African United Methodists count on radio to reach masses
Jul. 18, 2006 News media contact: Tim Tanton * (615) 7425470* Nashville {429}
NOTE: Photographs, audio and related coverage are available at http://umns.umc.org.
By Tim Tanton*
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) - On a vast continent where large regions are "off the grid" - inaccessible by Internet or telephone - African communicators are looking to one medium to help them connect United Methodist churches: Radio.
"Eighty-five percent of the population, particularly the rural population, does not have any means of getting information except through radio," said the Rev. Webster Mutamba, a communications consultant and pastor in the church's Zimbabwe Area. Without it, he said, "there is no hope for the church."
Many of the 28 communicators attending a June 14-30 training conference at Africa University said they are emphasizing radio as a priority.
"Radio is the easiest communication for the people," said Tomas Domingos, coordinator of the information department for the West Angola Annual (regional) Conference in Luanda, speaking in Portuguese. In Angola, the church has received feedback from the ministry of information, and it is waiting for the necessary document to be approved so it can launch a station.
A show of hands indicated that United Methodist communicators in Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe are among those planning community-based radio ministries. Community-based radio brings together groups from across a town or area to guide and develop programming on such topics as health care, education, agriculture and community development.
Radio's impact
During the conference, Tafadzwa Mudambanuki with United Methodist Communications urged the participants to pursue community-based radio in their areas. "Have a plan," he said. "...Study community-based radio in your own country." The communications agency sponsored the June training conference.
A community-based radio station should have a board of directors that includes people such as teachers, community developers and others who can make decisions on behalf of the community, he said.
Mudambanuki is a staff person co-coordinating the agency's work for the Central Conference Communications Initiative, an emphasis approved by the 2004 General Conference for developing communications systems in the church's regions in Africa, parts of Europe and Asia.
A native Zimbabwean, he stressed the importance of local people hearing information in an accent similar to theirs. For example, he said, if a local chief goes on a radio station and says polygamy is banned in his area, then 98 percent of the people will listen to him. People will listen to someone with their accent tell them the drinking water might not be safe, whereas they might not be as receptive to a missionary from outside telling them that, he said.
Efforts under way
The United Methodist Church in Uganda will have a radio station on the air soon that will share information on disease prevention, diets and education, as well as Gospel messages, said Sarah Marawere, a media practitioner who works for the government and also serves the church.
Most of Uganda's population is in rural areas, where there are no newspapers or televisions, she said. The people rely on radio, and the church signal will reach most of the rural areas, she said.
In Côte d'Ivoire, the church has identified a location for a radio station and is searching for the necessary equipment, said the Rev. Bruno Bobiotche, a pastor in charge of nine churches and also of Protestant broadcasting on the state-owned radio station. Starting a radio station is a priority for the United Methodist Church, which is the second-largest church in the country, he said. The Muslims have a station and the Catholic Church has two, he noted.
The United Methodist Church in Liberia has a studio and tower in place, and communicator Konah Parker said that if an expected shipment of equipment arrives by Aug. 11, the station will launch in September. Bishop John Innis' voice will be the first heard on the station. The project has received more than $14,000 in contributions from the Illinois Great Rivers Annual (regional) Conference, the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., Trinity United Methodist Church in Youngstown, Ohio, and Memorial United Methodist Church in White Plains, N.Y.
Challenges
The obstacles to starting a community-based radio station can be considerable, and most involve money.
Mutamba noted that starting a station in Zimbabwe - where hyperinflation is rampant - would cost billions of dollars. That can be a challenge when simply paying pastors is a stretch. "If you can't pay a rural pastor who is earning 10 million (Zimbabwean dollars) a month, that becomes an expensive luxury."
He suggested that church-operated radio stations sell advertising as a way to generate money. "The church needs money, and it must work for it in an honest way."
Louis Loma Otshudi, director of communications for the Central Congo Area, noted that taxes, maintenance and salaries are problems in terms of operating community-based radio. The Central Congo Area had a radio station that was broadcasting messages about health, education, daily living and the Gospel, but the station ran out of money and went silent in May 2005. Two months later, the church's newspaper folded for lack of funds.
Now the chief means of communicating in the area is by cell phones and some e-mail, said Chantal Shako Otshudi (no relation to Louis), a journalist who edited the newsletter and worked with the radio station.
In Sierra Leone, the church is doing a lot of work in health and education, but word isn't getting out, said Phileas Jusu, a church communicator and journalist in Freetown. At the same time, some United Methodists are going to other churches, and he fears that if the trend continues, the denomination is going to lose members. The church needs "the kind of media that might keep us together," he said.
"The people of Sierra Leone have a radio-listening culture," Jusu said. A United Methodist-operated radio station "would automatically turn things around for us."
*Tanton is managing editor of United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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