Bariba

Background

Broadcasts in the Bariba (Batanou) language were one of the first Words of Hope projects to be fully produced and transmitted from within the target area. Since 1990, the Bariba broadcasting effort has been effectively supervised by a radio committee appointed by the Union of Evangelical Churches of Benin [UEEB]. The radio committee specifies the content of each broadcast and assigns on-air teaching responsibilities to a select group of UEEB pastors. The result is a fruitful outreach directly organized and supervised by this indigenous denomination.

Ministry Updates

We gathered the church leaders of the different regions...and used the evaluation tool....We asked the leaders who were present where the population was when the broadcasts began in 1991 and where they would situate them now. There was a clear moving from hostility to openness and from ignorance toward knowing the Lord. During the 18 years the Bariba population has been exposed to the radio broadcasts, over 60 churches were planted in the Bariba country. More will be planted as the churches would not want to miss the radio broadcasts as an evangelism tool. They decided to raise the money to pay for the airtime on the FM stations. Mostly all the FM stations have made special arrangements giving us the time for one broadcast free of charge. For this we praise the Lord. We appreciate your efforts to bring the gospel to the Muslim nations and would like to let you know that sponsoring the radio work has greatly impacted the proliferation of Islam among the Bariba in Benin. It has revealed to many Muslims where the truth is and we pray for them and look forward to the day when they publicly proclaim that they follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Listener Responses

A recent trip into northwestern Benin brought home the ability of radio to reach into the most closed or remote communities, especially when local FM stations are involved. I witnessed firsthand stories of folk drawn to God through radio messages and who now attend several new Bariba (Batanou) language UEEB churches in the area.