Inside Hope Channel: Justin Woods

My job as manager of Web services for Hope Channel’s global headquarters is diverse and challenging . . . and I love it!

However, if you would have asked me five years ago what I thought about the idea, my reply would have been much different. I owned a Web development firm in Southern California, and enjoyed setting my own schedule and the freedom to travel at will.

When I was invited to join Hope Channel, my response was “No, but I’ll pray about it.” How could I give up the life I enjoyed so much?

But I prayed—for several months—and God gave me new perspective, one that has immersed me in a ministry that I am passionate about. From my first day at Hope Channel in 2011, I have embraced the incomparable mission of this ministry, and haven’t looked back.

Hope Channel’s purpose is to take God’s good news to everyone around the world through the most powerful communications medium in existence: television. Truly, we want every eye to see, on Hope Channel, God and the goodness of His character.

Justin Woods is also passionate about Southwestern Adventist University's dinosaur excavation project in which he has participated for over 15 years. He manages the unique technology that powers the project, ensuring every fossil specimen is mapped when discovered, and modeled in 3D in the computer. These advances have made Southwestern's dinosaur excavation project one of the most sophisticated in the world, gaining the respect of well-known secular paleontologists, in spite of their philosophical differences. "They know we believe in Creation, but they respect us because we conduct our research with such precision. I think that speaks very highly of our God," says Justin.

Over the past few years, the distinction between television and the Internet has become blurry. Before, television was something viewed on a relatively large screen and received with antenna, satellite dish, or cable subscription. Now, television encompasses delivery of video content via the Internet as well. And with the rise of mobile devices, the small screen in your pocket is another way to reach others with the gospel.

With this revolution in connectivity, television viewers’ expectations are becoming more sophisticated. Most viewers now expect a seamless viewing experience across broadcast, mobile apps, IPTV set top boxes, and the Web. Achieving this seamless experience requires television networks such as Hope Channel to invest in powerful data management systems that operate behind the scenes.

My primary responsibility is to create these systems, putting Hope Channel on the leading edge of modern television delivery so that we can minister to viewers around the world, no matter how they’re connected. When complete, Hope Channel will have a brand new website, apps for every device, and a completely connected viewing experience.

It is a complex project that has been underway for three years. Along the way, I have had the privilege of working with the best team I have ever been a part of. Every person brings to the team unique gifts that I believe are actuated by their sense of a personal call on their lives to serve God here.

Personally, I have found my work at Hope Channel to be highly fulfilling. To know that people around the world are being reached with the gospel makes all the hard work and the many long hours more than worthwhile. It fills my life with a sense of deeper purpose.