"Reflection and Faith"

Christmas... it is always such a wonderful time to reflect on what God has done in the past year. He gives us so many things for which to be thankful. However, there's more benefit to that kind of reflection than the warm fuzzies we get thinking about His blessings. We also get a boost in our faith to be able to believe for what He has in store for us in the year to come. So first, let's reflect. Then, let's dream about the year to come.

We made many gains this year, which have both deepened and broadened our impact to the Muslim world for Christ. The most recent and obvious could occupy our headline. Yahoo! Uighur is on the air! Uighurs... those 12 million or so Turkic Muslims living in Western China and into the Republics of the Silk Road region, a poster child for unreached peoples. They've been on my heart for two decades! Now, we're finally reaching them. And the Lord did no small thing. First, He supplied us a Uighur speaking program host. Then, supplied the funds through you to record 190 one-half hour Gospel programs in their language. After that, He supplied the funds to start putting them on the air over a 250,000 watt station belonging to Deutsch Telekom. However, He didn't stop there. Trans World Radio also picked up the program and will air them on their AM station out of Kyrgyzstan and their shortwave beacon as well. Not only that, Far East Broadcasting Company is broadcasting them on their shortwave station, too. Hallelujah! He's getting good value for His [and your] investment in recording those programs! If that was all that He had done in 2007, it would be a great year, but that's not all! Through the success we had with the banquet we raised over $48,000. That's wonderful in and of itself, but what we were able to do with it is what really makes it stupendous! First, our Urdu broadcast, for the people of Pakistan, was brought up to six days per week! And what wonderful responses we're getting from those broadcasts! Just look at the "Listeners' Letters". Secondly, we were able to air our daily Arabic broadcast twice per day! We were already on over a 100,000 watt station five evenings per week. However, now they are heard over a 250,000 watt station each morning! Why is this so important? Because there are 350,000,000 Arabs within hearing of our voice! Look at the letters we're getting.

So what about next year? What do we have to believe for? Well, let me tell you about the things that are knocking at our door. Right now we have pilot programs recorded to reach the 20,000,000 Oromo speaking Muslims in Ethiopia. I also have pilots on my desk in Luri, which is spoken by Muslims in Turkey and Iran. We currently have pilots on the way in Somali for millions in Somalia, and for almost 100,000 in the U.S. We have been helping to air a Fulfulde broadcast in Bamenda, Cameroon. We want that to go on daily and put it on shortwave for the entire region. Finally, we're close to finding a fresh host for a broadcast to reach the 16,000,000 or so nomadic Fulani speakers who are scattered over 16 countries in Africa.

That's a lot, but with God's help, in response to your prayers and generosity, these programs can move from being pilots on my desk, to being life-giving words to the scores of millions who need their power. He did it this year. He can do it again in 2008!

Merry Christmas!