A broadcasting slot on a particular transmitter – usually short wave but it could also be medium wave (AM) or FM, which we use to broadcast a programme.
We buy airtime from a number of organisations with transmitters around the world, enabling us to broadcast programmes to people groups and communities that we have chosen to reach through radio. We also receive income when we broker airtime on behalf of another organisation.
Our focus is on the hard-to-reach particularly in Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East. We consider the hard-to-reach to be communities whose lives are reduced by one or more of the following factors:
We do not broadcast in the UK.
Whether broadcasting on short wave, medium wave, FM or the internet, Feba programmes:
Short wave broadcasts give people access to news and information, which might otherwise be withheld from them.
For countries with governments that control broadcasting and impose licensing restrictions, short wave broadcasts, which originate from outside the country, are vital.
Although short wave is not popular here in the UK, millions of people in our listening areas still listen to short wave.
See our map for details of short wave transmitters and broadcast reach.
Ultimately, we broadcast on short wave where it is the most effective way to reach people.
Feba programmes are all different, depending on the community they serve. They might include any or all of the following elements:
There are plenty of resources for churches available for download from our website.
In order to make best use of our resources, we prioritise visits to churches where there either is already a deep commitment to supporting Feba, whether financially or in prayer, or where there is a clear direction from the church leadership to embark on such a commitment.
Requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. If you would like to be considered for a Feba speaker, please use the contact form on our website giving the name of the church, knowledge of Feba, date, time and type of meeting and expected attendance.
We took the decision not to continue investing in Chrysolite (studio in a suitcase) production in 2009. Those which have been deployed are all in use on location or in readiness for disaster response.
Our decision to stop production was due to more suitable, cost-effective programme production solutions being available, often overseas, reducing the cost and logistics of shipping as well as the cost of the equipment itself.
Feba’s role is now about selecting and using commercially available equipment, enabling communities to produce great content that brings life-changing hope and transformation – not investing in the deeply technical development of brand new equipment solutions.
Feba is not part of a denomination. Our supporters, partners and listeners come from all faiths and none, joined together by the desire to see transformation in many areas in the lives of people in our broadcast areas.
Many of our supporters are followers of Jesus and come from all denominations. We are committed to working with the local church wherever possible, enabling them to use radio to positively impact their community. We do not promote one denomination over another to our listeners.
Feba is a registered charity in England and Wales, and is dependent on donations from individuals, churches, legacies and grant-making trusts to continue our work.
Our charity accounts can be viewed at the Charity Commission website
Check out the be involved page for ways you can make a donation to Feba
Where potential listeners lack radios we will consider working with partners to distribute equipment across the communities who we serve. We always seek to use appropriate media to reach people, given their existing lifestyle and listening habits. Sometimes, however, in disaster situations, it is appropriate to distribute radios to affect how people have access to media in order to serve them fully.
Much of our work is done in partnership with other organisations and we invest various levels of time, expertise, consultancy, staff, equipment and technical support, and money into such projects.
We actively seek to inspire like-minded organisations to use radio for the benefit of hard-to-reach communities, and plan for as many of our projects as possible to become self-sustaining by developing radio skills in local people.
Some of our partners include:
Radio is the main form of communication in many of the countries we broadcast to, especially for people isolated by war, natural disasters or lack of resources. Radio reaches people in countries where political, social or religious barriers make it difficult for individuals to learn about alternative views or ideas—including the Christian faith. In places where oral preference or illiteracy is high, radio speaks to people who cannot read or write.
Feba broadcasts seek to build up trusted relationships with our audiences, becoming a sustained and consistent presence in their lives. This is achieved not only through providing content that is relevant, engaging and compelling but also by broadcasting using the most appropriate media for the audience. For some this is still short wave, for others it is local FM or community radio, for others it is the internet.
We believe:
Feba began as Far East Broadcasting Associates, a small group of British supporters of FEBC, the US-based organisation, Far East Broadcasting Company.In 1959 this group of British supporters took up the task of establishing a station in the Seychelles (which was a British Protectorate at the time) from which they could broadcast into India, becoming the Far East Broadcasting Association.As we don’t broadcast to the Far East, we are now known as Feba Radio but in practice we just use Feba as it’s less of a mouthful, and we broadcast to Africa, South and Central Asia and the Middle East.