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"Real Love" Reaches Beyond Community Boundaries Dennis Mohn - New Communications Coordinator for the Eurasia Region Accessing the Gospel to the Unserved WMB Broadcasts on Radio Station of Different Faith in Uganda |
Inside this issue: Partnership Between Africa and South America Regions Prepares World Mission Broadcast's 32nd Language [Read more] ?Real Love? Reaches Beyond Community Boundaries [Read more] Dennis Mohn - New Communications Coordinator for the Eurasia Region [Read more] Accessing the Gospel to the Unserved [Read more] WMB Broadcasts on Radio Station of Different Faith in Uganda [Read more] Planting the Seed [Read more] Partnership Between Africa and South America Regions Prepares World Mission Broadcast's 32nd Language
Don’t be frightened. When read correctly, it says, “What’s Next?” in the Fang (fawn) language. Fang is from the Bantú family of languages and is spoken among the peoples of the ethnic group Fang that inhabit the central African countries of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Southern Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Saõ Tomé and Principe. The most recent census calculates that nearly 1 million Africans speak Fang. Equatorial Guinea, one of the smallest countries in Africa, is also the only Spanish-speaking country on the continent. Six years ago, the South America Region in cooperation with the Africa Region sent missionary Mario Martinez, a pastor from Paraguay, to open the work in the city of Bata. Bata is the second largest city after Malabo, the state capital, with 110,000 inhabitants. One of the first converts in Equatorial Guinea was Daniel Mifumo Ncuna Esono and his wife, Mercedes Susana Nchama Ela. Through the discipleship and mentoring of Pastor Martinez, Daniel grew in his relationship with the Lord and was called into ministry. Two years ago, Daniel was encouraged and supported by Martinez to prepare for ministry. Daniel and Mercedes left Africa for South America to study theology at the Southern Cone Nazarene Theological Seminary in Pilar, Argentina. Daniel and Mercedes recently completed their first year of studies. During Daniel’s time in Pilar, he has become fascinated with the communications ministry at the nearby regional communications center. Equatorial Guinea has no daily newspaper and only three FM radio stations in the country. Daniel wants to return to Equatorial Guinea to not only pastor a church, but to plant the first Christian radio station in his country, spreading hope through the good news of the gospel of Christ. Recently, the World Mission Broadcast South America team began recording the first radio program in the Fang language. The program, Dje da zu?, is the translation of the Spanish regional young adult radio program ¿Qué Sigue? (What’s Next?). ¿Qué Sigue? has aired throughout Latin America for six years and has been produced in Portuguese for four years as Revolução Jovem. Thanks to the vision of Africa Regional Director Filimão Chambo and South America Regional Director Christian Sarmiento and with the support of World Mission Broadcast, we have partnered to create this resource to “make Christlike disciples in the nations.” Africa provided the human resources, while South America provided the technical resources and training. Throughout 2010, Daniel and the WMB South America team will be recording an entire year’s worth of the Dje da zu? programs. Daniel will take these recordings back to Equatorial Guinea when he completes his studies this December. Daniel will also be the first student to graduate from the initial Intensive Communications Seminar being held in April at the South America Regional Communications Center. ---Myriam Pozzi, World Mission Broadcast South America "Real Love" Reaches Beyond Community Boundaries
Some of the listeners who have been impacted most in the past 4 years include Kanya, Pla, and Wat. Ms. Kanya, age 30, is a seamstress who has listened to Real Love all 4 years since a friend who was already a fan of FM 96.25 introduced her to the program. Kanya acknowledges that the program impacted her life when she needed counsel for living her life, solving family problems, and coping with economic concerns. As she told Pastor Lamp, “There’s never been another radio program that has given counsel instead of just music and advertisements.” Ms. Pla, is a lawyer who was raised in a Christian family and became a regular listener of Real Love when she heard the Christian songs and message. She received a Bible, booklets, and Christian video discs from the program. Currently she lives and works in another area of Bangkok where she can no longer listen to the program, but she continues to introduce her friends who live in the area of the Real Love broadcast to listen. Ms. Pla said that she received much encouragement from the broadcast especially during her father’s serious illness before he died. Through the program, Ms. Pla has been encouraged to believe the good plan God has for her life. Ms. Wat, a seamstress, is a fan and regular listener of the program since its beginning and still lives in the broadcast area of the Real Love program. She has noticed that the program is different from other programs broadcast by the community station because “The songs of the Real Love program really strengthen her heart. The program gives sound, practical advice every day.” Prayer Requests: ---Lisa Lehman, World Mission Broadcast Asia-Pacific Dennis Mohn - New Communications Coordinator for the Eurasia Region
How did you begin your relationship with Jesus? What training has led you to this point in your ministry? How did you begin in your communications ministry?
I enjoy this type of work, because it is so important to support your ministry with professional communicators like Web sites. People wouldn’t take your ministry serious if your Web site is a mess. I think that all this is very important to what my calling is and what we as a church and a region have set as our vision/mission. Tell us about your current communication ministries on the Eurasia Region. What objective are you trying to accomplish through the communications ministry? What are the issues facing people on your region today? How can we pray for you and your ministry? The communications department certainly needs prayer as well as our staff –reduced from 3 persons to 1 1/2 persons. It will be a challenge to keep up the work, but that is just another reason why there needs to be a change in the way we do things. I would love to see the communications department to be fully Eurasian, and I pray that we will be able to accomplish it. Furthermore I pray that we will find new ways to be a ministry and not just a reporting element about someone else's ministry. I pray that God will show us new ways to reach people and help people in their efforts to reach people. ---Brian Utter, World Mission Broadcast Accessing the Gospel to the Unserved So how does this happen? How do we mobilize God's people to cross cultural barriers right next door to reach the lost? On the Asia-Pacific Region, World Mission Broadcast is attempting to address this issue through media training tools:
In addition to mobilizing God's people to action, we are also engaging unreached people (sometimes also across geographic barriers) with the Good News through frontline evangelistic media tools to help open doors for relationship.
There is a reason why unreached people groups are often called "forgotten people." We might also call them "neglected." The fact is that 97% of missionaries and mission resources are sent to areas and people groups that already have access to the gospel. So only 3% of mission personnel and resources are directed towards those that have no access to the Gospel. This is a great and tragic imbalance that is not at all in line with the principle of missions that Christ commanded and exemplified. He came to seek and save the lost. He would leave the 99 to find the 1. He said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." His Great Commission is always outward-focused to the ends of the earth. Another way to look at unreached people groups is to consider them as "unserved," with no access, never having the opportunity to even hear the Gospel. There are 1.6 billion people in this "unserved" category. Through media technology, World Mission Broadcast is breaking through the barriers of the “unserved” and giving access to places closed off to traditional mission strategies. --- World Mission Broadcast Asia-Pacific WMB Broadcasts on Radio Station of Different Faith in Uganda
From a listener – “I am an immigrant here. I originated from the northwest region of Uganda. I have a strong background from another faith. Before I moved here, I lived in another city with my parents. As a little boy I went through all the religious classes for children in my faith. I learned about Christians (The People of the Book). I was warned not to associate with them and never listen to their teachings. Something made me want to know why I was restricted from listening to Christians. I often heard the children from the Church of the Nazarene on the radio talk about the love of God. My heart always felt the need of listening to this Christian radio, but my father would turn it off intentionally to avoid the teachings. From time to time, I found myself wanting to know these things that the Christian people were talking about. They said that ‘… there is a God of Love. He is good. He wants people to love others. He cares for all, and we are all His people.’ As a person, I like having friends from anywhere. I don’t care where they come from. I try to avoid any conflict. I know I need people and they need me in their life. So I thought this is the kind of god I need too. Now I am 23 years old. It has been three years since I arrived here. In 2007, I heard about the teachings from the people I know (Nazarenes) on the radio here. This time it is not children teaching, but I find my heart attracted to this god that you teach. I want to know more about these things.” This district radio team asks for your prayers for wisdom to say and do the right thing and reach the unreached. ---Peet Voges, World Mission Broadcast Africa Planting the Seed
World Mission Broadcast is at the core a means to find, nurture, and bring to maturity those seeds of faith that are within the reach of its sound waves. World Mission Broadcast, reaching beyond borders and barriers, plants the seeds of belief that are then used of God to increase the Harvest. Radio, television, and the Internet are tools that allow the Word of God to go behind closed doors, into the secret places where no one is welcome, into homes, cars, and offices with the message that “Jesus saves.” This is a ministry that is entirely supported by your faithful giving to the World Mission Broadcast Offering and through designated gifts that come to World Mission Broadcast at the Global Ministry Center. Your faithful giving supports a global network of radio and television (and Internet) broadcasters who faithfully preach the Word, pray with seekers, and disciple believers. Times are tough. The global financial crisis has made it difficult for many of our faithful supporters to do all they would like to see this ministry continue and grow. But we believe that God is speaking to some who are still “willing and able” to provide the necessary financial resources. More than 2 billion people remain behind borders and barriers that we can reach through radio and the Internet. Four dollars a minute is what it averages to operate our Nazarene radio, television, and Internet broadcasts around the world. Would you be willing to come alongside and help our broadcasters working in 32 languages, planting seed for the coming harvest? Dave Anderson If you would like to play a part in financially supporting World Mission Broadcast, you can contribute on-line. Log on to: http://www.worldmissionbroadcast.org/contribute.aspx. Gifts can also be given through your local Nazarene church or sent directly to us at:
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Dje da zu? 
World Mission Broadcast Thai program Real Love has been on the air since 2005 in the Kannayao area, a community that is both nominally Buddhist and Muslim, and home of Bangkok First Church of the Nazarene. Broadcaster and oastor of Bangkok First Church of the Nazarene, Rev. Tanongsak “Lamp” Pong-oodta, expresses praise to God and thanks for the support of World Mission Broadcast these past 4 years. During these years he has grown and developed his own broadcast skills so that he now has a lifetime broadcasting license. He has trained 2 youth broadcasters, Duan and Nitnarin, in the first 2 years of the program, but both have since moved to other areas of Thailand. As of September 2009, Saturday evenings are scheduled for training and developing a church media team composed of youth interested in broadcasting. Silas, a young man from the Akha hill-tribe currently studying and developing ministry skills in Bangkok, is beginning to learn broadcasting at Real Love. Since August 2009 the Real Love program has been given free airtime from the community station, which said, “The program is so meaningful and we receive such good listener response that we do not want to charge for the airtime.” 
Dennis Mohn was recently named the regional communication coordinator for the Eurasia Region. Originally from Germany, Dennis currently serves as a youth pastor in the Netherlands. 
When I moved to the Netherlands after I graduated, I began to challenge myself again by wanting to learn how to do Web sites. I have no idea about the HTML language, but I am an expert with Joomla, a Web-design software. I created several Web sites including: 
When we think of crossing boarders, we often think geographically. In the past, geographical barriers were very real, but today cultural or relational obstacles can be the most challenging barriers to overcome. We no longer necessarily need to travel across the globe to find unreached people groups. God is bringing the masses to urban centers all around the world, so now unreached people groups are right next door or down the street. Many of them live in communities that have churches on every corner, yet they remain totally unreached. In fact, recent stories about suicide bombers (or would-be bombers) reveal that they lived and worked in communities, went to schools and studied in classrooms surrounded by Christians, and yet they remained unreached, alienated from the Good News. It is estimated that only 1 in 10 Muslims have any close relationship with a Christian. What that says to me is that Christians are failing to "lift up their eyes" and see the harvest fields that are all around them every day and/or they are refusing to engage neighbors with the Good News. 
A Nazarene district in Uganda ministers on a radio station owned by someone of a different faith. 
There exists in all men the uncultivated seed of faith…placed there by God himself. The soul, exposed to the Word of God, can germinate, be nurtured, and bear fruit.