Why would radio, which began as one of the first means of public communication just prior to World War I (second only to print-media), still remain a viable means to reach people worldwide with the Gospel today?

• Radio is a “sharing medium”
  Due to its portability, durability and value for money, radio is the medium most often experienced in groups. The sheer number of people who can be reached by radio in the developing world makes radio far and away the best medium.
  
  
• Radio bypasses the question of literacy levels
  Radio brings stories to life in a drama, soothes with music and encourages the soul with Christian messages.
  
  
• Radio is the ideal medium for reaching migrants
  In areas where conflicts push people from their homes, radio is virtually the only media that they can take with them. Radio programming can follow migrants.
  
  
• Radio is exploratory
  In a creative sense, radio has the means to capture the imagination as much by what it leaves out (text and pictures) as what it puts in (sound effects, multiple voices, and story-telling).
  
  
• Radio effectively reaches rural populations
  With the advent of hand-cranked and solar powered receivers, radio can easily become a daily part of life for rural listeners.
  
  
• Radio is interactive
  Missionary radio can serve as a pulpit, a school, a postal system and as a community mouthpiece. It serves the church by supplementing its efforts and strengthening its members.
  
  
• Radio is cost effective media
  Equipment to broadcast voice through the airwaves is less expensive, relatively simple to set up and operate, and takes up less space in comparison to television broadcasting.
  

The evidence:
Andrew MacDonald of TWR-Africa stated recently that in Mozambique the Makhuwa are exuberant about the broadcasts that have transformed their church life. Most of their members are converts through the radio broadcasts from TWR.

Portions taken from “Why Radio?” - a publication of Trans World Radio