ALSEA, Ore. — Each Sunday, Pastor Bill Smith preaches to the faithful at the Alsea Christian Fellowship.
But his words are heard far beyond this small logging town.
Area teenagers tape and edit each service, which is rebroadcast by the Jesus Broadcasting Network and aired from Mexico to the southern tip of Argentina.
Towers in the Andes broadcast the signal, and there are 120 cable providers and satellite coverage, as well, Smith said.
“Anybody with a TV in South America can pick us up. It’s also in Europe, as well. They’re working on getting us into Africa,” he added.
The show isn’t yet available in the United States.
The television program, which started taping in August 2006, is an offshoot of Worldwide Crusades. Smith created the evangelical organization in 1980 and it’s headquartered at Alsea Christian Fellowship.
The group, including Alsea congregation members, goes on missions to preach the gospel and provide humanitarian aid in other countries several times a year.
In spring 2006, State Farm Insurance agent Dan Jones and 10 other members of Albany’s Oak Creek Christian Center joined a Smith-led mission to Honduras and helped build two churches in a week.
Worldwide Crusades rallies in towns in “the middle of nowhere” brought hundreds of people, Jones said.
“He (Smith) may not be known up here, but he’s known down there. That was pretty apparent to us,” Jones said.
The TV program is dubbed in Spanish and airs twice a week, with new episodes Sunday afternoons and a different rerun on Tuesday mornings.
Smith, Alsea Christian Fellowship and Worldwide Crusades don’t ask for any donations or sell anything on the show. Worldwide Crusades pays the network $1,000 a month to air the programs.
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