The aim of “reaching millions in minutes” with the gospel stirs the heart of Ruba Abbassi, and she knows that through the radio ministry she gives direction to in her country of Jordan, that goal is not beyond her grasp.
Ruba Abbassi tells Southern Baptist editors about her work with Arab Woman Today Ministries, which is based in Amman.Abbassi, whose husband Nabeeh is president of the Jordan Baptist Convention, is the director of Arab Woman Today Ministries, based in Amman and whose efforts are focused on both reaching and equipping the women who listen to the informative and inspirational radio programs.
The ministry was established in 1999, and at that time, Moscow Radio was one of 10 stations that carried the programs. In 2001, AWTM switched to Trans World Radio, a Christian broadcasting network that airs the 15-minute program of interviews and biblical messages four times each week.
The program is on the air twice each week in Northern Africa and two times weekly in the Middle East. The target audience, according to its director, who met recently with nine Southern Baptist editors to discuss her ministry, is Arab women between the ages of 18 and 60.
“Sixty percent of the Arab women are illiterate,” she told the editors, “but every home has a radio.”
More than 116 million women live in the 22 countries that comprise the Arab world, which includes Northern Africa as well as the Middle East. “Because of the high rate of illiteracy among the Arab women,” Abbassi underscored, “the oral testimony is vital to reaching these women.”
The programs address a variety of needs and problems among Arab women, who, according to the ministry’s director, endure many “hard circumstances” in their lives in the hope that change for the better will occur someday.
Broadcasts sponsored by AWTM cover topics ranging from the legal rights of women to issues related to family life – with, of course, an emphasis on the spiritual lives of the listeners. “If these Arab women have peace in their hearts,” said Abbassi, “there will be peace for everybody in the house.”
The ministry also has a website, www.arabwomantoday.com/english, which receives more than 160 visits each day and more than 3,000 hits. Additionally, when the editors visited the offices of Arab Woman Today Ministries, Abbassi and her staff were readying for one of the “networking conferences” for Arab women, giving them an opportunity to share experiences and receive training.
Abbassi believes, however, that through its radio broadcasts AWTM will continue to have its most significant contact – and thus its greatest impact – on the lives of Arab women.