Witness
Testifying to God's Presence and Activities
The main point here is that this is God's world. It does not belong to Satan -- although that is the appearance given. Those who live lives according to the Kingdom of God are those who live right-side up in an upside down and fallen world.
In Romans (ch. 1:20) we are told that the things of God are to be plainly seen. We are called to be witnesses to this truth which, while obvious to us, is not shared by the unbeliever who has a different worldview and interpretation of life. As media people, a large part of our job is to help people discover this truth for themselves, to help people to see.
The question is how? Testimonies of how God has worked in the lives of individuals, or even communities, is one of the most compelling ways of doing this. Listeners can readily identify with those whose stories and testimonies bring the Gospel down to earth. FEBC's files are filled with stories of listeners whose lives have been changed -- often quite dramatically. We sometimes hear of whole communities that have been changed as a result of becoming Christian.
Christian radio broadcasting has made a profound impact on the Hmong people of China and Southeast Asia over a period of years. In Laos the Hmong would listen to FEBC broadcasts from Manila and decide to become Christian. Often a village would send a delegation to Vientiane, the capital, in quest of a pastor or missionary who could lead him into the faith. In one such village five families at first decided to burn their demon paraphernalia and become Christians. This later grew to thirteen families, then twenty-one. Because of this stand they decided to shake off their opium-smoking habit which entailed some villagers being sent for rehabilitation. As the Gospel began to make an impact on their lives the Christian villagers became more industrious -- and this attracted further assistance from aid agencies. After a few years entire Hmong villages were transformed. It became economically productive and a living testimony to the Gospel.
True stories like these go over well on radio. A news or documentary format might be the most suitable. Personal testimonies might require more sensitive treatment so as to respect the individual's privacy and, where human rights are ignored in certain situations, their security.
Another possibility is through documentaries on nature topics, to acknowledge the hand of God in nature. How many of us watch wildlife movies of TV with amazement, and wonder how the presenter so unashamedly refers to Mother Nature as a substitute for God? Evidently the latter is offensive while the former is not. We can do something about this.
Very often in Asia, when people are faced with natural disasters or spectacular displays of the forces of nature, they ask, Is God trying to tell us something? This was the case in Indonesia at the time of Mt. Galungung's eruptions and, more recently following the tsunamis that struck the coasts of Aceh province of Sumatra at Christmas 2004. People with a supernaturalistic worldview tend to look to deeper meaning behind these events, thus providing a window of opportunity for introducing the God of creation. Even man-made disasters can produce the same kind of questioning.
Christian production studios, such as the Christian Resource Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, have produced nature programs with scripts written by experts. One of them, Nature Shows the Way, explains the marvellous intricacies of nature and attributes them to God's handiwork.