Feba’s Christmas programmes in the Horn of Africa are right in step with the recent UN Climate Conference.

In a drought-prone region, and linked to local Christmas tradition, programme emphasis is on caring for God’s creation – by planting trees.

Ethiopian radio station, Hiyaw Tesfa, is focusing its programmes on environment protection. At Christmas in Ethiopia, people traditionally cut indigenous trees to decorate their homes, such as the frankincense tree, pictured.

This year, with the theme of caring for the environment, programmes are discussing the idea of planting trees for Christmas, rather than chopping them down.

The Good News of Jesus’ birth will be the central message, highlighting that his birth not only showed love for all people, but also for all creation.

Christmas in heart languages
The programmes on being good environmental stewards will be broadcast in Amharic and Oromo languages for a week leading up to Christmas. Other programmes in the region will feature special song selections and requests for seasonal messages to be broadcast to family and friends.

Further east, Feba India takes the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with texts and teaching taken directly from the Bible.

In addition to a slot on All India Radio on 24 December, our teams will produce programmes on medium wave in a range of languages for listeners. Vazhi Vilakku in Malayalam; Thendral in Tamil; Journey in English and Nade Nudi in Kannada, will carry the message and purpose of Christ’s birth for mankind. And in the Goa and Bangalore regions, FM Reality Bang can also be heard ringing out the joyous word of Christmas.

See Christmas in Tibetan Buddhist communities in northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet:
Curious about Christmas