Do you remember missions radio?

I was surprised when I went to read for this post to find that this edition of The Other Sheep was significantly smaller than the previous editions I had read. However, I was excited to see an article titled “The Radio in Missions.” Having obtained an associate’s degree in mass communications, I have had a special affinity for radio missions and have enjoyed learning about their usefulness in spreading the Gospel.

The article starts off by relating why the radio had begun to be seen as a tool for missions. While missionaries were few in number, a single radio station could broadcast the good news to anyone in a very large area who had a radio receiver with which to listen to it. Furthermore, radios were fairly cheap, being sold in China for forty cents and in South America for under two dollars. While no one would suggest that missions by radio is as good for discipleship as the presence of a missionary, radio can far reach more people every day, including those in hard to reach areas or places where evangelizing is illegal.

The article states the hope that radio may make reaching every person on earth a very real possibility. It then goes on to state the countries that the Nazarene church was planning on building stations at the time, including India and Bolivia. Their hope was that radio station could be built and used every field, which they perceived as a “visionary” but possible plan of action.

After reading this article, I went to the website for Nazarene media missions today, http://broadcast.nazarene.org. I was sad to learn that the Nazarene denomination has not been able to use radio in the whole world, but there is a sizable chunk of the earth to which World Mission Broadcast is sending radio and television signals, including areas in 72 countries. I too share in this hope that these and other new forms of communication will one day soon enable the church to preach the Gospel and share the love of God with every individual alive.