By now, if you follow what’s happening at Heralds of Hope (HOH), you’re aware of our Broadcast Adoption program. To summarize, we invite churches, businesses, families, or individuals to sponsor a broadcast to a particular ethnic group or region of the world. Several churches and families have adopted broadcasts to people groups that are of special interest to them. If you would like more information on broadcast adoption, contact Arlin at [email protected].
However, some churches or businesses want to be involved but don’t have a strong attraction to any particular group of people. They ask us where we think the greatest needs are and ask for recommendations. We make those recommendations based on the top 10 largest languages of the world. Many of these languages are those of people who are unreached or underserved with the Gospel.
Starting a new broadcast (regardless of distribution channels) can take from several months to a year once the decision is made to move forward. So, HOH is taking the initiative to always have 2 or 3 new language programs in development. That way, hopefully, we can have a program up and running when those “undecided” churches or businesses ask for possibilities for broadcasts.
The two languages/programs we are currently researching are Bangla and Dari.
Bangla is the majority language of Bangladesh, a densely populated, predominately Muslim country almost surrounded by the subcontinent of India. Our research indicates that radio is not really a viable means of distributing biblical content. Social media platforms are the preferred means of communication, of which Facebook holds the lion’s share of traffic. While there is significant evangelistic effort taking place in Bangladesh, there is very little in the way of discipleship training through solid biblical exposition. This is where we see a strategic opening for HOH.
Dari is a major language spoken by nearly 14 million people. The greatest concentration of them is in Afghanistan but there are many Dari speaking Afghans who are refugees in Greece. From Greece, many of them move on into the various countries of Europe. In Afghanistan, the radio is an effective means of communication, but among the Afghan Diaspora, the transient population may be better served in additional ways.
We continue to research and plan for these two new language programs in consultation with those who are either currently involved with these people groups or who have prior experience among them. Please join us in prayer as we seek, by God’s grace, to make disciples of Jesus among these “top 10” people groups.
-J. Mark Horst