A Team in Papua New Guinea Records 153 Television Programs in Three Weeks

A television training and production project brought more than 30 people together at Pacific Adventist University, outside Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from June 7 to 26. They recorded sermons, musical performances, and short segments that began airing on national digital television in September. One of the new hosts, Ismael Bambi, gained confidence explaining the Bible on television, a medium he believes can help people in his country understand the gospel of Jesus.

“When they see, they understand, and when they understand, they believe,” said Bambi, who described people in Papua New Guinea as visual learners, noting that missionaries once carried picture rolls across the country to tell the story of Jesus. He had come to learn production skills and recruit young presenters back home. When he found out that he would host a series himself, he felt overwhelmed but went on to complete 13 episodes of The Touch, a program in which he and a guest discuss a Bible passage.

Bambi, communication and media director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Northern and Milne Bay region, had one week to prepare 13 scripts, and he began thinking of excuses. “That night, before I slept, I prayed: Lord, if this is Your will, please give me the confidence and courage to speak,” he recalled.

On the first morning of recording, Bambi decided to go first. With Pastor Samson Obedi as his guest, he sat down to host The Touch, facing three cameras, floor directors, and the production crew. He worried about following his script and getting the presentation right. “I had placed my script under my Bible, and with trembling hands, I began,” he said.

Within five minutes, Bambi said, he felt confident enough to speak clearly and explain the Bible passage. He credited the Holy Spirit with helping him through the recording. The episode lasted 28 minutes, and the crew congratulated him and Obedi when it ended.

The project did not own a teleprompter. “Somehow, the idea of cutting my notes into small pieces and placing them inside my Bible came to me,” Bambi said. “We had only one week to prepare thirteen scripts, so I was desperate to find a way to manage.” The hosts also tried reading from phones. Every episode felt like a battle, he said, but he slowly learned to manage.

Crew members coordinate a talk-show recording from the university’s control room. Hosts and technical staff spent two weeks recording after a week of training and studio preparation. Photo: Hope Channel Papua New Guinea

The new hosts, including Bambi, were five communication directors and four other church staff members with little or no television production experience, said Reeves Papaol, who directs communication and media for the Adventist Church in Papua New Guinea. A volunteer from Hope Channel Fiji led a one-day scriptwriting workshop, after which they wrote and hosted their own talk shows, speaking from notes hidden in the pages of their Bibles. Two hosts spoke for 45 minutes in a single take. “It was a miracle,” Papaol said.

They worked alongside technical crew, support staff, and project leaders in the Mini Hope Project. The first week combined studio setup and training, and the team spent the next two weeks recording. Together, they produced 153 programs for Hope Channel Papua New Guinea, with support from Hope Channel South Pacific and Adventist Media, for broadcast on Channel 7, the National Broadcasting Corporation’s digital television platform, which carries Hope Channel Papua New Guinea 24 hours a day.

Bambi returned to the Northern and Milne Bay region wanting to use what he had learned. At first, lack of equipment kept him from running training sessions there, and in September he ran a one-week media session anyway. “All I have is a Samsung A26 Android phone and an old HP laptop,” he said. For now, he holds on to faith. “I believe that one day God will provide, and when He does, I will be ready to produce TV shows for His glory.”

Multiple camera feeds give the production crew different views of the presenters and set. Hope Channel Papua New Guinea and the university have agreed to continue producing local programs at the facility. Photo: Hope Channel Papua New Guinea

The university provided its online-learning recording studio, which the project equipped with cameras, lighting, sound equipment, and soundproofing, and the channel has reached an agreement with the university to continue producing local content for Channel 7. The project’s editor is finishing the June recordings remotely from the Philippines, and Papaol plans another three-week production in December and January to bring participants together in Port Moresby again.