September 14, 2026
Using solar-powered media players, concrete blocks and sewing machines, The Tide® puts God’s Word into action across three continents
In Thailand, Pakistan, India and Cameroon, The Tide’s partners deliver Biblical content, practical skills and essential structures to communities where the people’s needs — both physical and spiritual — run deep
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — For 80 years, The Tide® (www.thetide.org) global media ministry has been weaving hope into the fabric of daily life for people worldwide. The Tide has been steadfast in putting God’s Word into action by offering physical relief through skills training, sewing machines, and concrete blocks to build essential structures. They continue to make the Gospel message accessible through media players. Though the circumstances in each country are different, the ministry’s intent remains the same.
“When people ask what The Tide does, I usually tell them it depends on which country you’re looking at,” said Don Shenk, executive director of The Tide. “Right now, we’re getting Scripture into believers’ hands in Pakistan, teaching women to sew in India and digging wells in Cameroon. On the surface, those don’t have a lot in common. But the ministry is the same — we want people to know that God sees them and that He loves them.”
In Pakistan, blasphemy remains punishable by death under Section 295-C of the country’s penal code. Even as officials have acknowledged that many such cases are fabricated, the law has not been amended. For Christians in that environment, accessing the Bible — let alone sharing it — carries real risk.
The Tide’s response is practical: put Scripture directly into people’s hands in a format they can use privately, in their own language. How? By using handheld media players, loaded with Biblical content. Distributed by boots on the ground through local partners in both Thailand and Pakistan, these media players help people overcome the barriers that keep communities from the Gospel, such as limited technology access, low literacy rates and environments openly hostile to Christian materials. Solar panels keep the players charged where electricity is unreliable. The people who receive them get access to God’s Word in their heart language in the privacy of their home. Boots on the ground keep them updated with content.
Violence and social pressure are routinely used across parts of India to keep women out of classrooms and workplaces. The Tide’s local partners opened two tailoring and sewing training centers earlier this year; both have already enrolled 40 high school and college-age girls.
The classes provide opportunities to evangelize and disciple students while teaching them a skill that can improve their standard of living. After passing tests to demonstrate their knowledge and skills, graduates receive a certificate of completion and their own sewing machine.
Beyond the training centers, The Tide and its local partners are running literacy classes in 30 villages across the region, with more than 900 participants in the most recent quarter. The curriculum uses Christian literature, the Bible and songs to teach reading and writing alongside the Gospel.
“A woman who can read and support herself is a woman whose entire family’s future changes,” Shenk noted. “When we teach literacy or vocational skills, we’re not just giving someone a better shot at employment. We’re earning the right to sit down with her and talk about Jesus. When you demonstrate that you care about someone’s life, they become willing to hear about the One who gave His life for them.”
In rural Cameroon, clean water is not a given, and a covered place to worship is a luxury many small congregations have never had. The Tide’s essential structures work addresses both. This project to construct simple buildings gives believers protection from the elements when they gather for worship and fellowship and provides a venue where boots on the ground can host evangelistic campaigns. Wells dug in village communities provide opportunities for people to meet at the well, opening doors for boots on the ground to speak truth into the lives of those who do not know Jesus and giving opportunities to encourage fellow believers in their faith.
“When you dig a well in a village, you’re not just providing water — you’re giving the local team a reason to be there, and a reason for the village to know them,” Shenk said. “It’s the same idea with a church building or a sewing program. The Tide has been doing this for 80 years; although the tools change, our mission to spread the Gospel message remains constant.”
To learn more about The Tide’s ministry projects in Pakistan, Thailand, India, Cameroon and beyond, visit www.thetide.org.
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.
