Short wave radio is used in West Africa these days more than any time in the history of the region because of the fighting between Boko Haram and the regional army on one hand and Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) with the same regional army on the other hand. According to MaryKay Magistad an American Journalist who covers Public Radio International Programs, “it’s easy to overlook the power of radio, but when you are in the sticks, especially if there is a crisis of unrest, radio saves lives.”
Most countries in West Africa are currently at war because of the presence of Boko Haram (which translates as “Western education is evil) and the Islamic State’s West African Province (ISWAP) both militant groups targeting Christians living in West African countries within the Chad Basin of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The struggle is daily, and refugees are running left and right looking for refuge. African Pathways a World Christian Broadcasting’s shortwave radio program follows these refugees wherever they may go. According to one of the listeners, the program provides comfort and points to God as “the only refuge in time of trouble.”
According to Faruk Dalhatu, managing director of Dandal Kura Radio International, whose radio broadcast in the local language Kanuri where Boko Haram and some other 10 million people mostly refugees speak, “in crises… you don’t have to even own a radio, you can listen to someone else’s.” There are cases where people are dialing through frequencies and God directs them to the African Pathways program and they listen to the word of God through our programs and write to thank us. During wars in the Congo, Somalia, Equatorial Guinea, and currently in Ukraine, the shortwave radio has become the source of information, comfort, consolation, and assurance that God is still in charge of the affairs of humanity irrespective. That is one of the reasons we are still sending programs into the shortwave frequencies. If you have friends currently living in sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe, please give them our UTC 400, frequency of 11825; UTC 1800, frequency 13670; and UTC 2000, frequency 11965, African Pathways programs provide a one-hour gospel program for them.
We sympathize with our listeners living in war-torn countries of sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. World Christian Broadcasting is praying for every one of you and we pray our programs to remain a source of comfort to you all.
Edet Udofia – Senior Producer for Africa
Categories: AFRICA
