Bible for Serbian Roma People

In 2011, the Serbian Bible Society published the Gospel of Mark (O Sumnalo Evangelium E Markostar) in the dialect of the Roma people from Southern Serbia.

One of the main translators, Šerif Bakić, is also the pastor of a Roma church in the city of Leskovac in southern Serbia. TWR’s Partner in Serbia, Ikonos, built a small studio in Leskovac for recording Roma programs in the Romano-Serbian dialect and Pastor Šerif oversees the ministry done by local members of the Roma church.

There are several goals for this printed edition of the Gospel of Mark in the Roma dialect. First, to see how Roma people would accept this translation; and second, to confirm that the translator is joining the Gospel and the language properly, since Roma language is not standardized and there are many different dialects. The production of the Gospel of Mark in the Roma dialect is like a test phase.

Facebook Puts a ‘Face’ to Our Staff

The new TWR Europe Facebook page is a powerful tool that allows us to interact with people from all over the world about what our ministry is doing. Every week we post information about our staff, discuss various prayer needs in the ministry, and provide random tidbits of information that are simply fun to read. In addition, our Behind the Media blog features videos about our staff, interns, life in Europe, and the ministry we are doing.

Our first featured video was a staff interview with Christine, an administrative assistant and office manager in Vienna who tells us about her job, what she enjoys doing in her free time, and shares with us her favorite Scripture verse.

We also featured video interview with Dirk, the Human Resources Director from Vienna, who describes his job, discusses interesting aspects of TWR being a cross-cultural organization, talks about what he enjoys doing in his free time, and also shares his favorite Scripture verse.

TWR Europe's Facebook is Here!

TWR Europe is now on Facebook! Launched just last Friday, the TWR-E Facebook page is your go-to place to find information about everything happening in TWR Europe. Not only does the TWR-E Facebook page contain information about TWR-E and its ministries, but it also includes information about TWR-E staff (including biographies and video interviews), weekly Scripture verses and words of encouragement, facts and trivia questions, short and long term job openings, and information about TWR-E’s partners and projects. The page also contains links to the Behind the Media blog and TWR Europe YouTube page. The next time you’re logged in to Facebook, make sure to ‘like’ us so you can stay up to date on our ministry!

Find us at www.facebook.com/twreurope

TWR's Live Guam Transmitter Dedication

Imagine replacing your 100-watt light bulb with a 250-watt one. The room suddenly becomes brighter. That’s the idea behind replacing TWR’s two 100,000-watt shortwave transmitters with two 250,000-watt transmitters. The signal will be stronger and the message will be clear. People throughout China and eastern Asia will be able to hear God’s Word better.

To celebrate this monumental event, TWR President Lauren Libby and radio host Scott Hollinger will present an on-air dedication of these two new transmitters during a live broadcast Friday morning, November 18th at 8:30–9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. The 30-minute broadcast will begin at 1330 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 15.4 megahertz in the 19 meter band. 

Special guests for the broadcast include Dr. Alan Cureton, president of Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn.; Collin Lambert, vice president of Moody Radio in Chicago, Ill.; and Mike Tirone, general manager and senior vice president of KCBI in Dallas, Texas. These three organizations, plus thousands of individuals around the globe, helped with the purchase and installation of these transmitters.

TWR Helps Desperate Situation in Kenya

“For I was hungry and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me to your home. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison but you didn’t visit me.” Matthew 25:42

Regarding the desperate situation in the Horn of Africa, TWR Kenya’s National Director, Bernice Gatere says, “This verse has been ringing in my head since the day our station manager in Marsabit, northern Kenya told us our audiences were starving.”

People are dying and organizations around the world are scrambling to save lives. In Kenya, large areas of Rift Valley, the coastal region, eastern and north eastern Kenya have been affected. More than thirteen million people are facing possible starvation. TWR Kenya reports that they know of people eating wild roots, babies suckling from goats and even worse, a story of a baby seen breastfeeding from her long dead mother!

Since 2001, Project Hannah Africa has offered hope and encouragement to women in over a dozen African countries.

On October 25, Project Hannah Africa debuted their new website www.phafrica.org at the Africa International Partner's Conference. The website gives visitors an opportunity to listen to Women of Hope radio programming, read stories from those who have been encouraged by Project Hannah Africa, submit their own stories, offer up new project ideas, and more.

Let the Little Children Come to Him

The TWR Cambodia children’s ministry team went on a field trip recently to visit several villages in Cambodia.

The ministry had received a request from a local pastor, for the TWR Cambodia team to visit the village children. This pastor oversees seven churches, and the children who attend these churches have just started listening to the Happy Children’s Garden program.

Upon arrival at one of the villages, the team found that there were already more than 200 children eagerly awaiting their arrival! It was a challenge trying to find enough space for everyone to be seated, but they finally managed.

It was a blessing indeed that the principal of the local primary school had given the children half the day off from school, so that they could attend the session with the TWR Cambodia staff. The principal and five teachers from the school also turned up to help out.

Life Giving Supply

“My wife became sick and continued getting weaker and weaker because of problems with her stomach. Since she has no teeth, liquids foods were all she was even able to try to eat. The doctors said she needed an operation, but the cost was so high it would be impossible for us to pay for it. Our lives had become nothing but desperation and suffering when we heard the women on the [Quichua Women of Hope] program talk about hope in the Lord. That night, we got on our knees. As we were praying, the Lord revealed to us that we needed to forgive one another, and that is exactly what we did. We cried out to God that he would take care of us and bless us. From that moment, strength and renewed energy filled my wife’s body. Since that day, she has been able to eat, travel and do any normal activities.” ~ Cesar, a Quichua Women of Hope listener in Ecuador. 

TWR Partners have Adopted ERF concept

Wetzlar (ERF) – For the first time, over 20,000 phone calls per month have been received by ERF Medien (Wetzlar) and its European partners in Austria, Croatia, and the Netherlands.

Since 2000, ERF Media has been offering short messages and longer inputs on the telephone under the number 06441 20816-0. Originally, messages were offered in only three languages. In the past eleven years, that number has risen to twenty-five languages.

The telephone messages in Germany range from one to 30 minutes in length. They were created in cooperation with the international media partner TWR and the team for Migrants and Integration of the German Evangelical Alliance. About 50 volunteers from 30 countries participate, using various languages such as Albanian, Persian, or Vietnamese.

TWR's African Children Outreach

TWR is taking strides to reach young children in Africa. Did you know that 85% of people who come to Christ and continue in their faith are those who make decisions for Christ when they are between the ages of 4-14? This age group is a strategic window for the Kingdom of God.

We want to see the Church mobilized, sensitized, challenged, motivated and even resourced to focus on this age group. God’s Precious Little Ones is one of the exciting Africa children's programs we are working on currently. God’s Precious Little Ones is an awareness and prevention program educating people in Africa about the reality and dangers of child trafficking.

Annually, 1.2 million children become victims of human trafficking. Over decades, the numbers multiply into an atrocity. Human trafficking is “the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them.”

Building a Community of Believers

INDIA—Aman was born into a non-Christian family. All his life, he never bothered about spiritual matters, and even doubted the existence of God. He drank heavily and led a wayward life.

Because of this, poverty set in, and Aman could not provide for his family. His wife and children were unhappy about his behavior. Aman then decided to desert his family and left his village for a nearby town. To pass his time, he would listen to different programs on the radio. 

Once, Aman was tuning his radio when he chanced upon one of TWR’s Tamil programs. As he was separated from his family, the program brought solace to his hurting soul. Aman began tuning in to the same program every day. Meanwhile, his thirst for God increased, so he started going to a nearby church. After some time, he confessed his faith in Jesus Christ. He was baptized, and changed his name to Abraham. Still, he never missed the program as he was getting his spiritual food every day through it.

Norea Sverige Launched New Website

ERF Medien presents media at Rehacare

Rehacare, an international exhibition for topics concerning support appliances and rehabilitation healthcare, took place in Duesseldorf, Germany from September 21-24. Presented at the exhibition were a number of supports and appliances for improved mobility, appliances for ambulant and stationary health care, communication technologies, barrier-free living spaces, as well as ideas for leisure, vacation, and sports.  Around 47,000 people - many of them disabled themselves- attended the exhibition. 747 exhibitors from 29 countries showed their products and services in six exhibition halls. One of those exhibitors was ERF Medien e. V., the German partner of TWR.

ERF Medien attended Rehacare for the first time and presented three radio channels as well as its TV channel ERF 1. The booth of ERF Medien was titled “Courage to live via remote control.” This motto represents a special marketing project which began in 2005. Its goal is to feed the ERF programs into internal networks of hospitals and nursing homes.

TWR Programs Reach Kyrgyzstan

We recently received this report from a coworker in Asia:

“Our Sister from Kyrgyzstan is a gifted musician and singer. She just returned from some time in China and, full of excitement, shared the experiences she had while being there.

She had been invited to China by Kyrgyz people living in that country. The event was held in the mountains and people came together from various villages and regions to participate in this concert. An elderly man spoke to her at the end of the concert. He said that he knew the songs that she had performed. She asked him where he had heard them and his reply was: ‘I heard them on the radio programs from TWR.’ He shared how he accepted Christ as his Savior as a direct result of the programs and that he listens to them faithfully. He also tells other people about the radio programs. He was concerned about how to tell his son studying in the big city about Jesus Christ. As it turned out, the son had heard about Christ at the same time as his father.

RTM Uruguay Celebrates 30 Years

On October 1, 2011, TWR’s Uruguayan partner, Radio Trans Mundial (RTM), celebrated 30 years on the air through CX 4 Radio Rural.

“During these years, I have learned many lessons about God’s faithfulness and provision. From my perspective this has been an amazing school for our faith. As the old hymn says: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey,” says Esteban Larrosa, RTM Uruguay’s director.

RTM Uruguay is thankful for the commitment and love TWR has demonstrated through partnering with their local ministry to keep this lighthouse for millions living in this area of the world. Many people have been saved, and others receive their daily spiritual food to grow in their faith in Christ. There’s no doubt that this station has been a great tool is God using for his purposes and plan. Without this outlet, the effect of the ministry would not have been the same.

Meet Our New Spanish Partner

Canal de Vida (Channel of Life) is the Media Commission of FEREDE, the Spanish Evangelical Federation, which is a ministry formed by the most representative evangelical denominations in Spain. Canal de Vida oversees:

BUENAS NOTICIAS TV (Good News TV): the first and only evangelical TV program on the National Public TV Channel–TVE for 25 years, with international outreach at present.

MUNDO PROTESTANTE (Evangelical World): another unique evangelical program on the National Public Radio Station–RNE that has been airing since 2006.

RADIO ENCUENTRO (Encounter Radio): a Christian evangelical radio station broadcasting on-air and on the internet since 2001.

“Why Radio?”

A new Epic Story video from Greece.

In today’s technologically driven world, people may often wonder “Why radio?” The answer is quite simple: radio is the most common, cost-effective, and far-reaching communication tool in the world. Radio is the primary source of information and entertainment in many countries and, in certain parts of the world, radio is the only means of reaching people with the Gospel. In the world’s most distant corners, God’s truth spoken over the air can reach millions who are otherwise cut off from the rest of the world by money, distance, social status, gender, illiteracy, and geographic or political borders. Radio can go where missionaries and even Bibles cannot and God uses radio to reach new people every day.

Valet e Ungjillit name change

The TWR Partner in Albania has recently changed its name from Valet e Ungjillit (Gospel Waves) to TWR Albania. Over the years, our Partner has created some confusion among their listeners and local partners when they presented themselves as "Valet e Ungjillit" and, at the same time, as a Partner of TWR. Most people recognized the programs and were familiar with Valet a Ungjillit, yet they had no information about who TWR was.

Apparently, the name change has also made the work of our Partner easier for tax documents. Also, they report that since the name change, they feel less pressure of corruption as the officials see that the Partner is affiliated with a global organization.

TWR's Focus on Sudan

Shukran! That means, “Thank You” in Juba Arabic, one of the heart languages in southern Sudan. TWR has been enjoying an overwhelming response to our southern Sudan appeal for prayer and funds. We are blessed by the generosity and faithfulness of our precious family of supporters.

The Christians in southern Sudan are indeed hungry for help, and we are eager to respond to their cry! Considering the struggle and pain that the people of southern Sudan have endured over the years, TWR Africa has been focusing on programs that deal with: leadership development, reconciliation, education, community development, and issues pertaining to families, women and children.

One of the most heart rending issues in southern Sudan is the existence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One of Sudan’s “lost boys,” who was orphaned during the civil war, recently completed his education in Denver, USA.

TWR's PANI Project

According to Operation World (2010 edition), Pakistan lies at the very heart of the unevangelized world. It is the world's second-largest concentration of unengaged, unevangelized peoples. Few countries, if any, present a greater challenge for missions.

Afghanistan is one of the least-reached countries in the world. There are 48,000 places of worship, but not a single church building where the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed.

There is more religious freedom in North India than in Pakistan or Afghanistan but it is still a very difficult area.

Agencies aren't able to send many missionaries into this region of the world we call the PANI region (which stands for Pakistan, Afghanistan, and North India). That is where radio becomes so effective. TWR is able to broadcast programs into these countries in the people's own languages. And that is why we are undertaking an amazing new phase of our work in this part of the world.

His Word Heals and Saves

CHINA — A few years ago, one of our ministry leaders went to China on a field trip and had the chance to meet Ruth. Ruth was a new believer then, and is married with a 12-year-old daughter. However, her marriage has been on the verge of divorce several times. Her husband is a compulsive gambler, and she has been physically abused by him. Ruth has been leading a life filled with hurt, anger and bitterness.

The ministry leader gave her a CD containing some Bible stories as well as a portable audio player with programs in her native language, hoping that she would find spiritual healing in the Word of God.

A Year of Transforming Lives

Awesome things can happen in a year.

One year ago, Maata 101.9 FM, TWR’s voice in Lodwar, Kenya was born. Today, the picture in Lodwar is of a miracle of growth and blessing. The astounding physical changes from a place known for poverty, illiteracy, ancestor worship and prone to conflict over natural resources is seeing a change of beauty.

At a nearby shopping centre, Fundi Esurut’s shoe repair workshop has become a Maata Radio listener’s gathering spot, most of them men aged between 15 and 40 years.

Their favourite is the Maata Radio Breakfast Show and the evening Turkana Show, Edong’a, because listeners say, “We can call-in and have our views broadcast, and the station highlights matters of interest to us.”

New Central Asia Ministries Website

A lot of work was invested in the development of the TWR Central Asia Ministries web page http://twr.kz. Its front page serves as a portal with choice photos to five different language sites: Kazakh, Russian, Kyrgyz, Uzbek and also Tajik.

Visitors can read about the news, listen to MP3 messages, listen to on-line radios, check videos and also share the site with their friends at Facebook, Twitter, save a page on their bookmark or send an e-mail to someone alerting them on the site.

“The pages for the Kyrgyz and Uzbek languages were improved, but the most developed language page is in the Kazakh one. This is because we have a part-time coworker who can do this work for us. We are still having problems finding a qualified person for the other languages,” stated TWR Central Asia ministries’ director.

The New National Partner in Spain

Canal de Vida, a Spanish media ministry, and TWR Europe signed a Partnership Agreement on 19 September 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Canal de Vida is a Partner successor of Evangelismo en Acción, TWR’s Partner in Spain for the last 40 years. Both have the same founder—Brother Juan Gilli. Canal de Vida joins more than 70 TWR Partners worldwide.

Canal de Vida produces audiovisual productions in cooperation with the Federation of Evangelical Churches of Spain (FEREDE). Currently, the FEREDE committee manages a television program, Good News TV, on TVE, a radio program, Protestant World, and also has a RNE radio station, Radio Encuentro. 

The Partnership Agreement was signed by Jose Pablo Sanchez, Canal de Vida President (right on the photo), and Felix Widmer, TWR’s International Director for Europe (left).

Norea Norway Launches iKirken.no 

Our Partner Norea Norway supports ministries in 19 countries and 36 languages. They are stretching their faith and spreading their impact even wider by starting the new project – an Internet Church. They launched a new website www.iKirken.no where they offer four live events every week with music and preaching, a podcast of the weekly theme, a free Bible app in Norwegian and in addition to Norwegian they offer more than 50 Bible translations in more than 20 languages.

They started this ministry in order to reach many searching people who need salvation, together with their partner www.lifechurch.tv.