By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST Ministries and the ASSIST News Service
CHAMBERSBURG, PA (ANS – April 20, 2015)—In
the predominantly Muslim nation of Albania, the Gospel of Jesus Christ
is making an impact. In January of this year, The Tide® (www.thetide.org
) global radio ministry launched its first Albanian-language radio
programming, in partnership with Radio 7, a Christian network in Albania
that has been on air since 2002.And after just a few months, lives are being changed.
“Like all of our programming, The Tide Albanian-language program, which also reaches into neighboring Kosovo, is produced on-site, using indigenous speakers who tell people about Jesus in the language they were born to speak,” said The Tide Director Don Shenk. “But our ministry in Albania also goes beyond airtime, and our ministry leaders invest into the lives of those to whom they minister, visiting with them, giving them radios so they can listen to the program, praying with them and encouraging them in their faith.”
According to a news release, one listener wrote: “I am Talo. I listen to Radio 7 every day because I am alone at home. I am 89 years old. I cannot read the Bible anymore and I cannot go to church, but when I listen to Pastor Klodi, I am happy and I pray with him. He visited me and prayed with me many times this year, and this is very special.”
Another shared: “I am a professional electrician, (and) almost every day I listen to the messages of Pastor Klodi. One day, he was talking about God’s love and how he loves us. One of my sons is a Christian, but I’m an atheist. One day, I was working and listening to the program at the same time, and a strong conviction about sin came into my heart. I stopped working, and I started to cry. I was deeply touched by what Jesus did for me and how he loves me and my family. That day, I remembered how many times my own son tried to tell me about Jesus and I did not listen to him. From that day, I have decided to give my life to Jesus….
“I have started to visit church on all Sundays when I am not working. The Word of God changed my life and made me new. I am 62 years old, and for the first time in my life, now I feel new and I have a purpose to live in life. I want to tell all my friends about this amazing life they can have in Christ. I have a radio that is a gift from Pastor Klodi so I can listen to him. Thank you.”
“Before the fall of communism in the early 1990s, government leaders in Albania sought to remove all spirituality from the culture,” Shenk added, “destroying churches, temples and mosques and even removing the word ‘God’ from dictionaries. But today, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being shared in this former atheist nation, and the power of this Gospel is breaking down walls and penetrating the hearts and souls of the people of Albania and Kosovo. It’s incredible to watch God transform lives, bring peace to troubled souls and hope to those who previously had none. We look forward to continuing to minister to the people of Albania and Kosovo through this new radio program.”
Now in its 69th year of ministry, The Tide global radio ministry shares the good news of Jesus Christ across three continents through producing radio programs in heart languages, meaning programs produced on-site, using indigenous speakers who tell people about Jesus in the language they were born to speak. The Tide ministry currently broadcasts in 23 heart languages, including eleven languages in Nigeria, two languages in Nepal, one language each in Zimbabwe, Bhutan and Albania/Kosovo and seven languages in India.
The mission of The Tide ministry is to creatively share the good news of Jesus Christ worldwide through media and partnerships. The Tide ministry is working diligently to expand its Christian broadcasts in more languages across the globe.
The Tide ministry invites Christians to sign up for the “Have You Heard?” Campaign at www.thetide.org/challenge. Millions of people live their lives every day without knowing about the hope and peace of Jesus Christ. “Have You Heard?” challenges individuals to ask just ten people throughout the course of the next year if they have heard what Jesus did for them.
The Tide Vision 2015 initiative builds on the momentum of more than six decades of radio ministry and strives to add several new languages to its efforts by the end of 2015. With almost a quarter of the world’s population living within the current range of The Tide radio programming, and nearly 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, the opportunities are tremendous. Several new potential languages are also being considered for strategic growth, such as those spoken in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Albania.
In addition to producing programs in heart languages, The Tide ministry gives radios to people in remote villages in Africa and Asia so they can listen to the programs. Thousands of generous people across the United States have enabled The Tide radio programs to thrive and expand into even more countries through the “Sponsor a Radio” program that helps further projects like The Tide Radios for Nigeria and Radios for India. Details on The Tide “Sponsor a Radio” program can be found at http://thetide.org/radios .
For more information about The Tide projects, Radios for India, Radios for Nigeria, the “Have You Heard?” Campaign, the weekly Global Update radio features and other news, visit www.thetide.org .
For more information, please contact: Deborah Hamilton, Hamilton Strategies, 215.815.7716, 610.584.1096 or Beth Harrison, Hamilton Strategies, 610.584.1096, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com
Photo caption: A scene from Albania.
** You may republish this and any of our stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)
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