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Plastic-encased radios about the size of a cassette tape seem conspicuously out of place in Mexico’s remote Sierra Madre Mountains, home to primitive indigenous peoples who live in the canyons and valleys of this mostly inaccessible region. The radios, aided by parachutes, fall from the sky to the uplifted hands of those who rarely see anyone outside their own culture. The mission is to supply a link that brings the indigenous people the story of salvation.

On other continents, more of these same radios move over borders, bound for orphanages, schools and prisons and escorted by prayer; their presence could provoke unwelcome responses from governmental or religious factions. Called fix-tuned radios, these devices are durable enough to last 10 years, and they receive a single radio signal.

In Moldova, bordered by Romania and Ukraine, fix-tuned radios are bringing a harvest of believers. Little Samaritan Mission (LSM) operates 14 FM stations that blanket Moldova and reach into neighboring nations. LSM president Florin PindicBlaj says that hundreds have come to faith in Christ as a result of the programming, much of which is received via fix-tuned radios powered by solar energy or rechargeable batteries.

LSM is a relief agency that ships containers of soap, clothing, mattresses and other basic supplies for orphanages, medical clinics and soup kitchens. Even when electricity is cut off for hours each day, fix-tuned radios continue airing programs of Christian encouragement and strength. “Entire classrooms or dormitories can listen to gospel programs on the PA system through one [fix-tuned] radio,” PindicBlaj said. “We also give the radios to the elderly, the blind, students and the poor. It’s often their only connection to the outside world.”

PindicBlaj says new churches have emerged when a new believer, coming to faith through radio broadcasts, invites his family and relatives to listen with him. Soon, a house church is born. Many churches in Moldova, where the Orthodox church is predominant, have no pastor. Instead, they meet around a radio and collectively listen to broadcasts of sermons, then sing and pray.

In Northern Iraq, which is Muslim-dominated, solar-powered fix-tuned radios nurture evangelical churches that are protected by government decree. Another relief and development agency-unnamed to maintain security-provides the radios to local churches that have distributed more than 1,000 units to Muslim Kurds. The agency’s field manager described the response: “The radios are a novelty. We got the first ones in 1996 and they were given as gifts on special occasions to city officials. At first, there was a lot of resistance to the gospel. People were interested, but afraid. After a few years, once the presence of the church was obvious, many people wanted a radio. It’s seen as a status symbol.”

The field manager says that the Christian station is different from every other one in the country because other stations attack people and political groups. “I’ve heard listeners say they get a feeling of peace from the Christian station,” he said. “In this place where there is so much violence, it’s like a refuge.” Churches are expanding; the field manager says that in one Iraqi city, within two years the church expanded from five believers to more than 100. “I’ve seen 20 people baptized at one time,” he says.

The biggest problem the agency observes with the radios is “there aren’t enough,” said Allan McGuirl, head of the radios’ manufacturer, Galcom International. He reports that Galcom has delivered about 391,000 radios for worldwide distribution. Galcom produces the radios in Hamilton, Ontario, and in Israel. Each device costs about $20, which organizations buy outright or fund via donations and grants.

Many organizations use fix-tuned radios to multiply the message when personnel are scarce or the location is difficult. Jerry Witt, director of Mercy Wings, a small outreach to indigenous groups in Mexico, said, “Mexico is considered to be one of the roughest places to access. As many as 3.5 million Indians in Mexico represent 293 ethno-linguistic groups.” Using four small airplanes, Mercy Wings pilots drop fix-tuned radios on parachutes to Indians in places where, Witt said, “There is absolutely no gospel witness whatsoever.” Tuned to an all-Christian radio station operated by High Adventure, the radios proclaim Christ in the absence of pastors and evangelists.

Ken MacHarg, missionary journalist with Latin America Mission and a former broadcaster with HCJB World Radio in Quito, Ecuador, affirms the radios’ effectiveness as evangelistic tools. “Fix-tuned radios have the ability to create a ready-made audience for Christian broadcasts, and at an affordable cost for the mission and the receiver,” MacHarg said. “Because they don’t need a tuner, these radios are very inexpensive to produce and distribute and provide an easy way for new audiences to hear the gospel. I think that they’re especially effective among rural and tribal groups who are away from the crowded frequencies of the cities and may be new to radio-listening.”

HCJB World Radio missionaries previously distributed the radios to inhabitants of the Amazon rainforest. Currently they are raising funds to provide radios in Sub-Saharan Africa. “In Malawi, the Yao people are considered among the least-reached people groups,” said project coordinator Pat Jacquin. “They’re mostly illiterate and practice folk Islam.” Radio broadcasts, via a station started by the Malawi Women’s League, are a culturally appropriate method to introduce Christ there. HCJB World Radio wants to buy up to 15,000 radios for the Yao and other people groups in Swaziland, South Africa, Madagascar and Burundi. Among groups in these countries, Jacquin said, research shows only 50 percent of the population has heard the name of Jesus, and oral tradition is the best-accepted way to share the gospel. Jacquin added that the radios can supply teaching in villages where believers have no church nor funds to support a pastor. They also give opportunity for Christians to share the gospel within their language group.

Where people can’t go and where there are too few pastors and missionaries, fix-tuned radios fill a niche. A letter to Little Samaritan Mission from a Moldovan man testifies to their potency: “Several Christians from the neighboring village come to our house. One brought a radio, and we listened to your program. We are the first family in our village to learn of the ‘right path’ through Christ. We need another radio to listen to [in our village]. Please help us.”

September 21, 2001