Radios Bring Life to 'Death Village'

The 50 families who lived in Toga’s village in Indonesia seemed to be stuck in silence, returning home every evening and hoping just to get enough rest before returning to work in the rice fields the next morning.

Toga remembers feeling discontent with the lack of community in his small village.

“It looked like a death village,” Toga said.

Then God completely changed this North Sumatera community. He used Back to God Ministries Indonesian (BTGMI) team and Words of Hope, the media ministry associated with the Reformed Church in America, to provide radios for the people who lived there.

“Now tea-time becomes an opportunity for people to listen to Christian programs and discuss spontaneously with neighbors,” reported Toga.

The transistor radios are the only way remote regions like this village can hear BTGMI programs and the gospel message. They also serve as a way for people in the community to develop relationships with neighbors through listener communities. Toga established these communities after receiving training from BTGMI Indonesian ministry.

As the listener community coordinator, Toga answers the new believers’ questions and organizes formal discussions about the programs. He serves as the main contact between his village and BTGMI ministry team.

“I just realized the strong impact of our listener community,” Toga added. The new believers seem to have changed the entire atmosphere of the community. “Instead of silence, I can hear many people listening to Christian radio programs.”

The listener community in North Sumatra is just one of more than 250 listener communities that the ministry team—through prayers and gifts—has helped to establish.