Hermano Pablo



Hermano Pablo (Paul Edwin Finkenbinder, September 24, 1921 - January 27, 2012), born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, was an American Christian  evangelist who was involved in radio and television evangelical broadcasting in Latin America. Paul, who created the celebrated "Message to the Conscience" program (Message to the Conscience Official website) was a public figure, having preached in the towns and cities of Latin America for the past seventy years.

Paul was Board Chairman for Hermano Pablo Ministries ("HPM"), which he founded in 1938, and later expanded with his wife Linda in 1942. Together they traveled extensively across Latin America conducting seminars, conferences and evangelistic crusades. Unique to the ministry is the fact that all the airtime on both radio and television are donated. The ministry estimates that the current value of radio and TV airtime donated has been as high as $64 million - Ministrywatch.com - as of 2004. Most of the ministry's messages are transmitted through secular media, and the majority of its listeners are non-Christians.

Early Years
Paul was born of Missionary parents in Puerto Rico on September 24, 1921 in the town of Santurce. He grew up speaking both English and Spanish, and it was the strong missionary environment he was surrounded by, which influenced the course of his life.

Family
At the age of 20, Paul married Linda. Paul and Linda would go on to have other children while in El Salvador, and suffer many difficulties because of the lack of medical care in the country.

Despite all of the struggles, Paul and Linda were able to continue the work of the ministry all while raising their family.

Ministry
At 17 years of age, Paul began to work on his ministry and took the name "Hermano Pablo" in Spanish, which translated is Brother Paul. He knew his calling was the ministry, and so he had to prepare himself by going to school, which is where he met his life-long companion.

El Salvador
In 1942, Paul and Linda were in a small spanish-speaking mission in New Mexico - by November 1943, Paul and Linda, with their young son, Paul Jr., moved to El Salvador. For the first 13 years in El Salvador, Paul taught in Bible institutes, ministered at churches, functioned as a national youth leader, and carried out other various ministerial duties. It was in 1955 that Paul felt God gave him a vision to evanglize the masses through radio. As of that starting point, Paul used every possible tool at his disposal - radio, TV, press, evangelistic campaigns, and special events - all designed to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every confine of the Spanish-speaking world. The year was 1960 when Paul again availed himself of another novel method of communication: Television. Through TV, Paul was able to present dramatized parables and stories of the Bible, which even to this day, are widely broadcast. The reaction to this new medium was so amazing that it lead the ministry to produce six Biblical films that are considered classics among the Spanish-speaking world.

California
After 21 years of living and evangelizing in El Salvador, Paul and his family relocted to Costa Mesa, California, where they established the ministry headquarters in 1964. After four years of working out of a makeshift studio in his garage, God provided Paul a building that could be used for studios and office space. Paul would remain in California for the duration of his life, however, he would continue to travel extensively throughout Latin America in support of crusades and special evangelistic events.

Later Years
A close friend and former worker in ministry, Warren Duffy, helped spearhead the awarding of an Honorary Doctorate Degree to Paul from Southern California College in Costa Mesa in 1991. It was during these later years that Paul and Linda really ramped up their travel schedule throughout Latin America. It almost seemed that they had caught their proverbial second wind.

Retirement
Right around 1997, Paul decided to retire from the Ministry and with the board's blessing he passed the torch to Dr. Charles Ray Stewart and his wife, also named Linda. The ministry has continued to thrive under Charles' and Linda's leadership.

Death
On January 25, 2012, Paul and Linda celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. It was to be their last; during the day, Paul received friends and family was generally in good spirits and was able to joke around and have a good time with all. Later in the evening, however, he complained of a severe headache, and he was taken to the hospital where he slipped into a coma. He died in the morning hours of January 27, 2012.

Books
Paul Authored a number of books as has Linda. These are still available from publishers such as Zondervan. Please check back soon as this section will be updated with information such as titles, availability, and publication dates.

Awards and honors
Paul received numerous awards during his distinguished life, but none was as impactful to him as his Honorary Doctorate from Souther California College (Now Vanguard University), in Costa Mesa.