Lausanne World Pulse – Overcoming Communication Barriers and Boundaries in Sharing the Gospel

June 2007

By Andrew Sundar

We should never ignore the empowering of the Holy Spirit in overcoming communication barriers and boundaries in order to share the gospel with people from various languages, cultures and social backgrounds. The tower of Babel may signal the beginning of such obstacles as a result of humanity’s selfishness. God’s response as creator resulted in confusing human languages and scattering people abroad. Later, however, we see God turning the tables through the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, thus enabling the disciples to communicate the gospel across a multitude of languages and cultural barriers that resulted in many being saved.

As we consider how best to deal with various hindrances in sharing the gospel, we need to acknowledge that there will most certainly be numerous challenges ahead. J.O. Terry, who served as a missionary in the Asia Pacific region for thirty-two years, has listed more than twenty difficulties that exist as we seek to evangelize and disciple the world’s peoples. A key element in many of them is in-depth study on the worldviews of our projected audiences. This will often help to identify the stumbling blocks to the gospel that may exist within different audience segments. The good news is that whatever the barrier may be, the Word of God becomes the bridge to communicate the message through the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

To keep us focused, this article will concentrate on using media to overcome communication barriers and boundaries. While we consider the term “barriers,” our focus will be on people whose worldview is shaped within a specific culture that creates a number of impediments to them understanding the gospel. When we consider the term “boundaries,” our focus will be human-made regulations within the socio-political regime that prevent the spreading of the gospel to people.

The Nepalese people consider Jesus as only one among the variety of other gods that they believe in.

Nepal Case Study
As a useful example, we will consider the country of Nepal, which was declared officially secular in May 2006. Prior to that, Nepal was recognized as a Hindu nation that did not permit any open evangelization or broadcasting of the gospel on any local stations. Greatly influenced by Hindu fundamentalists from India, Nepal had set strict boundaries that prevented the spreading of the gospel to its population.

I met a Nepalese radio program producer, who prepared a five-year systematic Bible teaching series in the Nepali language. He said that the barriers to communicating the gospel in Nepal have been enormous. Technologically, the only broadcasting outlet available was to broadcast by short-wave from great distances, as local FM stations were not allowed to broadcast Christian programs. While creating the content for the broadcasts, he considered the worldview of the Nepalese people regarding Christianity. According to the producer, the Nepalese people consider Jesus as only one among the variety of other gods that they believe in and are open to “adding him to the list.” There is also a widespread view that Christianity is a Western religion, and people who follow it are more likely to be people from a lower caste.

Andrew Sundar is a communications specialist. He currently serves as director of the Media Resources Group—Asia for Trans World Radio and is based in Singapore.