Something New

This morning finds us in Nashville, Tennessee, getting ready for something new!  We’re about to head into the studio to record a new project, one that has been a long time in the making.  It’s called Music for the Radio, and it all started two years ago, almost to the day.

On November 1, 2008 we left to spend two weeks in southern Sudan with the non-profit organization that Jess works for, Aid Sudan.  It was an incredible trip, and one that left an indelible mark on our lives.  Most of all, we came away with a great love for the southern Sudanese people and a prayer that God would move powerfully in that country.

One of the incredible projects that Aid Sudan is using to impact the spiritual and physical needs of the southern Sudanese is the Radio Station Project.  Two radio towers are already up in Sudan – some of the first mass communication to reach this remote area of the world – and fourteen others are projected.  These satellite repeater stations will broadcast Bible stories, health and hygiene information, local news, and community development teaching all in the local tribal languages.  This oral transmission of information is crucial because the large majority of Sudanese are not literate.

The key to this project is a specially-designed handheld radio.  It’s solar-powered because there is no electricity, and it’s fix-tuned to the Aid Sudan signal.  Because the Sudanese live in family groups, one radio can reach 10-15 people, and sometimes more.  But there are over a million people in the broadcast area of the existing towers, and millions more in the projected broadcast area of the remaining towers.  That means we need thousands upon thousands of radios!

The good news is that these radios only cost $20 to manufacture and distribute, and there are already thousands in southern Sudan.  But we need more, and that’s where our new project comes in.  Music for the Radio is a 6-song EP that will be released in Spring of 2011.  All of the receipts – not just the profits, but everything we receive – will go to purchase these radios.  It’s a project we’ve been praying about for almost two years, and now God has finally opened the door for us to take the first step down this road.  We’re praying that God will do amazing things through this project, and that thousands of people will be impacted as a result.

And it’s not just about the Sudanese people.  Music for the Radio is a reminder to us that God is singing a song through each of our lives, and He never meant for us to keep it to ourselves.  He is calling us to sing it out, to broadcast it to a world that needs to hear it.  The song of God is music for the radio!  Don’t keep it to yourself.  Sing it out!