At the turn of the year, most people spend the time to reflect on their past year and plan ahead the future, with many making plans and strategies with lofty goals. For us, this past year was a monumental year of celebration—our 75th year of ministry.
In 1946, Reverend Charlie Byers set out to spread the Gospel via his radio show “The Gospel Tide Hour.” Broadcasting from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Byers started locally but with a vision of sharing the Good News around the world. In 1978, The Tide® ministry began producing global broadcasts recorded in the languages of listeners across Southern Africa. Fast forward 75 years later, and the ministry has extended its programming with partners to be able to share the Gospel daily with millions in 30 different languages in almost 40 countries including those in Afghanistan, Albania, Bhutan, India, Kosovo, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, and Zimbabwe.
Don Shenk, director of The Tide® Ministry, commented, “We are extremely blessed to be able to celebrate over seven decades of our global radio outreach, with tens of thousands of people hearing the Gospel through our radio broadcasts. God certainly had a plan for Reverend Byers’ vision all those years ago!
“We aren’t just stopping at 75 years, though,” Shenk continued. “We are looking to the future of our ministry and plan to continue to share the Gospel for the next 75 years to come.”
Looking ahead to the next 75 years, The Tide® ministry and its partners will focus on the core foundations of
“The Tide Diamond Vision”:
- Amplify – The Tide ministry will increase ministry initiatives so that more people can experience God’s grace.
- Magnify – The Tide ministry will work to grow its support base to an expanded demographic.
- Solidify – The Tide ministry will develop and supply more resources to help new believers to grow in their faith and live in right relationship with God.
- Verify – The Tide ministry will measure the effectiveness of its activities to both manage them well and to demonstrate the efficient stewardship of resources.
- Glorify – The Tide ministry will strive to ensure that all it does to achieve its vision will bring glory to God.
In addition, The Tide ministry is always actively looking for people godly and manly enough to take up the 2021-2022 “Year Beard” challenge. Visit www.YearBeard.org for background and to meet some of the participants who are growing out their facial hair to raise awareness and financial support to help The Tide ministry reach an additional 1 million people with the name of Jesus next year.