| I had just walked through the massive remains of an old Idi Amin castle, hidden away on the peak of a high mountain bordering Uganda and Southern Sudan. I stopped to inhale the clear crisp air, and the breathtaking beauty as I looked one way into the vast and unreached regions of South Sudan, and the other direction, into hidden and remote jungles of northeastern Uganda.
A Message in the Heart of the Jungle
Having climbed a narrow and treacherous roadway with its thin and unpredictable bridges, slippery gravel, and overgrown bush, our old and faithful surf reached the dilapidated remains of an Idi Amin castle. Here, the government had set up tents and opened a high security prison for several hundred convicts. As our vehicle pulled into the prison compound a few hours earlier, laden with Bibles, medical supplies, and personal hygiene items, we almost forgot where we were. The beauty was breathtaking below us, the air exhilarating, our hearts full of the love of Jesus, and the prisoners' welcome, sincere. They received very few visitors in their hidden and very isolated habitat. We were embraced with joy and enthusiasm.
Sitting on the ground under the shades of mango trees oblivious to the dirt, bugs, hunger, or even their own chains of captivity, they listened with eagerness to the powerful and liberating message of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. “You will know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free!”
And “Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed!”
So “Stand fast in your liberty and freedom, by which Jesus Christ made you free, and don't be entangled again with the yoke of bondage,” to sin, slavery, or death. (John 8:32,36, Gal. 5:1)
What powerful messages of salvation, freedom, and eternal life were shared that day!
The Word That Had Gone Before
As Jesus' love was revealed by our team members, one after another, it came time for me to share. The prisoners heard my accent, and immediately raised their hands to inquire, “Are you that white lady that teaches every week on the radio?” I asked them the name of the program, and they replied, “Favor.” When I admitted that I was the one, they began saying with large and eager smiles, “We listen every week to your messages. We have given our lives to Jesus as you have taught us, and we are growing in our faith and reading the Bibles that Favor sent us through the soldiers.”
I just wept. I had no idea how far the air waves could take the sound and message of the Gospel to hungry and desperate hearts. Through thick and tangled bush, muddy terrain, wind and storms, dangerous and isolated ravines past wild beasts, unpredictable rebels, and into the deepest jungles, the air waves had penetrated with the message of hope, truth, and life.
And this is not the only location. These messages reach the most remote villages and find their way into the ears and hearts of the hurting and broken regardless of road or infrastructure conditions and literacy or education challenges.
Touching the Unreachable
These are people who have been ravaged by war, ambushed by cattle raiders, survived disease and famine, and who are desperately seeking understanding, meaning and purpose. These are the thousands of all classes and ages, who daily grab hold of the powerful words of the Lord Jesus Christ over the airwaves. One day you will hear them say as the men on the road to Emmaus, “Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?”
As men, women, and children all over the nation, in every village, home, school, office, or prison, listen to the power of God's Word, they are being liberated, truth is setting them free, hope is being restored, understanding of truth is filling their hearts, and transformation is taking place, as minds are being renewed by the power of God's Word.
Families are being reached, business training is going forth, medical and health education is being taught, principles for business development, family values, justice issues and child protection being addressed. Character development is taught and valued. Peace and reconciliation is understood, as love and forgiveness penetrates the hearts of hungry listeners.
A Gospel-Filled Air
While few have access to internet or television, everyone has a radio. Even if it is only a tiny, single-battery or solar-powered transistor. For many, this is their only connection with civilization, news, warning of rebels, political insurgencies, or advancing danger.
Their radios are carried with them in the fields as they dig, tied to bikes and motorcycles all around the towns, played in the market places as goods are sold, and set in the windows of almost every little village hut. They are carried in the pockets of students walking to school, and laid beside beds at night, as worship fills each hidden dwelling with the peace, power, and presence of a living Savior.
What a tool!! Can we reach thousands in a day? Yes!!
And with your help, we can reach even more!
Would You Come With Us?
You can go with us even as you send us. Together we can see the power of God's Word cause hearts to “burn” with truth, be drawn into the Kingdom of God, and be restored through salvation, renewed in hope, and slowly transformed . Will you have beautiful feet along with our team? And help us preach the Gospel and disciple all men, women and children, while there is still time?
“For whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" (Romans 10:13-15)
Many have helped already, funds have come in, and how we thank you with our whole hearts for expanding the Gospel with us in a powerful way!!
But there is still a need for more! More equipment, a better tower, generator and supplies. Why reach 500,000 24/7 each day with the Gospel when we could reach almost 7 million people daily with our programming!!
You can meet a critical need now for the equipment needed to continue and grow what God is accomplishing through radio. Will you donate to help us buy these items for the Uganda and upcoming South Sudan radio stations?
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