Radio Voice of Hope (VOH) has a heart for the nation. They began their broadcasting ministry in the city of Bujumbura in 2008 at the request of the president of Burundi. The president asked Hope Africa University to start a radio station that would “play modern music, bring the gospel to his people, and help heal divisions created by their recent civil war.”
However, due to the topography around Bujumbura, Radio Voice of Hope’s FM signal did not reach beyond the outskirts of this large coastal city. As a result, they purchased a second broadcast site 12 miles to the east of the city on the top of Mount Manga. This increased their coverage area to include a few of the provinces to the east. In 2022, Friends of Hope Africa University turned to SonSet Solutions once again for help to purchase and install a new 2kW FM transmitter to replace their aging Mount Manga unit. This upgrade gives the two combined stations the ability to reach the entire western half of the country, but their vision extends well beyond even this new coverage area.
Radio VOH has developed a plan to cover the entire country of Burundi and has asked our help to provide coverage studies, equipment costs, and other technical assistance in support of their dream of adding four new FM translators, which will receive and rebroadcast their current radio signals. The proposal envisions installing one new translator per year. Radio VOH considers SonSet Solutions their main upgrade provider for this project.
Etienne, Director of Radio VOH, tells us, “We have a large number of listeners who have believed the Lord Jesus Christ, others who have been comforted by our messages of broadcast, others who had ambition to commit suicide but left this act after listening to the word of God through the radio.” We praise the Lord for partners with hearts like these who desire to bring the gospel to their whole nation.
By Doug Weber, February 2023