August 17, 2026
The Tide® ministry expands its mission, reaching one of the world’s most isolated indigenous peoples
Global media ministry partners with Cameroon Center for Evangelism and Hope to share the Good News with an isolated indigenous people
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Deep in the ancient rainforests of eastern and southern Cameroon, one of the world’s most isolated indigenous peoples has lived for generations beyond the reach of modern society — separated by miles of dense forest, language barriers, and a way of life virtually unchanged for centuries. For the Baka people, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has remained equally out of reach, spoken in languages they have never known. That is changing.
The Tide®, a global media ministry based in Chambersburg, Pa., has launched a targeted outreach to the Baka people of Cameroon in partnership with the Cameroon Center for Evangelism and Hope (CFEH). The effort is part of The Tide’s broader mission of reaching underserved peoples across three continents by broadcasting the Gospel in indigenous heart languages through radio, satellite TV and other media.
The Baka are among Central Africa’s oldest indigenous peoples — forest dwellers who inhabit the vast rainforests of eastern and southern Cameroon, living in nomadic bands and surviving by hunting and gathering. Separated from most of society, they live thousands of kilometers from urban areas. Conservation efforts and commercial industry have displaced many Baka communities from their ancestral lands, compounding deep systemic hardships.
The Baka’s spiritual beliefs carry faint traces of Biblical truth — including belief in a creator and supreme being and a mediator figure between deity and mankind. But their understanding diverges significantly from the Gospel. The Tide and CFEH believe the Baka are ready to hear — and receive — a different story.
Though they don’t yet know the One True God, The Tide, in partnership with CFEH, believes it is just a matter of time before the Baka experience salvation. A collaborative plan to lead as many Baka as possible into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ is already underway.
“The Baka have lived for generations without ever hearing the name of Jesus spoken in their own language,” said Don Shenk, executive director of The Tide global media ministry. “They have a spiritual hunger — a sense that there is a God who created them and cares about them. Our calling is to reach them where they are and tell them the rest of the story.”
The outreach strategy begins with CFEH teams visiting Baka village chiefs and bearing gifts as a gesture of goodwill and respect. The Baka are then given solar-powered radios loaded with the Good News of Jesus on memory cards — bringing the Gospel into the forest in a format that requires no electricity, no literacy and no outside infrastructure.
As interest grows, prayer meetings and Bible sharing follow. They are taught about Jesus, the true mediator between God and humanity, and how His sacrifice makes forgiveness, a relationship with God, and eternal life possible for every Baka man, woman and child.
The early response has been deeply encouraging. One young Baka man expressed heartfelt gratitude that anyone had come to speak to his community about God, saying they had only just realized they were not on the right path. After hearing the word of God in their own language, he and others asked for audio Bibles to continue learning. And they made one specific request: do not stop coming.
“When a community that has never heard the Gospel asks you not to stop sharing it with them, you know the Holy Spirit is already at work,” Shenk said. “We are humbled by the openness of the Baka people and fully committed to walking alongside them as they come to know who God truly is — and what He has done for them through Jesus Christ.”
To learn more about The Tide’s Cameroon outreach, click here.
From its humble origins in 1946 as a local Gospel radio broadcast in Chambersburg, PA, The Tide® ministry has grown into a global network of Christian media broadcasting partnerships committed to worldwide evangelism and discipleship. In 2008, The Tide® ministry ended all English-language programming in order to focus on developing and distributing indigenous heart-language content in areas around the world that are less touched by the Gospel. Today, The Tide® ministry works with partners in multiple countries across three continents to broadcast Gospel-centered messages via radio, satellite TV and other media. In order to make disciples and plant churches, The Tide® ministry also provides resources for literature distribution, correspondence courses, discipleship and leadership training activities, and the distribution of radios and media players.
For more information about The Tide® ministry broadcast projects, history, radio programs around the world, special year-long campaigns, the weekly Global Update radio features or other news, visit its website at www.thetide.org or its Facebook page.
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To schedule interviews with Don Shenk, director of The Tide® global media ministry, contact Hamilton Strategies, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Daniel Moyer, ext. 104.
To inquire about airing any of The Tide® ministry radio broadcasts, contact Michael Hamilton, 610.584.1096, ext. 101.
