It was a blazing hot morning in Nasir. Fourteen pastors from several villages had come to our Aid Sudan compound to pick up hand-held solar-powered radios that they could pass out to their church members and fellow villagers. A few of them had walked for two days to get there. Our Nasir staff set up some plastic chairs and a table under one of the few trees in the area. As the sun rose, our shaded area became smaller and smaller. I welcomed the pastors and told them about our radio tower and the broadcasts that occur each evening. All of them were already familiar with them, and I was glad to know I was speaking to regular listeners of Good News Radio! I explained how these radios would be a great tool to enhance their ministries. The tower broadcasts Bible stories that allow the people to hear the Word of God in their own language. This gives the pastors opportunities to discuss God’s Word with their villagers and to help them apply it to their lives. The radios are fix-tuned to the frequency of our tower, and they are solar-powered so they are easy to keep charged and ready.
Then it was time for the really fun part. In order for these radios to be used, some assembly is required. In all I was about to pass out 2,000 radios, so I needed to teach these guys how to put them together. For an American, this would be a breeze, but for Sudanese who have no experience with electronics, it was going to be a bit challenging. I showed them each of the parts of the radio- the radio itself, the batteries, and the solar panel. Then I demonstrated how to attach the solar panel, how to open the battery compartment, and how to properly insert the batteries. Then we gave each pastor a radio, two batteries, and a solar panel and went through the instructions again allowing them to practice. Not surprisingly, the hardest part was the batteries. They had to slide open a door and then make sure that one was put in with the positive side up and then the second one with the negative side up. It was quite funny watching them struggle with this, but most of them picked it up fairly quickly.
It was approaching mid-day, and we needed to get on our plane and head back to Uganda. I made sure our compound manager and other staff knew how to help with any issues that might come up and left them with instructions about what information to get from the pastors so that we can track the radios. Then we grabbed our bags and supplies headed back to the plane.
It’s great to know that as I write this, 2000 hand-held radios are making their way into the hands of thousands of people around Nasir town. Please pray that what they hear will transform their lives and bring hope to their families and villages.
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