The question was, “How do you see media working in today’s Africa for the cause of Christ?” David Okoth began his answer with, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” His response was as much a passionate response from a young man with a dream to use media in his homeland as it is a direct quote from Hosea 4:6. David served a two-month internship with Good News Productions, International in Joplin, Missouri.

To fulfill his passion, David will graduate in the spring of 2009 from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia with a Masters Degree in Media Management. He dreams of someday becoming a part of the GNPI network in Africa. For such a young man, the desire to help his people runs deep.

David shared, “I see my people perish because of the lack of knowledge. Sometimes, it is only because there is no one to tell them! Media is an avenue to a better life. There is information out there that they need, but they have no way to know. Through media, they can know what is available to them. When they hear and understand the Gospel they will become aware of the social responsibilities they have instead of living life in ignorance.”

David’s father is a member of the African board for GNPI-Kenya. From a very young age, David watched as GNPI dramas helped explain things in a way that motivated people to take action and make dramatic changes in their lives. He decided early that this was what God had called him to do.  “To change a person’s life, you have to give them an alternative. You have to occupy their time so that they are not idle, channeling energy into something positive. Media is a great tool for that. The secular world has made bad messages easy to find. I want to make the positive messages just as easy to find.”