Pastor Daniel Ekka is the radio director for World Mission Broadcast in Papua New Guinea. This is his story in his words.
I graduated from high school in 1989 and worked as a salesman for a biscuit company for three years. Due to some family problems, I returned to my village in 1994. Life in the village was very difficult, so I told my wife Elis that I wanted to return to my job in the city. I left Elis with my father and mother in the village and jumped on a bus heading for the city. That was September 25, 1994.
Days later, I found myself sitting in my sister’s house with a bottle of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. I turned on a little pocket radio to listen to some music. The radio station was playing a Christian song and the Spirit of God touched me in a way I can’t describe. I cried to God confessing my sins. I didn’t know the right words to express what was happening inside of me. As the tears poured down my face, I repeated over and over again, “Lord, I am sinner; please forgive me!” God told me to leave and go back to my village. I didn’t know why at the time, but later realized that He had a plan for me.
Elis saw me from a distance, and she shouted to me in Pidgin, “Bilong wanem na yu kam bek gen?” (Why do you have to come back to the village?). I shouted back with a big smile on my face, “I heard a song on the radio and I gave my life to the Lord!” But she thought that I was joking. She did not believe me because she knew my past life. As I told her of how God touched me, she stared at me with tears falling down her face. She knew deep in her heart that I would never again abuse her.
Pastor Daniel Ekka (left) with his four children and wife, Elise (far right). Ekka
found Christ through a Christian radio program and accepted a call to ministry
in the Church of the Nazarene. Today he develops Nazarene radio programs
that minister to youth, women and children. Photo courtesy WMB.
On Sunday, Elis and I went to the Church of the Nazarene about six miles from our village. I testified how God had touched my life. The people had a hard time believing me because they knew how I was before. As time went by they saw the change in me. My life was totally transformed, and I was no longer the same old Daniel.
Later, I accepted a call into ministry and completed my degree in theology from Melanesia Nazarene Bible College. While pastoring a Church of the Nazarene, I helped to develop a program called Kirapim Gutpela Sindaun (Starting a Good Life). Kirapim Gutpela Sindaun is an inspirational devotional that brings hope to youth who are hopeless and hurting. It was God’s timing that when the Christian radio station Wantok Radio Light went on air in Papua New Guinea, our program was one of the first to air. Currently, Kirapim Gutpela Sindaun is broadcasting on nine radio stations.
In 2007, the Krai Bilong Ol Meri (Cry of Women) program was created, targeting women facing issues such as violence, rape, polygamy, abortions, etc. It gives them hope through the hardships and challenges they face and tells them how they can find peace in Christ Jesus. The women’s ministry of Papua New Guinea writes and produces this ministry.
In 2009, God gave us the wisdom, knowledge and strength to produce another program for children called Krais I Laikim Olgeta Pikinini (Christ Loves All Kids). This program is driven with storytelling from the Bible. Our desire is to plant the Word of God in their lives when they are young, and as they grow they become good citizens and govern Papua New Guinea without corruption and dishonesty. This program is now broadcasting on six radio stations around the country. We have more than 100 children’s teachers/pastors writing and producing this program with the national director of Children’s Ministry in Papua New Guinea.
When I hear listeners call or when I receive letters, I am overwhelmed. These are souls responding to God. I am doing this radio ministry to seek lost souls for Christ. Deep down in my heart, I know that there is someone out there like me who has never gone to church, but they might be listening to radio in their house, in their bedroom, in their car, in their office or on the streets with their headphones. I produce radio programs to touch the untouched and reached the unreached.
-- This story was originally featured in World Mission Broadcast's "Transmission" e-mail newsletter. To subscribe for more World Mission Broadcast news, visit www.worldmissionbroadcast.org.