The Foundation Story

Everything has a beginning. Eternity Gospel Radio is no exception. Very few persons know something about the genesis of Eternity Gospel Radio FM 96.5 MHz which began broadcasts on the 06th of September, 2008 from its site at ‘The Bible House’, Bota, Limbe, Cameroon. A journey of a thousand miles it is said begins with a step. Eternity Gospel Radio has been on a journey of thousands upon thousands of miles, with many more thousands, millions and billion more miles to go, till Jesus comes ! Some jottings from my diary tell the story of the beginning.
November 2005: Driven by my hunger for more of the Word of God than I was actually receiving from the pulpit at my local church, I enrolled in the Bible Training Centre-Bonadikombo, of the Discipling the Nations’ Ministries (DNM) founded by Apostle Dr. Hal Rahman, with Ps. Nkwelle Emmanuel as the Administrator and Rev. Anne Takow Ebane as the Regional Coordinator. At the Bible Training Centre, we were grounded in the word of God, and our love deep for Jesus with a passion for souls was ignited; we were equally trained to become disciples of Jesus and to live to fulfill the great commission: Matthew 28:19-20.

August 2006: I attended the Haggai Institute Leadership Training Seminar No. 003 in Buea; we received in-depth training on evangelism, leadership, vision and goal-setting, among others. At the end of the training, we were commissioned as the “Life Impacters”- and mandated to go and impact the lives of people and transform the society.

January 2007: I offered a copy of the book, “What Would Jesus Do” (WWJD) to one of my god-daughters in our local church, Chantal Enanga. This book, WWJD, carries stories of youths and their relationship with Jesus Christ. It had always been my desire that Chantal give her life to Christ and grow in the knowledge of the Lord. I also offered her a Bible.

Sunday, 04th February 2007: I met Chantal in church and enquired as to how she was enjoying the book, WWJD. She complained that she had not been able to go through in reading the book because, when her friends had an encounter with same, they immediately fell in love with it. So, the book had been passing from hand to hand, she explained. There in the church premises, I interviewed some of her friends who had had an encounter with the book, and their testimonies were just wonderful. This information or revelation got me thinking seriously.

After church service in the afternoon of that same Sunday 04th February 2007, as I isolated myself for a very long time in our bedroom. As I lay on the bed, reflecting on what I had learned from Chantal and her friends concerning the book, WWJD, the Lord revealed to me that, a majority of christians of my local church and even in the body of Christ as a whole, were indeed very hungry for the pure and unrefined word of God, as I had been way back in 2005. Many were yearning to be delivered from the scarcity of God’s word and the resultant negative lifestyles prevalent in the church.(Matthew.5:6; Luke 4:18-19).

I was made to feel the need to make the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only solution to human problems and their devastating effects (John 3:16; Rom. 1:16; 10:9-10), to have more relevance in the lives of people and communities.

On this memorable Sunday, 04th February 2007, God revealed to me clearly there in our bedroom, what I had to do in order to satisfy the people’s hunger for His Word, and free them from the negative effects of the scarcity of the word in their lives.

From that date, I began to pray for God to make things clearer and clearer to me. As God made things clearer, I wrote things own according to His word in Habakkuk 2:2, and on the 28/06/2007, I presented the vision at the Bible Training Centre – Bonadikombo, in the form of a thesis as a requirement for our graduation, under the supervision of Rev. Nkwelle Emmanuel as the BTC Administrator and Rev. Anne Takow Ebane as the Regional Coordinator.

Later on as I continued to pray for God’s guidance concerning the vision, the Lord magnified the vision in four (04) different dimensions (Genesis 2:10-14). Eternity Gospel Radio is found in the fourth dimension. We then baptized the entire vision, “The Bible House Project.”

August 2007, ‘recruited’ the second team member (the first indeed was my wife), to work with us on the project: Brother Lawani Zakari, through whom we were able to do the following:

Locate the present site (which had been abandoned by the owner) for the radio and the owners thereof resident in Douala, and secure same for the project;
Locate a communication consultant in Douala, Brother Mbia Mathieu, to lay the professional groundwork of the radio and oversee its execution;
Have sessions of prayer for the project with some brethren, and mobilize the body of Christ sell the vision to them.

22/09/2007: Had the first ground breaking meeting at Nguemako Law Firm, Limbe, with the communication consultant, Brother Mbia Mathieu in the company of Brother Lawani Zakari. Some key features of the meeting:
We revealed the name of the radio, ‘Eternity Gospel Radio’.
We made it known surprisingly (?), that we had no budget for the radio project.
We agreed to meet with the body of Christ to sell the vision to them.
We found it very necessary to organize training seminars on broadcasting for Pastors and potential staff, and for technicians.
We discuss on administrative and technical documentation to be compiled and submitted to the government for authorizations.
We visited the proposed site for the radio and found same suitable for our purposes.
We spent extensive time in prayers for God to take total control of the project.

30/09/2007: We travelled to Douala (myself, Brothers Lawani and Mbia) and met with the owners of the premises earmarked for the radio. They willingly agree to let us have the premises and we agreed on rate of rents and modalities.

October 2007: Very busy month during which:
Technical studies to secure a radio frequency are carried out by a telecommunication technician from Yaoundé.
We worked on administrative, technical and professional documentations.
We had estimated costs of low and high frequency equipments.
We succeeded by the grace of God, to pay six(6) months’ advance rents and secured the premises for the radio.
We drew up a plan of action from that date till begin of broadcasts.
We suffered some financial and other disappointments which dampened our spirits somehow.
We continued to pray for God’s guidance, guardianship and financial provision.

03/11/2007: The entire site is sanctified and anointed with oil by a college of four (04) Pastors led by Apostle Dr. Princewill Kenneth.

08/11/2007: Created ‘Life Impact Network’, the mother organization under which Eternity Gospel Radio operates, and apply for authorization. The name ‘Life Impact Network’, was derived from our baptismal name “Life Impacters” given us at the close of the Haggai Institute Leadership training seminar of August 2006 in Buea.

11/11/2007 & 17/11/2007: Held meetings with the body of Christ at the site baptized ‘The Bible House’, to sell the vision to them. They welcomed the vision with great enthusiasm.

December 2007 –March 2008: Began acquiring some low frequency equipments and launched training seminars for Pastors and others in radio presentation and broadcasting. We put in place the first management team of the radio comprising of Njoke Dickson Matute as Station Manager, Avom Christelle as Head of News and Programs, and Siewe Nguemako Herve-Ferry as the Head of Finance and Techniques. Apostle Dr. Princewill Kenneth donates a brand new 12 channel mixer (audio console) to the radio. The studios and pylon (tower) are built and installed.

23/03/2008: We organized a fund raising ceremony open to the entire public, at the conference hall of the Limbe Urban Council, Down Beach. We raise less than CFA five hundred thousand (500.000)Francs in cash.

May 2008-August 2008: Training seminars for staff/volunteers and pastors went on. Production of some programs took off. Made concrete arrangements with Mr. Omalle Martin, a telecommunications engineer, for the supply and installation of high frequency equipments.

05/09/2008: Mr. Omalle Martin and his team from Douala began installation of high frequency equipments.

06/09/2008: A rainbow appeared in the sky over the pylon(towers) during the day as Mr. Omalle Martin and his team continued with final installation of high frequency equipments (Genesis 9:13-17). They completed their work late in the evening and then at about 7.00 pm, the broadcasts signals went on air over Eternity Gospel Radio FM 96.5 MHz to the loud shouts of joy, singing and dancing of the team that had been working for several months to see this happen. We all sang and danced glory to God.

When all of these quieted down for a moment, the promoter’s voice came on air (indeed the very first voice to go on air live), to pray thanking God for His vision, and thereafter to welcome our audience to the radio and to make known a broad outline of our editorial policies. Music continued on air all night till the next day and the next, and then some programs were introduced piecemeal to the delight of our listeners. Eternity Gospel Radio had formally begun broadcasting on this memorable day of 06/09/2008 till…our listeners are brought into strong relationship with Jesus Christ unto eternity. We give ALL the glory to God Almighty./-

Our Eternity Highway Code:
As we embarked on the journey to the creation of Eternity Gospel Radio, there were some things that the Lord impressed upon our heart to guide us all along the way. Here are just some of them:
Have it uppermost in mind that it is God’s vision, not mine. Ensure that the project is not personalized. Seek to glorify God, not self !

Not to do business (for selfish financial gain), but to do God’s work.

Even though we are the visionary, implicate Pastors/churches for their contributions and other things.

Get young, spirit-filled, open-minded, social, mobile, active, talented, disciplined, God-sent individuals to work on the project.

Do one thing concretely each day – go above your limits.

Have a body of ‘advisers’ (Board ) to guide us.

Pray at every stage of the project-pray for supporters, for programs, etc.

People to differentiate between Christianity and doctrines. Ensure that the project is not entirely Pentecostal, but Christian.

People to preach/teach word of God only, not their denomination, nor to denigrate others.

Monitor the men of God who go on air-“will know who is still in the Lord Jesus Christ and who is not”.

All aspects should be handled seriously i.e. management, transmissions, receptions, and other aspects of the radio.

Be prepared for attacks from the enemy at all levels, challenges, discouragements, hard times, oppositions…thus have faith, pray always, at each stage of the project – God is interested in the project.

With all of the above prescriptions amongst others of our ‘highway code’, we strongly believed and still do, that God our heavenly Father desires that all things be dedicated to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. Accordingly, we acknowledged from the onset that God is the rightful owner of Eternity Gospel Radio, and we are merely His steward to look after His resources and do His will. We thus prayed and continue praying that the Lord God takes total control over Eternity Gospel Radio, all its assets and reputation so that it can be used at all times, to bring honour and glory unto His holy name ./-

By Barrister Maurice WELABI NGUEMAKO.