Broadcast the Bible – Gift code CL7

ISHIMWE. In the Kirundi language it means thanksgiving. It is the name of a weekly broadcast on Friday afternoons by a Christian radio station in Burundi supported by Blythswood Care.

And it has become a reality in the life of Bertrand, who thanks God that he has been set free from destructive habits of drug abuse, petty crime and sexual degradation.

“This programme shares the testimonies of different people, telling how God has saved them and set them free from all sorts of sin,” says Onesime Harubuntu, director of the station. “Bertrand understood that God can heal him, too. He called the producer and repented of his sins and accepted Jesus as his Saviour and Lord. His life has been changed completely. Now his passion is to serve God.”

KANGUKA. It means wake up. And it’s the name of Radio Ivyizigiro’s first broadcast of the day, at 5.30 am, when the dawn is breaking over Bujumbura city, which is just 230 miles south of the Equator. Alexis Ngendakumana (38) has been tuning in to the Christian radio station since he was a teenager. “I began to listen in 2002, during the civil war,” he says. “It was a comfort to me and my only source of hope.

“Radio Ivyizigiro has played a big role in keeping my faith in Jesus. I love the Bible teaching and the gospel messages and I often call when you can ask for a song to be dedicated to a listener. These broadcasts helped to save me from my former sinful life and change me into a man of God.

“May Jehovah bless those who started the station and all the leaders and staff. God bless also those who support Radio Ivyizigiro.”