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“Thank you very much Planet Sport. I really appreciate your prayers. I am very grateful about you people.
“As you know due to this political crisis it is unfortunate that I’m not even enjoying the African Cup of Nations. I’m in my house watching all the games but unfortunately I am watching without any happiness. I am watching with a scare because the situation recently in The Gambia is unpredictable…” (An excerpt from a voice message from a listener to Planet Sport Football Africa in the Gambia.)
Last week, we asked our supporters to join us in prayer for our listeners in The Gambia – about 150 are regularly in touch mostly via WhatApp. The difficult political situation and troops entering the country made many Gambians fearful of what lay ahead.
On Friday 20th January, we sent a message to each of our WhatsApp contacts in The Gambia, which said:
“Hi [Name], Just to say on behalf of the Planet Sport Football Africa team our thoughts and prayers are with you and all our friends in The Gambia today. While we are enjoying the AFCON [Africa Cup of Nations] tournament, we are also praying for a peaceful and just resolution to the situation in your country.”
To date (27th January), we have received over 100 responses, including the voice message, a sign of the growing and deepening relationships that we have with these contacts. We are so encouraged to see our communication with listeners develop beyond the programmes, and we are grateful that we could stand with them in prayer.
Thank God that a peaceful resolution to the situation in the country was reached. Below is a selection of messages in chronological order and you can see how they change from concern to relief as negotiations progressed.
“Thank you so much team Planet Sport for all your concern about the political situation in the Gambia. We hope all our prayers will be answered soon. Once again big thank you to team Planet Sport for their great concern about the crisis in the Gambia.”
“Thanks for your concern and prayers my dearest Planet Sport.”
“Your prayers have been answered with the help of God. We have a peaceful transfer of power without no war.”
Listen to this week's Planet Sport Football Africa: