It Seemed Impossible
by Tom Scatliff
on August 12, 2018
Last month we told you about the unrest in South Sudan and alluded to a refugee camp in neighboring Uganda where nearly one million South Sudanese have taken refuge. This camp, known as the Adjumani refugee camp, is home to Radio Usalama FM. This Christian radio station was established to bring hope, peace, and reconciliation through the gospel to those seeking refuge in Uganda. As the refugee crisis deepened and the camp expanded, SonSet Solutions (where we work on loan from Reach Beyond) helped provide equipment and technical support to extend the station’s coverage, allowing all within the camp to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. Earlier this year SonSet Solutions sent two of our missionaries to the Adjumani refugee camp for a few weeks to further assist the radio station.

David Russell (president of SonSet Solutions, where we serve), speaking to the Radio Usalama FM staff.
During their visit the missionaries recognized that the signal of Radio Usalama was greatly diminished compared to its potential capability. At the station they quickly diagnosed the problem — a faulty connection between the transmitter and the antenna. This reduced the signal to a fraction of its original strength, resulting in a poor signal close to the station and likely no signal at all in outlying areas.
Fixing it required specialized tools, but they had none. The cable needed a new connector, but they didn’t have that either. They needed a sharp knife to cut the cable, but the best knife available was a very dull dagger. A fix seemed impossible, but God was working out his sovereign plan. Years before, one of the missionaries had worked at a company where he was taught how to connect cables just like this one without specialized tools. Because of that training, he was able to figure out how it could be done with no real tools at all. With much prayer and by fashioning what was available into makeshift implements (like sharpening the dull dagger on a nearby rock), they repaired and reconnected the line. The result was immediate and dramatic. A powerful signal was restored!  
The very next day, our missionaries participated in a distribution of solar-powered radios at a refugee camp in another district. As families turned on their radios, the Radio Usalama signal came booming in and the people were thrilled. God’s timing is marvelous. If the repair hadn’t happened when it did, the people would have had radios, but no signal. Now, instead of static or silence, they were hearing the message of hope loud and clear.

David and a Ugandan national listening to the new, powerful FM signal on a SonSet® radio.
High Adventure Gospel Communications Ministries, our partner ministry that runs Radio Usalama, is one of four partners that will be the focus of SonSet Solutions’ 2018 SonSet® Radio Initiative. Through this initiative, SonSet Solutions hopes to distribute 10,000 SonSet radios to help these ministries expand their reach and deepen their impact in hard-to-reach places of the world. The first 1,000 of these radios arrived in Peru last week, and 3,000 more are due to arrive in the Adjumani camp this week.
Again, thank you for your support of our ministries. Because of your financial gifts and prayer, we are all able to be part of advancing the Gospel.
Article originally written by our co-worker Marla Bender and has been updated to reflect current status of the project.

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