Missionaries to Pass Out Solar-Powered `GodPods’ in Africa

c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Seventh-day Adventists have found a new use for personal digital audio players: bringing the Bible to remote parts of Africa. Adventist World Radio and the It Is Written television network have formed separate partnerships with MegaVoice, producers of an iPod-like device officially called the Ambassador but informally dubbed the […]

c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Seventh-day Adventists have found a new use for personal digital audio players: bringing the Bible to remote parts of Africa.

Adventist World Radio and the It Is Written television network have formed separate partnerships with MegaVoice, producers of an iPod-like device officially called the Ambassador but informally dubbed the “GodPod.”


The project could provide a model for religious and secular humanitarian groups wanting to distribute information to illiterate or visually impaired people.

Seventh-day Adventist officials say missionaries will give out devices loaded with Christian content recorded in local languages. They will distribute the “GodPods” in the Kalahari Desert _ the dry, sandy swath of land covering parts of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa _ as well as parts of northern Africa.

It Is Written and Adventist World Radio are the television and radio ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Protestant denomination with more than 14 million believers worldwide.

Adventist World Radio’s version of the “GodPod” will be distributed in southern Sudan and other parts of North Africa. The recordings on the device will initially be available in four languages, and the radio network plans to add three more once the program is established.

It Is Written has launched a separate campaign to distribute recordings of the Bible to the Khoisan people of the Kalahari Desert. Distribution is scheduled for August.

The device is designed to be as durable as possible. It has no moving parts that can wear out or break, runs on solar-charged batteries, and has simple controls that can be easily understood by users who may be illiterate or visually impaired. The Ambassador costs $23.50 to $62, with prices varying in accordance with the device’s memory, the length of the content played and the quantity purchased.

For missionaries and humanitarian groups, the Ambassador offers another advantage. Unlike cassettes that can be taped over, or a regular MP3 player that the user could try to sell, the Ambassador’s content can be changed only by the distributor.


MegaVoice loads the initial content during production, and can add further messages for additional fees if the missionaries ship the devices back to the company. Missionaries can also purchase programming equipment from the company and reload the devices on location.

Adventist World Radio President Ben Schoun says the device encourages regular contact between missionaries and listeners.

“Rather than just giving the devices permanently … we also want to … keep in touch with (users) so we can give them new material from time to time so we can see how they’re doing and see their responses,” said Schoun.

Schoun said the idea for the project arose when an Adventist World Radio engineer saw an advertisement for the device. He suggested the device might “fill some holes and gaps in the (Adventist Church’s) fairly widespread mission and outreach programs,” said Schoun, particularly people who are illiterate or live out of range of shortwave radio transmissions and thus have limited access to the church’s message.

For It Is Written, the project may appear to be a departure from the network’s television and video focus. But technical director Andy DePaula said It Is Written embraces “using cutting-edge technology” regardless of format.

Schoun said that while the initial content will be limited to religious programs, “I believe that clearly we will add to the variety of uses that would include health education material and other types of things.”


MegaVoice marketing and sales representative Charles Cibene says the Ambassador’s sturdy construction and the content controls have attracted several secular organizations trying to distribute instructional audio programs. The company has also produced a modified model, for the retail market, loaded with the Bible.

Cibene stated that while MegaVoice works with secular as well as faith- based organizations, “We just want to ensure that the messages that are put on the players … (meet) a certain standard.”

He sees other applications beyond missionary work.

“It could be used for language training, for public health care, for tourism,” said Cibene. “It has several different applications that have come out since we first designed it.”

MO/PH END RNS

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