Evangelicals Now
Christian news worldwide
magnifying glass Search archives
home Home check the archives Archives Subscribe Subscriptions Advertising Information & booking of classifieds Adverts Find a local evangelical Church Find a church for the search engines and extremely curious! About us Contact us Site Map
Printable
Version

'Hear O earth': 50 years of GBM radio

The radio work of Grace Baptist Mission (GBM) began in India 50 years ago. It was a cause for deep gratitude that the recommendation from Conference in India to the Mission Council in London asking permission to establish a radio ministry was unanimously accepted in the 1950s.

Not all Strict Baptists of that generation were happy about radio. Even in 1963, when in the UK on furlough, a missionary was told by one pastor that, ‘Radio is the devil’s instrument’.

St. Paul on the radio?

There is little doubt that if Paul had lived in the 20th/21st century he would have looked upon radio as a legitimate means for spreading the gospel. Indeed, the fact is that, through radio, millions hear the good news of God’s redeeming grace. Humanly speaking, they would not have heard in any other way! It is possible through one hour of radio broadcasting to reach more people than Paul could have reached in a whole lifetime of ministry. Whitefield may have preached to 20,000 on Kennington Common (I’m not sure who counted them!), but radio programmes beamed to Africa and India can be heard by 20,000 multiplied many times.

John Appleby, who was appointed by Conference to set up and begin this new ministry, was the only missionary with any radio experience, which he gained in the Fleet Air Arm as a radio mechanic during the war. God willing, John will be the preacher at the GBM open day on June 21 at Abingdon when these first 50 years will be celebrated.

Many more countries

Throughout the years, that work which began in India has expanded to include many more countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and now South America. The technical challenges of the early years were manifold but today GBM is privileged to have its own studio complex at the Abingdon Mission Centre. From here programmes are sent out in English and French and are now being broadcast, not only by the major Christian broadcasters, but also by local FM stations all over Central and Southern Africa.

The nature of the programmes has also expanded. In the early years programmes with titles like ‘Sathiya Vasanam’ (‘Word of Truth’)’ and ‘Narcheythi’ (‘Good News’)’ were broadcast in India and records of early listener response show how immediate was the effect of these programmes. From the beginning it was decided to reply personally to every letter and this brought many encouragements. This policy is still followed, although email is the more regular means for communication today. We thank God for the many testimonies to his saving grace over the years. Philip Grist remembers one such testimony, ‘From a tea estate in the hills came a letter from a man dissatisfied with Roman Catholic teaching. The priest had been of no help spiritually. He heard one of our gospel programmes. I put him in touch with a godly Baptist pastor in his area who persuaded him to attend a Convention nearby. On the last night, the Holy Spirit brought him under deep conviction for his sin and he was born again and brought into liberty’.

Helping pastors

When Derek French began his series called ‘Sound Words’, he quickly discovered, from correspondence received, that many men in pastoral situations had very little sound biblical knowledge. This led to the creation of ‘Serving Today’, a programme by which UK pastors can help other pastors, and this has proved a powerful way of helping churches all over the world. Booklets are prepared to accompany each series and are in high demand in the developing world.

French speaking

Roger Cook became involved in training men in Africa so that they can train others. Now, in retirement, he is still heavily involved in this work and in the development of French speaking evangelical radio work, particularly in Africa.

So the work goes on and develops and all honour is due to the Lord for the way he has used this small work, in a way that exceeds all our hopes, for the extension of the kingdom of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

John McDonald,
Grace Baptist Mission

A history of GBM radio work is being published at £2 per copy and is available from GBM, 12 Abbey Close, Abingdon, OX14 3TW, or from infodesk@gbm.org.uk.