Five people are sat together on the floor. There’s a knock at the door and they welcome their friend to join them. They pray together and start singing Christian songs. This is ‘Reality Church’, a radio programme presenting and providing church to listeners who have no formal church they can participate in.

The ‘Reality Church’ programme is a new addition to the shortwave service for the *Sparrow community, an ethnic people group living in North East Africa which for security reasons we can’t identify more closely.

Last year, Feba UK staff members went to visit the project, helping with mentoring and planning as well as taking new equipment. This has given a new vibrancy to programme production, leading them to launch the weekly ‘Reality Church’ programme. One of the radio producers, referring to the visit, said:

“There were things we wanted to do but we did not know how to start, but the discussion we had when you last came and the planning that this prompted, inspired us to try to do new things.”

New equipment, replacing an old suitcase studio and enabling the clear recording of a group of people, also helped in producing the ‘Reality Church’ programme, as one of the staff members reported:

“The room they use as a studio has been transformed. Although the old suitcase studio had served them well for many years, it had restricted them to crowding around it in the corner of the room. Now they have more freedom to arrange their equipment and often prefer to sit on the floor, as is normal in their culture, to record.”

New equipment delivered delivered to the team

Bold step

Despite the restrictive environment in which the *Sparrow people live, our partners have taken a bold step in giving out a mobile phone number during their programmes for listeners to contact them.

“They have noted that this [‘Reality Church’] is one part of their programming that has prompted response on the phone number they have only recently started giving out on air. It was not an easy decision to start giving out a number. There are radical elements within the local population who would seek to harm Christians . . . Giving a number out on air will potentially open them up to contact from these people and they will need to be wise in how they deal with those who call,”

explained our staff member.

In addition to “Reality Church’ our partners produce a range of programmes addressing spiritual, social and practical needs helping to bring transformation to the lives of the *Sparrow people.

---

Read more: Life Changing Radio in North East Africa

---

---

More prayer suggestions for Feba's ministry can be found in: This Month in Prayer

---

*name changed for security purposes.