Mr Frank Gray

Frank has led an interesting life. Born in the UK in the baby-boom years following WWII he spent his first few years in a small Oxfordshire village before moving to Reading where he attended Reading School before going to Exeter University to read Engineering Science. Following graduation he went to war-torn Laos in 1969 as a volunteer with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) at Lao National Radio. The next 6 years were life-changing and laid the foundation for a life time of service in Christian broadcasting with the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC). He graduated with an MA in Communications from Wheaton Graduate School in 1977 before moving to California with his Dutch wife, Hennie, whom he met in Laos. He worked with FEBC in their California office till 1982 when he and his family moved to Manila, Philippines where they spent 9 years. Frank was General Program Director, then was promoted to being Chief Operations Officer and Vice-President of FEBC-USA. His responsibilities centred around Programming, training, and developing new projects around Asia. It was a time of great change in radio broadcasting, beginning with shortwave, but as this declined following the ending of the Cold War and increasing deregulation of the media it gave rise to many new opportunities and challenges. This was coupled with the introduction of the Internet and the radical move towards digitalisation. His travels took him to many countries of Asia and beyond and during this time he experienced first-hand many historic events. These included the People Power Revolution in the Philippines (1986), the opening up of the Soviet Union (1990), and the Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004), as well as new opportunities for radio in Cambodia and Mongolia. These adventures are recorded in his book Close to the Listener (2025). In his retirement he now lives with his wife, Hennie in the United Kingdom. They have four children and eight grandchildren.