Mike Gwartney and his wife watched the news from their home in Dallas as civil war broke out in South Sudan — a bloody, political, and heartbreaking conflict.
It was Dec. 15, 2013. For almost a year, Gwartney had been trying to establish a nationwide radio station in South Sudan but had yet to raise enough money.
“You know what we should do?” Gwartney recalls saying. “Change our strategy.”
Instead of establishing one large station to broadcast over the entire nation, Gwartney would bring smaller stations into churches in South Sudan to broadcast the Gospel along with emergency care information to local communities devastated by the war — beginning with the war-torn city of Bor.
“Oh no,” his wife replied. “No, you are not going into Bor, South Sudan.”
While Gwartney’s wife supported his mission, Bor was possibly the most dangerous place in the world that day.
The following morning, Gwartney announced a new idea. He would build a station based out of a church in Yei, a region removed from the brunt of the fighting, and establish stations in other regions as opportunities arose. The couple prayed about it over the holidays and on Jan. 1, agreed to build a radio station in Yei, South Sudan.
By Feb. 14, 2014, the Gospel was travelling through the airwaves of a nation torn apart by war.
Thirteen years later, Gwartney’s non-profit organization, Radio South Sudan, has established 11 Christian broadcasting stations across the country, nine of which are currently operational. Radio South Sudan equips local churches to broadcast sermons, Christian music, and other resources to the South Sudanese people.
“My big job is basically to encourage people, be with them, find out their needs,” Gwartney said.
While South Sudan is predominantly Christian, there are pockets of hostility, regions of ignorance, and an ongoing need for discipleship. Over the last several years, the nation has also accepted thousands of Muslim refugees from Sudan — a population Radio South Sudan is actively pursuing with the Gospel.
The ministry extends far beyond anything Gwartney anticipated.
After graduating college with a degree in business management, Gwartney took a job as a business manager for a radio station in Oklahoma City. One opportunity gave birth to another, and he eventually found himself working for CBN on what was then called “The Family Channel,” researching possible station locations and establishing stations around the world.
He eventually left broadcasting to work with a youth ministry in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It was there that a pastor invited Gwartney to join him on a trip to drill wells in South Sudan. That trip opened Gwartney’s eyes to the need for discipleship in South Sudan, a nation where Christianity, as he describes it, is “a mile long and an inch deep.”
Knowing Gwartney’s experience in international broadcasting, his pastor asked Gwartney about the feasibility of building a radio station in South Sudan.
After doing some research, Gwartney handed his pastor the expected costs and needed equipment, expecting his pastor to utilize the information himself.
“Oh, no,” his pastor said. “No, we weren’t thinking we would do that. We were thinking that you would start radio stations in South Sudan.”
Following those words, a conversation with his wife, and much prayer, Gwartney brought Radio South Sudan to life.
The ministry’s model is straightforward and intentional. Once a church secures licensing, Radio South Sudan supplies equipment and installation for a broadcasting station. If something breaks, Gwartney repairs it. Other than that, the local church owns and manages the station, meeting operating costs and selecting programing unique to its community.
“It is South Sudanese doing work for South Sudanese,” Gwartney said.
South Sudan is home to over 60 languages and a largely illiterate population. Radio South Sudan’s localized approach enables the Gospel, as well as news, healthcare information, and other notices, to reach people in the language and audio formats best suited to their unique populations.
In Yei, the local pastor was surprised to notice his Muslim car mechanic playing the station on his speakers. The pastor asked the man why he was listening to Christian music. The man replied that the music calms his people in a way no other music could.
In Kajo-Keji, a woman about to commit suicide turned on a radio to drown out her thinking in her final moments. She could have turned to any number of stations blasting rock or rap, but she heard the Gospel through the local Christian station started by Radio South Sudan. She dropped her plan to end her life and gave her life to Christ instead.
“It just opens the door through those kinds of situations of being able to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Gwartney said, “and just how God can take care of us. … People are coming to Christ because of the stations.”
Currently, Darfurian refugees — a predominately Muslim population — are fleeing genocide in Sudan for United Nations refugee camps near Wedweil, a rural and unchurched region of South Sudan.
To reach the Darfurians, Gwartney bought an acre plot near Wedweil and built a broadcast station there. Radio South Sudan’s land has become home to several other Christian organizations ministering to the refugees, and the UN recently set up another refugee camp in range of the station.
“We need to build churches in that area,” Gwartney said. “We need pastors to come in and train other pastors, … and then also put their teachings on the radio station.”
While the station is currently operational, Gwartney is praying for God to provide funds to keep the station broadcasting, to purchase more land for Christian ministries in the area, and to build a protective fence around the property.
“Prayer is so strong — strong as the money,” Gwartney said. “People who pray, people who just call and talk, those help our soul, especially my soul.”
Gwartney is not often on the ground in South Sudan. He does not speak the messages on air. He does not choose the station programming. Nonetheless, Gwartney is grateful to play even a small role in so many salvation stories.
“I think when we get to Heaven, we’ll meet people that we never knew, [who] were there because you had some little impact,” Gwartney said through tears. “It may be very small, but you had some little impact for them getting into Heaven.”
Since his first international trip, Gwartney has visited 23 countries to establish over 15 stations around the world, including warzones and danger-ridden locations. However, he says he has never been afraid in the mission field.
“God never called us to be safe,” Gwartney said. “He called us to make disciples.”
Gwartney’s fearless international broadcasting experience became the bedrock for a ministry now covering South Sudan with practical resources and words of life. Radio South Sudan also works with Galcom International and other Christian ministries to supply radios and other services to the South Sudanese people.
Mike Gwartney has been an NRB member since 2025. Visit his ministry website: radiosouthsudan.com.