There are 6 radio stations in France managed by the Adventist church. These radios are conducted by suitable personnel with the help of a small army of volunteers.
The radio stations are coordinated by the Department of Communications in the French-Belgian Union (UFB) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and lead by Stephan Vincent UFB radio manager.
"The challenges here in continental France are enormous because of the legal context and cultural reality” said Pedro Torres, UFB Communication Director, “The radio stations are called to follow a protocol that qualify and quantify the volume of the broadcasting and of course the content.”
For some time now, a visit by AWR world leaders has been lacking. This visit finally took place January 13 and 14.
With the help of Corrado Cozzi, Communication Director at the Inter-European Region of Seventh-day Adventists (EUD), Kent Sharpe, AWR Vice President and CFO, and Vasili Makarchuk, AWR Europe liaison, visited the radio stations of Le Havre, Radio Albatros, Ruan, Radio La Sentinelle and the radio studio at the UFB Headquarters.
“Thanks to the visit of AWR officers Kent Sharp and Vasili Makarchuk, the local radio stations got new ideas and helpful hints that have worked in different countries, advancing the radio work” affirmed Torres.
The visit of Sharpe and Makarchuk has been received very positively by the leaders of the radio stations, and it was an exchange of inputs that allowed the AWR officers to understand the challenges that the radio stations have in this European context and conditions.
Especially for the challenge of moving from FM to Digital (DAB +). “My wish is to see the radio stations evolving, not only into DAB+ technology in order to adapt to the future, but also to break through conceptual barriers and reach people with the Gospel, beyond the limits that we have been seeing until now” said Torres.
“It was a great pleasure and enormous blessing to meet for the first time all the dedicated radio members at Radio Albatros and Radio la Sentinelle stations, as well as Stephan who leads all radio ministry. Well done!” said Makarchuk wishing also to continue working and supporting each other and getting the good message to every child of God!
“We just praise the Lord for the work these wonderful individuals have done, are doing and will continue to do in the future” declared Sharpe. As the main initiative of AWR is finding ways to connect our listeners to the local churches, it was amazing and exciting for Sharpe to hear the response to this initiative from the radio teams in France “that is exactly what we want to do,” they said, “to connect our listeners to the local churches and help our listeners become Seventh-day Adventist members”.
The French Union and AWR will continue to explore new and better ways to reach the people of France. “We are exploring the possibility of DAB+, more focused radio programs, intentionally inviting people to start Bible studies, health classes, family life classes, cell phone evangelism, etc., anything that will lead us to have contact with the listeners and the opportunity to invite them to begin Bible studies”, stated Sharpe.
The dreams and plans for the future that we are exploring, are dependent upon the hard work that the radio teams are doing. It will also depend upon the local churches incorporating their local evangelism efforts to include the radio. “It is only when we all work together and we use all of our resources towards a common goal that we will see results beyond anything we can imagine” concluded Sharpe.
Finally, Ruben de Abreu, UFB President, confirmed that “The Adventist Church in France and its relationship with radio is historical but still very topical. Many phases are recognized with more or less commitment and development. Today, Adventist radio in France is experiencing an important moment of opportunity, with the opening of digital frequencies and the web. We are committed to putting all opportunities on our side to take advantage of this situation and develop Adventist presence. It is a challenge that we wanted to take because of its crucial importance for the mission.”
Since needs are actually opportunities, the future of radio ministries here in continental France has never had a better opportunity to improve and accomplish the preaching of the return of Jesus.
