A new Christian radio station started its operations in Mbeya, Tanzania on Jan 2.
The radio station, located on a mountain top, now broadcasts the gospel message to an area that exceeds 30,000 square miles, blanketing southern Tanzania and millions of its citizens.
According to AG News, the station is the result of years of labor and the combined efforts of the Tanzanian Assemblies of God, US AG missionaries and Speed the Light (STL), which helped with purchasing some of the equipment and in coordinating technical advice from AG International Media Ministries (IMM).
“The national church carried the lion’s share of the budget,” states Tanzanian missionary Scott Hanson, “but we are all excited about the potential impact the station will have in proclaiming the gospel and disseminating good doctrine through solid biblical teaching.”
Currently, the population of Tanzania is estimated at 39 million people, with more than 80 percent said to be living in rural areas.
“The Tanzania Assemblies of God, under the leadership of general superintendent Barnabas Mtokambali, has one of the most aggressive evangelism and church planting programs of any of our national Fellowships in the world,” says Africa regional director Mike McClaflin.
AG World Missions communications director, Randy Hurst, says: “This radio station is one of five to be built and established in the next 10 years. Their vision is to broadcast the gospel across the entire country within a decade, while simultaneously planting thousands of churches. They are already ahead of their projections. With Tanzania being one of the poorest economies in Africa, the vision and faith of this national church is astounding.”
