CHAMBERSBURG, Pa.— India has some of the highest level of Christian persecution in the world, with only two percent of the population admitting to believing in Christ. Despite the cultural opposition, people in this region are thirsty for the Good News. However, it is difficult to discover God’s word if it isn’t told in a language people can understand.
This is where The Tide® (www.TheTide.org) ministry comes in. Celebrating over seven decades of service for Christ, The Tide® ministry has made it their mission to spread the Gospel to people through radio broadcasts all around the world, all spoken in “heart languages” or the local languages of a given area. The Tide® ministry shares the Gospel daily in over 20 different languages on three continents,reaching millions of people including those in Afghanistan, Albania, Bhutan, India, Kosovo, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Zimbabwe.
“Places that are possessed by darkness are sometimes filled with people desperate to learn of the light of Christ,” The Tide® ministry Director Don Shenk stated. “Despite such intense persecution towards Christians, the people in India are showing positive interest in the message of our radio broadcasts.”
In India, there are 12 different radio programs in 11 different languages, all designed to reach those in the region who have not yet heard the Good News. By offering so many language options, The Tide® ministry hopes to widen their reach of people tuning in to hear about Christ. In addition to the radio broadcasts, The Tide® conducts “seeker meetings” in India. Over the past three months, 11 meetings were held in various locations. Each meeting had around 50-70 people attending who expressed their interest in learning more about what they heard on the “Good News Hour” broadcast and who Jesus is.
Shenk commented, “It is so encouraging to hear that despite the potential persecution, peoples’ lives are still being touched by the Gospel. We hope that the ‘seeker meetings’ remind the locals that they are important to us — and even more important to our heavenly Father. We pray that the ‘seeker meetings’ will continue to grow and change lives, all for the betterment of the Kingdom.”
Over the past three months, various sessions of the “seeker meetings” touched on different topics. Topics flowed from creation, sin, the fall of man, confession and then repentance. Time was given for personal testimonies of what God has done in the lives of the people who had accepted Christ. There was even a session dedicated to discussing gardening, COVID-19 and village cleaning. After three months of meetings, nearly a hundred people accepted Christ as their personal savior!
Looking ahead to the next seven decades, The Tide® ministry and its partners will focus on the core foundationsof “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.
For more information about The Tide® ministry broadcast projects, history, radio programs around the world, special year-long campaigns, the weekly Global Update radio features or other news, visit its website at www.thetide.org or its Facebook page.
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To schedule interviews with Don Shenk, director of The Tide® global radio ministry, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.
To inquire about airing any of The Tide® ministry radio broadcasts, contact Michael Hamilton, 610.584.1096, ext. 101.