THE LITTLE FM THAT COULD - Part II

The Little FM waited patiently while the missionary hand-carried the antenna up another three-story tree. Tense moments followed as the missionary lost his footing and fell headlong down the tree while guns could be heard nearby. But God spared the missionary's life when his foot caught on a limb and he hung upside down thanking the Lord, who, alone, saves from certain death.

The Little FM held his breath and waited as the missionary tried again with success to mount the antenna to the tree and The Little FM's clear voice was heard in the land once again. He sang for joy, he encouraged the people not to give up, he was still here and God would help. As people ran from their homes and villages, they quickly gathered up precious possessions, one was their radio receiver.

Feza at controls - faithful 20 years

Soldiers from seven nations overran the country and fought back and forth for eight long years. But, The Little FM That Could, sang out His praises, and brought the Gospel to even those who had killed their neighbors across the border in Rwanda in 1994 during the Genocide. ("...for God is no respecter of persons.")

Hundreds of thousands of Rwandans fled across the border to live in 30 refugee camps right under the signal of The Little FM for the next three years, as the World Food Program and the High Commission for Refugees asked The Little FM to be the unique radio to broadcast the daily lists of food rations and camp supplies being distributed to two million refugees in the thirty camps.

The Little FM fed them every day in French, Swahili, Kinyarwandan and English. He fed them with the sounds of the Gospel Story in their own "heart language." He encouraged the followers of Christ and pleaded with those who needed to trust Him and accept His offer to live with Him free from fear and hatred.

He also warned them to boil their water so that they would not get cholera. He told them where and when they could receive food to sustain their lives. The Little FM shared their personal stories in hopes that their children in other camps would hear and be reunited with mom and dad. The Little FM played their song requests and testimonies, too.

He told the two million refugees and ten million Congolese about immunization campaigns to protect them from polio and measles and how to try to protect themselves against malaria and Aids.

After the refugees began to go back to their homes in Rwanda, the fighting over territory, rich in gold, diamonds, and coltan for cell phones began in 1998. But, The Little FM would not give up.

In 1995 The Little FM That Could was invited to expand his voice by placing a FM 200 watt relay, high up on the mountain.

The King of the Bashi tribe heard The Little FM's voice and decided he wanted his tribe of two million to hear the "good moral teaching." So, he made a visit to see The Little FM for himself, and invited the missionary to bring his relay to his home and place the antenna on his roof. The Little FM could now reach down the other side of the king's mountain and bathe the valley with his clear, strong voice. 

In 1996 fighting erupted throughout the region as invading forces marched into town and The Little FM fell silent while his family, the McDonalds, went into hiding for over a week. Someone else was hiding too, the king of the Bashi tribe of two million people. Because of "the good moral teaching" he had heard on The Little FM, he decided he did not want his tribe to be involved in the fighting.