TWR Goes Mobile

Here is the latest news from TWR America’s region:

In an effort to further interact with constituents and donors, international Christian media organization TWR has teamed with Los Angeles-based MobileCause and the Mobile Giving Foundation. People now have the opportunity to access a variety of convenient TWR-related mobile communication and giving options.

“In addition to keeping people on-the-go updated on ministry events, we now offer these busy individuals the ability to donate any amount to TWR using their cell phones,” says TWR Donor Services Director Bob Hall.

MobileCause is the leading Internet service for mobile donor engagement and fundraising. The company provides mobile tools to nationally recognized nonprofit organizations such as Back to the Bible, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Gospel for Asia and numerous others.

Nordic Partners Share the Same Challenge: Young People

Last week, the directors of TWR’s Nordic partners visited wintery Finland to discuss the topic of reaching youth. Many media projects, particularly in Asia, are shared between the radio organizations from Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. In their respective countries, they each have broadcasts in their native languages. However, the Nordic partners are now facing a looming challenge: their incomes are comprised of donations, but many loyal supporters are now increasing in age. How can more young people and those in their working years be reached to become more involved in radio ministry?

The oldest Nordic partner of TWR is Norea Mediemisjon, founded in 1956 in Norway.  According to Mission Director Tore Askildsen, Norea currently has around 5 hours of live radio broadcasting each week. Besides broadcasting, Norea is involved in television programmes and internet ministry. Askildsen presented their popular web site Superblink, which has been created specifically for children. At the moment, Norea is also working on creating an “internet church”, iKirken, for 20-40 year olds.

Furthermore, the Denmark-based Norea Radio Danmark has decided to start working on an internet-based Bible study course, similar to Jesus Experiment in Germany. Mission Director Ole Sørensen describes the idea of the website as not only wanting to teach the Bible but also to encourage people to participate in their local parishes.

Oasis of Hope

Program series for the Middle East

The Oasis of Hope series consists of four programs specifically produced for four distinct audiences in the Middle East. Each audience has its own special characteristics and needs, which also correspond with TWR's Global Strategic Plan initiatives:

Holistic health issues are not often discussed in Middle Eastern society and so people, especially women, are expected to look after themselves and their families when illness and difficulty strike. To help Middle Eastern listeners deal with health issues from a biblical perspective, TWR produces How Are You?. This program provides practical help and opens the door for people to meet Jesus, the Great Healer.

The First Decade of Ikonos Ministry

Ikonos, Serbian national partner of TWR has celebrated 10^th anneversery on Wednesday November 10, 2010.

Branko Bjelajac, who had at that time experience of about 20 years at Radio Belgrade, the main radio station in Serbia, stated to produce 15 minutes weekly radio-programs in Serbian language in 1999 from his student room at Badhovedorp, NL, where he was on Master studies in Theology. His mix of knowledge as professional ‘radio man’ and knowledge of theology was something that has inspired George Cooper, at that time Director of CEEM to establish the new national partner in Serbia. 

All this was happening in the year 1999 when NATO bombed Serbia and Slobodan Milosevic was still in power. The program’s name was Messages of Reconciliation since goal was to turn people back to God, to reconcile broken relationship with heavenly Father.

In July 2000 in Belgrade, Ikonos was registered and on November 1, 2000 Ikonos officially started to work. The board was made of people from 7 denominations which was very unique situation for Serbian Christian organization at that time. Since January 2004 Ikonos started to produce programs in Bosnian and Macedonian languages, in 2006 in Romano Serbian dialect and in 2008 in dialect of Roma people in Macedonia. Now 10 years later we can say “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” Besides hundreds of hours of radio-programs, Ikonos published more than 25 book titles, and today is one of respected and well known Christian organizations in the country.

Dependency in Developing Countries

Are we helping or making things worse?

Everyone's finally talking about the elephant in the room—unhealthy dependency.

When will “mission fields” begin paying their own way?

How do we do a better job in turning The Great Commission over to those we're discipling?

What will all of this mean for the Kingdom?

HCJB Global and TWR invite you to hear reports and discuss what this means for the Kingdom as we work towards better stewardship in our global outreach.

Rob Martin, Brian Fikkert, Jean Johnson, Doug Seebeck and Barbara Shantz are the speakers who you can interact with and discuss solutions together.

A symposium will be held in Cary, NC on March 9/10, 2011.

For registration and more information, click here.

Coping with Sin and Shame

When sin and shame overtake us, it will surely sidetrack us from where God wants us to be. It will destroy us and our relationship with other people and with God. And no matter how hard we try fixing it on our own, we simply cannot do it and it will never work that way. This is true in the life of Rhian (not her real name).  Rhian is a single mom from Benguet. She started to listen to Absolutely 24/7 since September 12, 2010. I’ve introduced myself to her and she said that “I thought you are concern for counseling and giving some advices... it’s my 2nd time to listen to you... So I asked.” We had a two hour counseling session over the SMS exchange. She said that she’s been struggling with the father of her son simply because he left her for another woman. She said that even though her husband did so many wrong things against her, that she can’t even get angry with him.

Even the Water Is Not Wet

Speaking about his hometown of Timbuktu, Abdoulaye Sangho, the TWR Area Ministry Director for West Africa, said that “even the water is not wet!” He was referring to the spiritual hardness of heart that permeates this town in the country of Mali. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit is a specialist at melting hard hearts. Recently we received a letter from a listener in Timbuktu who is on the verge of accepting Christ. Here’s some of what he had to say:

“I don’t have any knowledge of the gospel and have never read the Bible. By chance I tuned to the evangelical station and listened to your program. I have been surprised by the preaching of the Word of God.

TWR Europe’s "Epic Story" in the Central & Eastern Europe

Estimated to number 15 million, the Roma people (historically mislabeled “gypsies”) comprise Europe’s largest minority group. Social outcasts with a long history of persecution, the Roma distrust the outside world. As an oral community, very few of the Roma read or write. After centuries of being told they are worthless, imagine how they feel when hearing about the unconditional love of Jesus Christ!

TWR began reaching out to the Roma in 1996, broadcasting a message of hope in their native dialects and distributing solar-powered Galcom radios that are fix-tuned to TWR’s programming. As a result, many small churches now flourish among the Roma people in several Central and Eastern European countries.

In Their Words

“I could not believe when I heard that they speak Roma on the radio! I have never heard someone being so kind and friendly to me. I have never heard someone speaking about God! I will listen to you all the time.”

Reaching the Roma in Central & Eastern Europe

Thieves, travelers, filthy, pickpockets, lazy, liars, cheaters and not human—this is how much of the world sees the Roma people. They are outcasts, so they avoid larger communities. They are distrusted, so they distrust the outside world. They are unloved and told they are worthless, so imagine how they feel when told about the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.

A Pastor to His People

Forty-three-year-old Iulica Dulca is a pastor to his people in Roseti, Romania. I had the joy of meeting Iulica and his wife and several of their 11 children when I visited Romania in September. He assists TWR Romania Director Nick Vandici with the distribution of radios to the Roma (Gypsies).

Born and raised in a religious family, Iulica described himself as a “fervent follower of orthodox traditions.” At the age of nine his father died, and he said, “I continued to be as religious as my father was.” When he was 17, he was hired to help on a farm and it was there that he met his wife-to-be. “She was 13 and a half years old when she married me because this was the tradition in our [Roma] culture for girls to get married at early ages,” Iulica explained.

Roma ministry in Macedonia

When we open our New Testaments we can find the words Macedonia or Macedonian in 23 places. In the year 2010 the Catholic Church around the word is celebrating the 100th birthday of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Does this name mean anything to you? Maybe not, but if we say that this is the birth name of Mother Teresa who was born in an ethnic Albanian family in 1910 in the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, Skopje, it will probably mean something to you.

Even though TWR does not have any more programs and web site in the Macedonian language (previously it was produced by Ikonos), TWR Ministry is present in this country. Since the beginning of 2009 TWR has radio-programs in the Roma dialect spoken by Roma people in the Macedonian town of Prilep.

A Long Look Back

(Monte-Carlo 1960)

One of the greatest blessings provided by ‘time’ is the opportunity to see things more clearly from God’s perspective. We might call it, “the big picture”. It is so easy for us to get lost in the immediate and miss the hand of God. Perhaps a big picture look, 50 years later will help us understand ‘the steps and the stops’ of the early days.

One such incident happened in 1959 in Tangier. We thought we desperately needed a new studio/office building and tried everything in our power to raise $50,000.  It never happened, but what did happen was a move from Tangier to Monaco later that year and the birth of Trans World Radio.

Suddenly we found ourselves needing to raise $500,000 in one year to meet our commitments to make possible the building of the new transmitter and antennae system. It did happen…..in many miraculous ways (as shared in Towers to Eternity).  God had said “No” to $50,000 but “Yes” to $500,000.

TWR RUSSIA celebrates 20th anniversary

Amazing story continues:

It is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works… Ps. 73:28

Elena Kitayeva, editor of the new TWR magazine, and a voluntary program producer, lends us her impressions from a none-staff position:

We have turned 20!

“We” – all the occasionally and more frequent voluntary program producers will state that proudly. Together with the few official staff members of TWR Russia we include ourselves in this – “WE” – and feel united by a spirit of oneness!”

A Miracle of God Then and Now

TWR RUSSIA celebrates 20^th anniversary

Last week we presented you the beginnings of TWR Russia; read more about their challenging time and how God opened new doors for them.

Continuing the way….

Natalya Matveyeva, current chief editor in TWR Russia since 2007, remembers:

Losing all of the airtime was very hard. God seemed to be quiet. The following 6 months were filled with prayer and searching of new ways and outlets... We kept praying and our listeners were praying also believing that God would have His own timing for everything. And our hope turned into gladness. The door for transmission over AM Tartu Estonia opened up and today we have two hours daily on this outlet for the European part of Russia. We produce different programs touching many aspects of life. Our goal is – to present God’s truth for different daily situations helping the listeners to know the will of God and most of all - to make him see his need for God Himself and accept the wonderful gift of salvation.

TWR Debuts New OneStory Website

October 11th, 2010

TWR’s Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships recently developed a website on behalf of the OneStory partnership. This new site, www.onestory-media.org, made its “world premiere” at the recent International Orality Network (ION) annual conference. It was not only debuted as the OneStory site, but it also showcased the vision for what could be done to serve the larger storying movement, which encompasses Bible story sets in 150 languages developed by various organizations and partnerships over the last three decades.

This new site was met with great enthusiasm by the OneStory partners (Campus Crusade for Christ, Wycliffe/SIL, Youth With a Mission and TWR) as well as the ION attendees. “It is a bit of a departure from our normal focus in that this first site is English-driven providing access to Bible story sets and other content in 15 languages initially for missionaries, cross cultural and even near culture workers,” said U.S. Director of Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships Tom Watkins.

In the future, TWR hopes to add interfaces to the site through some other major missionary-sending languages, as well as to develop some “A-Z mother tongue” sites that would be appropriate according to the Internet usage and prevalence of various indigenous peoples.

Good News Center Celebrates its Tenth Anniversary

 “God has no crises,” Remigijus Jucevicius says as he reflects on the sometimes turbulent past of the Gerosios Naujienos Centras (Good News Center/GNC) in Lithuania. Remigijus or “Remis,” as he is more commonly known, is the director of GNC, TWR Europe’s Partner ministry, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. 

With ten years behind, GNC is thankful for where the Lord has brought them. Today, the organization broadcasts every day on FM stations that reach into all of Lithuania. Beyond radio, they host music festivals for youth and various other children’s ministries. “It’s really a huge blessing for this nation,” Jucevicius says.

ERF Medien Switzerland - New President

Werner Messmer hands over the committee of the ERF Medien Board to the new President, Markus Schaaf. For 28 years, Werner Messmer had committed himself to the Christian media organization ERF Medien Switzerland, including 20 years as President.

Werner Messmer characterized the structure and expansion of ERF Medien for the last 28 years. In 1982, he joined the association and since 1990 served as President. In this time the small media-team grew from 10 employees and a budget of 1 million Swiss Francs to today 42 staff and a budget of 6 million Swiss Francs.

As President of the strategic management committee, he was significantly involved in the construction of new premises, a move, the start of the TV-program FENSTER ZUM SONNTAG-Talk in 1995 or the start with a daily radio program on Radio Eviva in 1997 as well as in receiving a program license from the Swiss government on December 10, 2004 for the first Christian radio channel “Life Channel“ in Switzerland, on air on October 1, 2005.

TWR RUSSIA celebrates 20th anniversary

We are honored to present you ministry of TWR Russia, their beginnings, development, struggles and God’s provision during whole 20 years of their ministry. 

The Birth of a Studio…

Viktor Mylov, Director of TWR St. Petersburg from the very beginning to 2005 remembers:Year 1990 marked a very interesting time for Russia. From all sides we felt a spirit of change. Everywhere missionary activity was popping up; churches felt certain freedom and new opportunities to preach the Gospel.

Trans World Radio known to many Russians by its programs from Monte Carlo was looking for a place to build a nest. And St. Petersburg was chosen to be the first place for it. Technical equipment was brought in from Germany. The local First Baptist Church gave us a small room in the bell tower and so – June 15, 1990 we dedicated these first beginnings to the Lord. It was one of the first Christian studios for radio recordings in our country, and to us nothing less than a miracle and a blessing from God.

Migrant Media Ministry III

The Migrant Media Ministry is made possible only because people pray for this ministry, people support it financially, and because Christians work together in partnership beyond national and cultural boundaries.
Each language requires its own partnership to offer follow-up to interested callers in their mother tongue, to produce special telephone messages in the target language, and to promote the ministry among the target group.
The following video clip illustrates the basic concept of the migrant media ministry, and highlights the importance to develop trusting and sustainable partnerships for the migrant media ministry.

I Thought I Was Okay Without Jesus

A listener in Swaziland thought he was okay without Jesus until one day he tuned into a TWR programme and his assumptions were challenged. Here’s his testimony:

“God is so great! I am a young man who grew up in a non-Christian family. My family was deeply involved in another religion. We never went to church. My father was a traditional man and he would never allow us to attend church services.

TWR-UK has launched a new look TWR Today programme, broadcasting news and views live from its Manchester studios. The new look current affairs programme will feature a clear Christian voice speaking into an increasingly secularised world. TWR Today broadcasts live at noon on weekdays with all the latest regional, national and international events. Cutting-edge news is presented with comment from Christian leaders, giving a Christian viewpoint on the issues which are shaping the world.

Russell Farnworth, CEO of Trans World Radio says: “TWR continues to explore every possible way of communicating the Christian message and TWR Today will bring a distinctly Christian approach to the news and events going on around us.

TWR Today broadcasts live at noon on weekdays on satellite channel 0138, Freesat 790, online at www.twr.org.uk and on DAB digital radio throughout the North West of England.

(Source: Inspire Magazine)

TWR Slovakia Celebrates Twentieth Anniversary

TWR Slovakia celebrates its 20th anniversary this September. It is the only station in Slovakia that broadcasts a clearly evangelical message. Where 70 percent of the population claim to be Roman Catholic and only 0.2 percent claim to be evangelical, Rádio 7 is a beacon of light in Slovakia.

Four years ago, TWR Slovakia joined TWR Czech Republic to begin a conjunct radio station named Rádio 7. The station is made up of Slovak and Czech programs that air 24 hours a day with 12 hours of each language. Vyhnanek estimates that each day between 6.000 and 10.000 people listen through the Internet, but it is difficult to measure the number of people that listen through satellite and FM in central Slovakia. 

Migrant Media Ministry II

Listener’s responses:

Every day I look forward to listening to your program. I learn a lot! I have to get up very early in the morning to go to work, and I come back home very late in the evening. I do not want to miss even one program, so I call just before and after midnight, because I know that you change the programs at midnight. That is my way to gain better understanding of God’s word. Thank you very much that you make this possible for me! (From a Turkish listener)

Love Kampala Festival Reaches Uganda

Thousands of spectators will converge on Kampala, Uganda, this weekend for the Love Kampala Festival with Andrew Palau, son of evangelist Luis Palau. TWR plans to air simulcasts of the event September 25-26 on various radio stations and via the Internet here.