rural

msanchez's picture

Rural women receive hand-cranked audio Bible

At one of the evening board meetings with MAFLT partner ProMETA, Judy Musselman gave Mauricio a box of Spanish versions of the Bible in cassette format, some cassette players and some cranks to power the players in places with no electricity nor available batteries.

Mauricio and his wife Rosalia were invited to the small rural village of Abangaritos, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, to attend a short weekend mission trip with their local church youth group. Mauricio had to preach that Sunday in San Jose, but decided to be in Abangaritos from Friday night to Saturday afternoon. Very short trip.

Because of MAFLT's involvement in Orality, Mauricio had learned that almost 70% of the worldwide population are oral learners. Mauricio decided to bring some of those Bible cassettes and devices with him, as maybe the Lord had people in that area needing access to the Word but without the possibility of reading the Bible.

His van was already full with his kids and their luggage, plus one more invitee; 6 people total. However, they made room for some of those kits.

They had a great opportunity to share the Gospel, pray, and spend time with some of the families in the area, as well as share some groceries with them. Mauricio preached on Friday night even though electricity was gone for most of the message (fortunately, his flashlight worked well).

bward's picture

Radio is still an excellent tool for disseminating educational information in the majority world.

Radio Project Resources

Radio (HF, FM, Community) offers many opportunities to deliver programming of both a humanitarian and spiritual nature. This page is intended to gather together resources that provide an idea of the possibilities that radio can offer as well as list resources that describe how to do it.

Table of contents

  1. 1. Limitations:
  2. 2. Power Issues:
  3. 3. Examples of Radio in Action:
  4. 4. Core Resources:
  5. 5. Building a Radio Station:
Radio Uses: local news and events • dramas • Bible storytelling • Internet research • public meetings • continuing education (health workers, teachers, etc.) • agricultural news and training • interactive radio instruction • local documentaries • youth programs • weather warnings

Radio’s wide reach and low cost provide effective communication in rural and remote areas.  Unlike newspapers and magazines, radio does not require literacy, and unlike television, radio receivers are affordable and accessible even without electricity or telephone connections.  Even in very poor communities, radio penetration is vast - an average of one in five people in Africa has a radio [FAOSTAT 1998 – in 1995 the ratio of radios to people in Africa (not including South Africa) was 1:5].   Furthermore, production is cheap compared to other mass media.

Radio has many uses, from entertainment to education and broadcast of personal messages. In some cases, radio stations have linked people to the internet by searching for, translating and broadcasting requested information on air.  In other cases, expert panels or local officials answer questions submitted by listeners by telephone or email, promoting accountability or extending relevant expert knowledge.  Radio has also been used by minority language or cultural groups to assert their identity and provide a cultural reference point.

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