New Apostolic television at the push of a button … How is that possible? Zambia is making it possible because all people should have access to the gospel.
Piano and strings combine and create a simple light melody. Delicate white lines flit across the dark blue background. They bend and twist until they begin to take on form. Letters appear, forming words and shining in light blue, orange, black, and white: NAC 28 TV, Zambia – Faith, Hope, Love. The emblem of the New Apostolic Church appears, followed by the opening credits of Zambia’s television programme.
From idea to major project
Two hours of airtime per week on public television on ZNBC TV3— that was the beginning of NAC 28 TV in Zambia. The project started in 2017, and a lot has happened since then. But how was this whole idea born in the first place?
“The idea came about due to demand from the members,” District Apostle Kububa Soko says. His working area has around 1.6 million Church members. He points out, “We have to also evangelise via television, through our programmes.”
Initially, the programme was broadcast on national television on an hourly basis and was free of charge, but then that changed. “Then we were supposed to pay. That was very expensive,” the Apostle recalls. So, what should we do? Quite simply, we established our own television station!
Three steps to our own station
First step: the broadcasting licence. This was granted by the National Broadcasting Authority in Zambia in November 2022. But we could not just get started right away. There was still a lot more to do before we could go on air.
Second step: the studio. A new studio was built specifically for this project. At the same time, test transmissions began in December 2023 in the Church’s administration office. Some Church activities were shown.
Third step: the name. It is NAC 28 TV. This derived from the former designation District Apostle Area 28, which includes Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
On air 24/7 and across borders
Today, NAC 28 TV broadcasts around the clock and offers an extensive English-language programme. Among other things, we broadcast divine services, devotions, activities by our charity organisation NACRO, concerts, and choir performances.
The station’s coverage extends across the entire sub-Saharan region and can be received on channel 540 with a StarTimes satellite dish or on channel 128 using a TopStar antenna. According to the national broadcaster, “an estimated 4.5 million people have access to the channel”, District Apostle Soko reports.
Behind the programming is a well-equipped media team of five people. They all belong to the Church administration and are journalists who have been trained for these activities and work in the Public Relations department, which includes television and other things. “They were hired specifically for this department.”
Making use of opportunities and looking ahead
And what do viewers say? “There are many people who watch us on television,” the District Apostle reports, “and we receive many compliments from people who are not even members of the New Apostolic Church.” The singing and the concerts, for example, are two of these crowd-pullers. “This is helping us to reach out to as many people as possible.”
There are already future plans. The fact that the NAC Zambia has its own studio offers many opportunities, and there are requests from musicians to use it for their recordings. “But it should be religious music,” the Apostle says. In addition, people will be able to book advertising time on the channel. After all, funds must be raised to run the channel and the organisation, for example. “We not only want to generate income to run the station”, District Apostle Soko emphasises, “but we also want to finance our charitable organisations.” Finally, he adds, “We are also thinking beyond broadcasting.” Stay tuned, there will be more exciting things to come from Zambia.
Photos: NAC Zambia
