Christian Fellowship
starts a unique religious TV channel
-- no pitches for moneyNew Hope Christian Fellowship-Oahu looks big on the outside of its Sand Island Access Road facility.
It looks even bigger inside, considering all the activity on all the different levels.
It is the center of dozens of ministry and outreach projects, a church-planting operation, a bookstore and its newest tool -- television station KALO, "K38, The Spirit of Aloha," found on cable channel 38.
This summer the church will host its first youth camps at the Molokai Retreat Center, better known under its former name, the Pau Hana Inn.
New Hope doesn't own the license for KALO-TV, but it has built the station from the ground up, largely with volunteer help from among its members.
The licensee for the station is local businessman Chris Racine, known locally for obtaining and then selling broadcast licenses.
Convinced by New Hope founder the Rev. Wayne Cordeiro to "give one to the Lord," Racine is allowing the signal to be used by the church. Racine's daughter Heather works in the office of New Hope International, the church-planting ministry which has started some 50 churches in Hawaii and around the world, with a focus on the South Pacific.
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The Rev. Wayne Cordeiro is using his ministry's TV station to show family-friendly fare.
New Hope is in a way doing Racine an expensive favor by getting the station up and running as required by the Federal Communications Commission. But Racine also purchased satellite equipment for the station, Cordeiro said.
The church has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the station and its programming as part of its mission to spread the gospel.
"We're going to break the stereotype of Christian television," said Cordeiro. It is a nonprofit, noncommercial station, like others, but "you won't hear us ask for your money," he said. "This TV station is sponsored by the committed people of our church, so it becomes a giving proposition rather than a getting proposition."
Flipping between three Christian TV stations recently he found each of them pitching for money.
"I heard one of them say, 'This is a thousand-dollar day,'" meaning that was the size of the donation the station wanted from each viewer.
"That's not Christianity."
New Hope's television ministry was launched in December, just before Christmas, primarily airing praise and worship music videos and sermons.
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New Hope Christian Fellowship founder Wayne Cordeiro has started the busy ministry on another enterprise, TV station KALO.
It has since acquired rights to broadcast more Christian-themed programming, including oldies like "Davey and Goliath," and family-friendly movies which air on Friday evenings.
K38 will feature local programs with local people, said Cordeiro. Its program schedule is at www.k38hawaii.com.
Locally produced shows are in the offing to correct the misperception that "in order to be cool, you can't be a Christian, and if you're a Christian, you can't be cool," said Dawn O'Brien, pastoral assistant.
"Connecting Points" is to be done in a talk-show format; Cordeiro will interview church and community members with the goal of showing how they connect their Christian beliefs with day-to-day life, O'Brien said.
Among the scheduled guests are Kamehameha Schools' Michael Chun, Kelly Boy DeLima of the band Kapena and Oceanic Cable host Tiny Tadani. KHNL-TV anchor Jodi Leong is among other celebrities and regular folks in government, athletics and entertainment slated to appear.
"Thrive TV," will be aimed at the youth market with upbeat music from local Christian musicians, youth pastors offering biblical counsel for struggles with peer pressure, drugs and sex.
Cordeiro decried the depiction of sex on mainstream television as a normal recreational activity, in contrast to the biblical view that reserves sex for marriage.
"We're going to send a positive message to Hawaii," he said. "We want to give them true reality TV."
Among the first programs aired on K38 were Cordeiro's Sunday morning sermons at Farrington High School. Estimated at 8,000, the membership is physically divided between the school, Leeward Community College, the Sand Island Access Road facility and another spot in Hawaii Kai; but all join in the service, beamed via the satellite truck at Farrington.
The worship services are video taped for rebroadcast on K38; they are also edited and compiled for small-group Bible studies.
The Molokai Retreat Center, purchased from Molokai Ranch last year for $850,000, has been undergoing a $1 million renovation project. The work includes new kitchen facilities, a new pool and a ropes course. It also has a partnership with Molokai Ranch for other activities and services.
The church camp will host youths who will raise at least part of the cost to go; some may receive matching funds in the form of mileage points donated by church members.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com
