Maroua — The Biblical message of hope and salvation will reach even more people in West and Central Africa with the opening of a new Seventh-Day Adventist radio studio that will produce programming in a widely spoken vernacular.

The radio studio in northern Cameroon is joint project of the local church and Adventist World Radio (AWR). The Fulani people who live in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa speak Fulfulde, the first language of over 15 million people.

"Fulfulde programs had been broadcast on shortwave radio in the past, but this language has been off the air for some time," said Pastor Benjamin Schoun, AWR president, according to the Adventist Press Service (APD).

The Fulani are nomadic herders and mostly Muslim. "The new programs will follow AWR's magazine format, addressing a topics from social issues and family life to simple health remedies, in addition to spiritual themes and Bible lessons. The content will be contextualized for Muslim listeners' needs and interests," Pastor Schoun said.