Pray for those who will hear the story of Jesus’ birth for the first time this Christmas through the gift of radio, broadcast in their heart language in Iraq, north India and Nepal.
Iraq
Yosef, the team leader of the FM team in Iraq, says: “We are broadcasting live programmes most of the time now. So we’ll open our phone lines for listeners to call/SMS and share how they feel about this Christmas and what message they have for Iraqis and for the world. We’ll be speaking about the misery that the Iraqi people are facing and how they can't enjoy celebrating Christmas because of the violence against Christians.”
With fresh memories of the Iraq church bombing and the fact that many of those Christians affected have left Iraq, this will be a difficult Christmas. “The whole atmosphere won't be a joyful one,” says Yosef, “Although there is a celebration, it will be a sad celebration.” Pray for Yosef and his team as they share readings of the Christmas story, comforting Christians and promoting peace and reconciliation in Iraq, on FM and in re-broadcasts on short wave. Pray for Muslim listeners who may hear the story for the first time out of concern for their Christian neighbours.
North India, Gaweylon (Good News) programme
Anil Alfred, the Gaweylon Centre Director, says: “This year our special Christmas programmes for our Tibetan listeners will have a magazine format with 3-4 people participating in the programmes for airing on short wave on 24-26 December.” Each programme includes some Christian songs and a special Christmas topic with a story.
- Traditional gift giving in different cultures – also explains God's gift to the world (his only Son Jesus) and his gift of eternal life to those who trust in Jesus.
- Peace that Jesus gives and caring for others – also a story of a man who died alone in Germany during Christmas.
- Drama on the birth of Jesus
“As the majority of our listeners are Buddhist we try our best to share about Jesus and the purpose of why he came into the world in the special programmes,” says Anil. “A big majority of the people have never heard about Jesus the Saviour. We give special offers in each programme and request that listeners write in for more literature, Bible, CDs and DVDs about the life and teachings of Jesus. This helps in building a long-term relationship with the listeners. We especially pray that his Holy Spirit will move and touch those that hear and give them strength to believe.”
Nepal, Aafno FM
In Nepal where the majority religion is Hinduism, many have not heard the true story of Christmas. The staff at the two Aafno FM stations spend lots of time in the community talking about health, agriculture and general news. Vijay, the Community FM Project Coordinator, says: “We’ll be having special programming during Christmas on both stations. On Wednesday 8 December there was an open air Christmas sharing in the Okhaldunga community. Programme producer Binu was reporting from there on radio about the Christmas programme.” In the week leading up to Christmas they will play some Christmas songs every day, and on Christmas day they will have a special programme.
Pray for the 3 full-time staff at each station. At times they struggle to get all of their work done with so few on staff. Please pray for their safety as radio journalists have been threatened by different groups.