Truth and Réconciliation
Ian Flanders, supported by his wife Hélène, produces GBM Radio’s French language programmes. Through this vital ministry the gospel reaches into some of the most troubled parts of the world, including, as Ian tells us here, the Democratic Republic of Congo
Espérance Aujourd’hui has been on air now for about seventeen years. It is currently broadcast by well over one hundred local radio stations located in a dozen countries of francophone Africa. Such facts and figures can seem rather abstract and impersonal when, in reality, Christian radio reaches into the intimacy of people’s homes and lives, and touches the hearts of individuals one by one.
Gilbert is one such individual of whom we receive occasional news. He lives in the troubled north east of the Democratic Republic of Congo where he serves as a pastor. Gilbert also contributes his own programmes, once a fortnight, on his local station, Radio Réconciliation. He strives to relate the gospel, through radio, to the many war orphans living in the area.
Sadly, the most recent news of Gilbert is that the village where he was serving was attacked and ransacked by an armed group – a rebel militia from Rwanda. Gilbert escaped unharmed but his home and church building were pillaged and remain unusable. Gilbert is praying about what to do next whilst, for the time being, he helps a pastor in another village.
This is not the first time that Gilbert’s life has been blighted by rebels. Some years ago, he lost his livelihood when an armed group swept through his village and took away his small herd of cattle. At that time, he was totally ignorant of the gospel. But one day soon after, he was flicking through the channels of his radio, when he came across Radio Réconciliation and began to listen. He returned day after day, attentively drinking in gospel teaching from radio programmes including Espérance Aujourd’hui.
After some time, Gilbert placed his trust in Christ and at that point he called the radio station. The director, Jean-Luc, made an arduous trip along muddy unpaved tracks out to visit him and was able to connect him to a local church where he was discipled and baptised. Complementing the church, listening to our radio programmes helped Gilbert to grow in his understanding and faith.
Later, Gilbert trained for ministry at the Bible college in Nyankunde, where the booklets we produce, containing the same teaching as the radio programmes, are amongst the limited amount of Christian literature to be found in the library. Whilst continuing to listen to Radio Réconciliation for instruction and encouragement, he also began to contribute his own programmes on the station, teaching the Bible in Kiswahili. Upon recently completing his training, he was sent out to look after a remote village congregation.
Radio Réconciliation is also located in the village of Nyankunde. It exists to bring gospel light to a region where most people have been afflicted in one way or another by the unspeakable atrocities of ongoing tribal and political tensions and conflicts. Radio Réconciliation actively proclaims the gospel of forgiveness and hope in a context of cruel adversity. It also seeks to promote reconciliation, justice and peace where healthy family and community relationships have broken down under the ravages of war. Espérance Aujourd’hui has a prominent role to play as it is aired at four different time slots every morning. Nevertheless, the influence of these programmes reaches even further. Jean-Luc has told us that they often shape and inform the teaching of local presenters as they prepare programmes in their tribal languages – with some appropriate cultural tweaking occurring in the process.
Supplies of our booklets are sent to the radio station where Jean-Luc distributes them, sending many to about a dozen other radio stations where they are used by presenters or in follow-up with interested listeners. Some, as previously mentioned, are given to the Bible college, for the students to consult, and others are sent to the local hospital where patients can read them.
We recently asked Jean-Luc, the director of Radio Réconciliation, if he had any feedback concerning our radio programmes and he reported, ‘Listeners often tell us that the Holy Spirit speaks to them through these programmes; they say: “These people live so far away and they cannot see us, and yet they understand our problems and speak to us as if they know us!”’
I find this compliment reassuring, as I constantly wonder whether it is really possible to bridge the cultural divide and the gulf in life experience that separates a typical Englishman from a typical African. Just as the listeners in Nyankunde suggest, any ability I have to speak into their hearts is ultimately the result of the gracious equipping of the Holy Spirit. Within that context, the opportunities I have had to travel to Africa and my occasional sabbatical studies have been highly formative.
Indeed, earlier this year I was granted the privilege of a three-month sabbatical that I devoted to studying The Theology of the Poor. I have seen at first hand the ravages of poverty and the pastoral issues it raises. The so-called prosperity gospel has been one response to poverty in Africa, a very flawed response, based on deceptive false hope. Nevertheless, it is appropriate for us to ask how we make sense of poverty and what the church’s response should be, both pastorally and practically. Please pray for me as I seek to weave some of the results of my studies into future radio programmes.
It is impossible to know, with any degree of accuracy, how many people are listening regularly to Espérance Aujourd’hui in Africa, as well in Haiti, Spain or France. Right across francophone Africa, just like Gilbert, every individual will have their own personal story, all too often involving poverty, sickness, injustice and violence. Nevertheless, we trust that the basic Bible teaching presented by these radio programmes, taken and applied by the Spirit, is quietly giving birth to faith, shaping lives and transforming hearts – one by one.
How has the pandemic affected production?
The production of Espérance Aujourd’hui has been dependent upon me travelling to France to record my scripts with French believers. With various quarantine measures and restrictions in place, both here and in France, such trips are currently not possible. I had become concerned because all recordings from previous trips to France had been made into finished programmes by October 2020, and there was the prospect that production would come to a halt. This was made a matter of prayer and I can gratefully announce that God has answered our prayers, and yours! Several willing and able native French speaking believers have been found in the south of England and recordings have resumed using the studios in Abingdon. Nevertheless, as I write, further recording sessions have had to be postponed until the new lockdown comes to an end. Furthermore, the production and distribution of our booklets has also ceased, temporarily we hope! Along with so many others whose ministry has been disrupted by the ongoing Covid crisis, we look to God for wisdom, solutions, and ways forward into a fruitful ministry on behalf of people like Gilbert.
If, once Covid restrictions permit, you would be interested in volunteering to help with the production of the booklets in Abingdon, Ian would be glad to hear from you.