OBLATE RADIO LISELI

Oblate Radio Liseli Programming and Broadcasting Guidelines describe the character of the Radio’s existence. It also describes the culture and practices of Oblate Radio Liseli as a unique radio station. The guidelines outline the way Oblate Radio Liseli would conduct itself in the realization of its vision and the attainment of its mission. Hence, this document shall regulate all programming activities of Oblate Radio Liseli. This document shall be reviewed regularly to always make it relevant. 1.1 BACKDROP Jesus entrusted the mission of evangelization to the Church: Go, then, to all people everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age. (Mt 28:19-20). This mission is referred to as the “Great Mandate”. It is the basis of all activities, spiritual and social, that the church performs. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate – Zambia Delegation under the stewardship of the late former Zambia Delegation Superior Rev. Fr. Ronald Carignan, OMI decided to establish Oblate Radio Liseli to fulfill this great responsibility. The name “Liseli”, a Silozi word which means ‘light’ was deliberately chosen to re-echo the message of Jesus who said: You are the light of the world …. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead, he puts it on a lamp stand where it gives light for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. (Mt. 5: 14-16). It is, therefore, the duty of Oblate Radio Liseli Management to ensure that Oblate Radio Liseli assumes the programming character that suits the demands of the Great Mandate and the call to be the light of the world. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate first came to Western Province in 1984 in Lukulu. They first chose to work from Lukulu as a way of fulfilling their mission of evangelizing to the most abandoned people of the community. With the calling in the Catholic Church of using the media to evangelize, the Oblates thought of establishing a radio station in Mongu as a way of evangelizing even to people in areas that are not easily accessible. Oblate Radio Liseli was eventually established on 4th May 2004 and was officially launched on 11th June 2005. Oblate Radio Liseli is in Mongu the Provincial Capital of Western Province. The Western Province’s rural road infrastructure is not fully developed. Some of the towns are completely cut off from Mongu especially in the rainy season when the plains are flooded and the only way to make contact is by water transport, which takes three times longer than on dry land. The oblates took long journeys to reach out to the faithful. Therefore, discussions on how to best evangelize the remotest parts (outstations) of their parishes began. This is because the weekly visitations did not seem to suffice the needs of the parishioners as some outstations would only be visited twice in a year. The idea of setting up a radio station was therefore started in December 2000 during the Annual Delegation Assembly at which the Oblates identified five key areas they wanted to be involved in. One of which was involvement in multi-Media evangelization. The radio station was seen as one that would go beyond boundaries and physical challenges. The equipment was ordered, and a site was located at the St. John’s Secondary school’s old dormitories.