Most of the names mentioned in these stories have been changed to protect the privacy of our listeners.

SPEAKING HOPEFOR 60 YEARS

Sometimes, working in media can feel like you’re operating in a vacuum. Bible lessons are prepared, scripts are written, programs are produced and specialists manipulate advanced technology so that what we believe and hope are powerful messages are sent over radio transmitters, the Internet and mobile devices to a potential audience of millions, even billions. We pray hard and turn over to God the questions of who will listen to the broadcasts and what impact they ultimately will have.

What we usually – though definitely not always – miss out on is the face-to-face interaction with the individuals being reached. You might be surprised to know how often TWR staff actually do talk with listeners over the phone or visit them in their villages or meet with them for

prayer sessions. But for the most part, the nature of our role in the Great Commission means that we end up forgoing the daily personal contact with the individuals who receive the many, many hours of audio content, thousands of pages of printed content and countless megabytes of digital content.

This is where listener responses come in. They are our vital link with the people we seek to serve, the ones with whom we want to share the gospel. The numbers vary annually, but TWR is blessed to receive roughly three-quarters of a million responses every year from listeners around the world. They come by conventional mail, email, text messages, phone calls and sometimes even in person. This

feedback plays a functional role: It tells us where the messages are reaching, who is hearing or reading them, what impact they are having. They even help us to know how we might communicate more effectively or provide additional information most needed by listeners.

There’s another role they play, however – an inspirational one. And that’s what we are eager to share with you in this booklet. The responses tell us that the ministry we are a part of, and that hundreds of supporters pray and pay for, is having an effect in people’s lives. They let us engage with listeners and experience their soul-stirring joys, questions, anguish, fears and transformations. How can you not be inspired by Fisnike, who went from contemplating suicide to introducing her entire family to Christ; by Carlos and his bodyguards, who walked away from their cocaine lab to become gospel ministers; or by the California man so convicted during a radio broadcast that he stopped his car by the highway and called out to God before going home and seeking his family’s forgiveness?

Most important of all, though, these responses remind us and all who read them that God’s word is true and truly reliable. They fulfill over and over again God’s promise in the book of Isaiah: “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

THOSE WHO ARE IN CRISIS

SPEAKING HOPE TO...

Mary is an avid listener of TWR Asia’s programs in Vietnam. She is actively involved in church activities, such as organizing Bible study classes for the various age groups. She also visits cell groups to follow up with the needs of the members.

Looking at her today, few would have guessed Mary’s past. Her dreams for an ideal family were shattered upon her husband’s sudden death. She lost all hope in life, and darkness overwhelmed her for a prolonged period of time.

Mary shares, “I was about to give birth to my first child and saw myself as a woman who had just fulfilled her dream of having a blissful family. It was during this period that I received the fateful news that my husband was killed at war, just a few days before I gave birth.

“Four days after my husband’s burial, I gave birth to my first child. Grief filled me when I looked at my newborn son, and I seriously wondered if there was a living God who cares.”

Mary’s world came crashing down. In her desperate state, she felt abandoned and alone. The heavy

burdens as a young single mother weighed upon her. She never expected that her life was about to be transformed overnight through a radio program.

“I had accidentally tuned into a channel that was touching on the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. The responses that Jesus gave to Peter in John 13:7 – who was initially reluctant to let Jesus wash his feet – spoke to my heart. Jesus said, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ I cried and prayed to God to reveal his plan for me. I committed my life to Him and started to feel a peace in my heart, which I had never felt for a long time.”

Mary was the first in her family to believe in Christ. From a young age, she adopted her parents’ religious practices and beliefs.

“My mind never experienced complete peace even though my parents claimed that my soul could rest once I did what they advised. It was only when I accepted Christ as my savior that I knew what true peace meant. This peace in me is visible in my facial expression and how I treat others around me.”

Mary recognizes that the Lord has blessed her with the priceless experience of his peace, which has helped her gain victory over her sadness and loss.

“I now participate in church activities, such as visiting Bible study classes and women’s groups,” she says. “I give thanks to Him that my parents and siblings are also saved. My son has enrolled in a Bible college, and his wife plays an active role in church ministry.”

Indeed, our God is one who hears and answers in times of need. “I hope that my favorite verse from John 13:7 will encourage those in trials and tribulations like it did for me.”

RESTORED THROUGH LOVE & PEACE

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE VIETNAMESE

COUNTRYVIETNAM

Letdown. Frustration. Disillusionment.

These are some words used to describe us when we are disappointed. Disappointment is hard. It is even worse when we are disappointed by a leader, especially a leader in a church. Discouragement sets in and respect is gradually lost. It is in times like these when we may find ourselves losing interest in the things of God. How can leaders who claim they are serving God be so instrumental in causing the departure of a church member?

Indeed, this was Boran’s predicament. Forty-five-year-old Boran lives and works in the Siem Reap province of Cambodia. He told TWR that he had stopped going to church for almost six months because of an incident with a church leader. He was so disappointed that he stopped all activities with the church. But you know what? God never left his side.

One day while driving back to his homeland in Battambang, he came across a TWR program that spoke directly to his circumstances. “It was not by accident that I heard his words from the Thru the Bible programs, and I believe that God had his plan to talk to me through this good program.”

It was like God himself was speaking to him. Boran started thinking more about the conflict with his leader and through the program received much encouragement. “I cried over what I had done and felt God calling me back as one of his children.” The Word of God Boran heard that day had the power to transform his heart. After his visit to Battambang, Boran made a crucial decision, one that would set him free. He decided to meet with the church leaders to ask them for forgiveness and also to forgive them. It was hard to do – something Boran could never have done by himself.

A word from God could have come from anywhere, but this time it was through the radio. Amid his disappointment, God called him back through a word on the radio, something Boran never thought could happen.

God called a man disappointed by his church leaders back to his church just like a father would a prodigal son. Programs TWR airs in Cambodia and elsewhere ensure that God’s Word is there to change the hearts and lives of people who might otherwise never hear it.

GOD IS CALLING ME BACK

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE KHMER

COUNTRYCAMBODIA

It was not by accident that I heard his words from the Thru the Bible programs, and I believe that God had his plan to talk to me through this good program.

A few kindly visits when he felt the most isolated opened the door, while Gospel broadcasts provided the explanation as this member of an ethic minority in China turned to Christ:

I used to be a fervent devotee of another faith. I even joined in on a demonstration for my religious beliefs, and I was sent to prison for two years for my actions.

In prison, I was lonely and suf-fered a lot. But my religious lead-ers never visited me. They were the ones that had instigated me to go to the demonstration. They even told me that the leaders and all the other followers were on my side. But the moment I got into trouble, they all forsook me and never visited me or cared for me, not even after I was released.

After my release, I found that my village committee had confiscated

my land. They claimed that I was away from home for too long, so the village had to reassign the land and give it to others. I was a farmer and had lost my source of livelihood. How would I survive?

Those that forcibly occupied my land were also my fellow believers. In my religion, we regarded fellow believers as brothers. I saw this as a case of brother oppressing brother, yet nobody bothered.

Two months ago, I got to know a follower of Jesus, and this man gave me a radio. He always visited me and bought presents for me. He was not related to me in any way, yet he would humble himself to care for me and show love to a lonely old man like me. Why would he do that for someone who has nothing? I could not understand that!

I discovered the answer as I start-ed to listen to TWR’s programs.

Through the broadcasts in my lan-guage, I learned that if a person believes in Jesus Christ and has the Holy Spirit dwelling inside, then the person would be able to live out Christ’s love and Christ’s love would overflow to others.

Christ’s love is so wondrous to me. He is able to heal all my hurts. I believe in Jesus Christ! I want to tell the good news of Christ’s salvation to my family and friends who still believe in my former faith. Thank God! And thanks, TWR!

FROM ANOTHER FAITH

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE CANTONESE

COUNTRYCHINA

Two months ago, I got to know a follower of Jesus, and this man gave me a radio. ... [H]e would humble himself to care for me and show love to a lonely old man like me. Why would he do that for someone who has nothing? I discovered the answer as I started to listen to TWR's programs.

Unfortunately, I got married before I met Jesus. Both my husband and I were wicked. We have two daughters together, and my husband had seven lovers. He mistreated me, and for revenge I did not feed him.

One day, I had enough and went looking for something that would help me forget my problems. I thought buying capuca [a home-made fermented drink in Angola] would numb my pain. But deep within my heart, a voice asked, “Will you ruin your life because of one man? What if you become addicted to the drink?”

I went home and slept until the next day. The ladies of a TWR Project Hannah prayer group prayed for me and told me about the love of Jesus. Then I accept-ed him, and by the grace of God I was converted!

For three years now I have been a member of Project Hannah’s prayer groups [in Angola]. Through them, I learned how to pray, and it changed my life. My husband surprised me and asked me what I have [in my life now]. My daughters also converted to Christianity, and they pray with me in Project Hannah. My hus-band left all his lovers and treats me well now. I have faith that he will become a believer. Please continue to pray for him.

I HAVE FAITHABOUT

THIS STORYLANGUAGE

PORTUGUESE

COUNTRYANGOLA

Through them, I learned how to pray and it changed my life. My husband surprised me and asked me what I have [in my life now].

The media are TWR’s primary points of contact with listeners, but face-to-face interaction, when possible, frequently helps new believers as they begin their walk in the faith.

TWR South Africa recounted the experience of Xolani, who lives close to the ministry offices in KwaZulu-Natal. Natural surround-ings of lush valleys and hills sup-posedly promise a life of peace and tranquility. Not so for Xolani. Her little home has only the bare necessities for daily survival.

Seven years ago her husband suddenly died. During their mar-riage he was mostly absent from home, was not really interested in the children and did not look after the family well. The only things he left her were rebellious children, struggles and pain.

Since his death, Xolani had been filled with hatred and bitterness. Whenever she saw a photo of her husband, she became very angry, throwing it on the ground and cursing him. Her rage was then taken out on the children.

But then the Lord stepped in. Last month she listened in the privacy of her home to one of TWR’s programs on love and forgiveness. She was deeply challenged.

Later she met with a team from TWR South Africa and came to ex-perience God’s forgiveness; in turn, she forgave her husband. The team members invited her to attend one of the ministry’s seminars on family life, where she learned scriptural principles for child-rearing.

Xolani is now helping others as she testifies to the truth and power of the Gospel.

BITTERNESS TURNED INTOFORGIVENESS

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE ZULU

COUNTRYSOUTH AFRICA

Does it make sense to thank someone for causing you to be in prison – especially if the sentence was unjust? A woman inmate who wrote to the TWR Project Hannah staff in Paraguay, next door to her home country of Bolivia, suggests that sometimes such a course of action may be appropriate.

Project Hannah teams have orga-nized prison ministries in many countries, including Paraguay.

I am from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I have four children – two boys and two girls. Six years ago, I ended up here in jail because of what was done to me by a certain person. I have hated this person and wanted revenge. For three years I planned how I would pay her back, do dam-age to her where it hurt her most.

Thanks to the Bible study that I have had here with the women and other studies that I have had, the hate and desire to take revenge on this lady has disap-peared. These studies helped me to forget. I felt much better phys-ically, mentally and in my heart. The anger that I had would not let me live in peace. It enabled

me to ask for forgiveness from my family and my son. Having been here for six years has been very painful, not just for me but for my whole family.

If I have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness from the person who sent me here, I will ask for forgiveness and will say, “Thank you for sending me to this place.” Because of being here, I have learned to appreciate things that I didn’t appreciate before.

Forgiveness gives life, forgiveness gives health. A person who does not forgive is a sick person. To live in peace, a person needs to learn to ask for forgiveness and needs to learn to forgive others.

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYBOLIVIA

BEHIND BARS BUT FREEBECAUSE OF FORGIVENESS

In India, a society in which people traditionally have been distin-guished by social rankings with different privileges, Rani came from a high-caste family that did not know Jesus. In spite of her high social standing, she also had her fair share of troubles. She had two children, one of whom, a daughter, was intellectually and physically disabled.

Things went downhill in 1997 when she and her husband underwent a separation. Living apart from her husband was extremely difficult for her. She even considered taking her own life. Not wanting to burden her elderly parents with her daughter, she contemplated ending it all.

“I decided that I had to kill my daughter and then commit sui-cide,” Rani reveals in a letter to TWR. “The thought of doing this grieved me tremendously. Every day, I would turn my face to the wall and cry bitterly.”

Little did she know that God was not going to allow her to carry out her plan. Rani had a maid who was worshipping at a church just behind the family’s house. Many times, she would invite Rani to attend church with her. Rani was never interest-ed. She was ashamed to enter the

church because of her family’s high social status. Nevertheless, Rani soon realized that her servant never let social status affect her desire to bring Rani to church. The maid persisted with her invitations, and Rani decided to go with her just once. Perhaps then the maid would stop bothering her with it.

That one visit became a weekly routine as she found comfort in the Word of God and the prayers of the people in the church. Miraculously, her problems started clearing up, and she was eventually reunited with her husband.

Standing firm in her faith, Rani told her husband that unless she was al-lowed to continue attending church, she would live separately from him. Although he was not happy with it, he agreed. Amid his scoldings and discouraging words, she continued to worship God. She knew she need-ed to experience God’s love.

During those times of struggles, Rani listened to one of TWR’s radio programs. “It strengthened me, and I wanted to be baptized to proclaim my faith. Though my husband was unwilling, I fasted and prayed until it became a reality. Later on, I faced many temptations and problems. I continued to stay in God’s presence

and prayed through them. God has since delivered me from all my problems and strengthened me.”

Since then, God has worked many miracles in Rani’s life, including her husband’s acceptance of Jesus as Savior. Together they serve God wholeheartedly despite their struggles.

One of their major trials involved their daughter getting a high fever and ultimately dying. Although Rani could not understand why this happened, she was ready to accept God’s plan.

“I do not know why God allowed this to happen, but we have accepted his perfect will in our lives,” Rani says. “God has been so good to us, and our only desire is to serve Him.”

TRADITIONALLY DIVIDED, SPIRITUALLY UNITED

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE HINDI

COUNTRYINDIA

César lives in Ecuador and listens to the Quichua-language version of Women of Hope. He got in touch to share his testimony with Project Hannah, which, in addition to the radio broadcast, sponsors a movement that brings together volunteers to pray for women in difficult circumstances around the world. This story also highlights the advantage that TWR’s audio outreach has in meeting the needs of the roughly three-quarters of a billion people in the world who are illiterate.

I didn’t know how to read or write, but just by listening to the Bible teachings, I have learned to read and now can do it quite eas-ily. When I listen to the programs, I feel like I am in the Lord’s pres-ence – in other words, in heaven. I can’t begin to describe the great joy that I feel.

I would like to share with you the following testimony. My wife was sick and continued to get worse

because she had a problem with her stomach. Because she has no teeth, she could eat only liquids. The doctors said that she needed an operation but that it would cost $300. For us, this amount is impossible. We could never save up enough.

Our lives became very afflicted and desperate, but when the sis-ters in the Bible study explained that there is hope in the Lord, that night we got on our knees. As we were praying the Lord spoke to us and told my wife and me that we needed to forgive each other, which we did, and then we cried out to God to take care of us and bless us. From that moment, my wife regained her strength and healing in her body. From that day, she can now travel, do any activity and eat with care.

My wife and I work alone culti-vating a small area of land where we live. Thank God that land produces different grains and

herbs abundantly. As a result of this, I bought a calf, which, when it became an adult, gave birth to another calf.

Now I can sell milk every day, and I have enough to live on. But with gratitude to God for the radio, I set apart my offering to support and be a part of the sharing ministry.

GIVING BACK AFTER RECEIVING BLESSINGS

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE QUICHUA

COUNTRYECUADOR

When I listen to the programs, I feel like I am in the Lord's presence – in other words, in heaven. I can't begin to describe the joy that I feel.

THOSE WHO ARE HOPELESS

SPEAKING HOPE TO...

A visit to a remote village in Cambodia brought salvation to a sick girl, her family and the villagers, a TWR Cambodia staff member recounts below.

It was not part of my plan to visit Mot’s village. I was tired and weary because of things that happened in my own family, but somehow, the Lord prompted my heart to go for this field trip.

Upon my arrival at the village, I saw Mot’s family in great anxiety. They were making a makeshift stretcher from a pole and a hammock. I asked them what happened and soon learnt that Mot – their 15-year-old daughter – needed to go to a nearby hospital and that taxi drivers were unwilling to pick her up because they feared she would pass away on the jour-ney. They felt such a death would bring bad luck to the vehicle. There were also rumors spreading in the village that Mot would pass away anytime.

After some time, I saw two men carrying Mot in the homemade stretcher. When I saw the girl, she tried to express to me that she was in great pain. It was heartbreaking when I saw her being carried the way one would transport an animal in the village. The Lord put these

words into my mouth as I assured Mot, “You are going to be all right. Trust and believe in Him. He is the same God in the Bible story I told you.”

The family members lacked faith that their daughter would live, and I prayed for them to have peace. I also gave them some money for Mot’s treatment and transportation to the hospital. I prayed for God to send a taxi driver to send her to a better hospital in town – and he did!

Just before Mot left, we received the first sign of a miracle from God. Mot said that she was very hungry and wanted to have some rice. She had been unable to eat for one week prior to that.

The following day, we received the news that she was able to sit up in bed and was better. The doctor informed us that she had been cut by a sharp piece of bamboo, and this cut resulted in tetanus. I later learned that her condition worsened because she was sent to a witch doctor. The witch doctor had told the family Mot would not be able to survive.

A week later, we visited Mot, who had recovered well at the hospital. We noticed she wore a “charm”

wrist bracelet given by the witch doctor. We asked Mot and her family for permission to cut off this bracelet as Jesus was now with her. They agreed happily.

A friend who had accompanied me to the hospital was amazed at what the Lord had done. My prayer is that Mot would return to the vil-lage to share the wonderful news.

On our next trip to visit her, we gave her family an MP3 player with our programs included. I am sure that by listening to God’s word, they will confess with their mouths and believe in their hearts that Jesus will save them.

Praise God that Mot and her family have now put their trust in Christ, and the villagers have come to know Him through their story.

BACK FROM THE BRINK OF DEATHABOUT

THIS STORYLANGUAGE

KHMER

COUNTRYCAMBODIA

It is easy to cry every night when you are born in one of the least- developed villages in central India. But couple that with rejection and abandonment, and you will likely understand what it is like to be truly lost. In a state such as Madhya Pradesh, nicknamed the “Heart of India” because of its geographical location as well as an overwhelming population of more than 75 million, it is hard to hear the cries of a little orphan girl. This is a story of one such girl.

I was very young, but old enough to know my mother was never coming back. I waited and waited, clinging to scraps of hope that she might return. But hours stretched into days, days into weeks and weeks into months. The realization set in: My mother had abandoned me.

I found it hard to deal with the loss – I was all alone in a big, dark, scary world. No one wanted me. No one cared for me. These thoughts left me so cold – I could not find my way.

I was brought to an orphanage, and there I was given the designation of “orphan.” How long was I going to be here? Perhaps forever, I thought. Little did I know that God had other plans.

One morning, I was rudely awak-ened by the unusual combination of crackling static and a voice that I did not recognize. Who was that speaking, and what were they talking about? It was then I realized that the sound I heard was coming from a small transistor radio from the other room.

The next time I heard the radio, it was even louder than before. One of my fellow residents in the orphanage had cultivated a new habit of listen-ing to the radio. The crackling of the receiver disturbing me seemed to be an everyday occurrence.

My curiosity got the better of me, so one day I decided to ask this resident what was so interesting about the radio program that caused her to spend that much time on it. Smiling sweetly, she invited me to sit down with her to enjoy the program.

That very first time I heard the name of Jesus on a Christian program. I did not understand much, but I knew one thing: It felt good. My newfound friend then invited me to listen to the pro-gram with her every day so that I could receive many blessings from God. From then on, my eyes were opened to God’s Word.

The program Thru the Bible in my native language showed me many truths. As God started talking to me through his Word, I realized that I was no longer unwanted. There is a God who loves me dearly, who would never abandon me. I accepted the Lord Jesus in my heart. From then on, I faithfully took my petitions to him in prayer. He became my closest friend.

Two years later, after much prayer, one of my persistent prayers was answered. My father came for me at the orphanage to bring me home with him. With tears streaking down my face, I knew the Lord Jesus had answered my prayer. I once was lost, but now I am found, not only by my earthly father but also by my heavenly Father. I was no longer lost and abandoned. Now I know who I am and where I was going.

SEEKING A LOST CHILD

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE HINDI

COUNTRYINDIA

I am 27 years old and writing this letter to share my experiences and testify to the changes that took place in my life while con-fined in a prison.

I was an immoral person doing unlawful things: robbing, stealing, burglarizing, abusing people sexually and verbally, fighting, and so on. I will just share my experience since the time of my imprisonment.

It was not my first experience of being seized and placed in a pris-on. I was sentenced to five years, and this made me feel hopeless and helpless. I spent my days weeping and wandering in my thoughts. My health was deterio-rating day by day. I was suffering from nightmares and flashbacks during the night.

There was a prison mate in the next cell worried about my situ-ation and trying to approach me. I refused to open myself to him,

but he never gave up. Finally, his efforts brought about results. He was talking to me, referring to the Bible. Carried away by his approach, I gave up, disclosing myself to him, telling every detail about myself and my feelings.

He was a believer and was impris-oned because of a false accu-sation. I felt sad for him when he shared his experience with me. He began to teach me basic Bible lessons and witnessed the good things God did in his life. He introduced me to the radio ministry and then requested a radio for me.

One may not believe the tremen-dous changes that happened in my life. The radio I got through my prison mate became my intimate friend. The Bible les-sons are instilling new life, new thinking and a new attitude in my life. I became a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not matter where I am and how long I

may stay here in the prison. What matters is the life I have now. I am praising the mighty Lord God for all the miracles he has done in my life.

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand” (Psalm 40:2).

PRISONER LIFTED FROM MUD + MORE

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE AMHARIC

COUNTRYETHIOPIA

The radio I got through my prison mate became my intimate friend. The Bible lessons are instilling new life, new thinking and a new attitude in my life. I became a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The following is a testimony a man shared during a church meeting when TWR Belarus staff members visited his town in 2013.

I have longed to meet you for a long time. What can I tell about myself? You are looking at a former alcoholic. I was lost in the darkness of physical and spiritual sin. I hated myself and nurtured suicidal thoughts. And that would have happened. I was like an animal; there was no hope for me. Yet God had mercy on me.

Accidentally I came across the frequency of TWR. The word that I heard shook me up and kindled in my heart a tiny spark of hope. I became your listener. Then some other words pierced my heart: “If the Son will make you free, you will be free indeed.” And I began to think: God gave his Son for me, a rascal, a bastard, and what am I doing? Where am I going? Many of my friends have been broken by alcohol, and their bodies are buried a long time ago. And you are on the same way, a voice inside told me.

From the other side, Satan is continuing to throw temptations

my way. … Yet God’s Word says that power is in God. And I begin to think: Whose Spirit is writing in you – the one from God or from Satan? God has overcome Satan. The Bible talks about love. God is love. And this God has revived me. He gave me a new mind, and I became a believer at my radio receiver.

Today I do not stop marveling at the change that he is accom-plishing in me. God took away the drive to drink. Today I can rejoice in the Lord. My wounds are heal-ing, although scars are still there. But my heart is full of faith. You see, I live alone, but I am not lonely. I am not alone anymore, I am with God. I trusted everything unto Him. And he is my goal.

A HEART FULL OF FAITHABOUT

THIS STORYLANGUAGE

BELARUSIAN

COUNTRYBELARUS

I give thanks to God for your lives and for the Project Hannah program Women of Hope, which each day is offered over TWR. I am not always able to listen, but when I do, I am strengthened.

In days past, I heard the program about the violation of women and young women. What a bitter experience for the soul are these sad events that cannot be easily forgotten! Only with God’s help is one able to overcome this experi-ence of our lives.

I can testify to this and tell you that all my life [an experience of this kind] has wounded my self-esteem, changing me into a mistrusting, insecure and bitter woman – so much so that my marriage has been damaged.

But I thank God because after so many years of keeping this in my

heart, today I bring it to light. I need to be free of this past and bitter experience.

I give thanks to God. Thank you, sisters, for being of help to so many women who, perhaps in many faraway countries, listen to your pro-grams and are edified and helped. Glory to God for what he does through you. God bless you greatly.

LETTING GO OF BITTERNESSDESPITE BEING VIOLATED

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYCUBA

I am not always able to listen, but when I do, I am strengthened.

Several years ago, while traveling to a shop in northern Zimbabwe to buy cement, Douglas was held up by robbers. The men beat him severely, poured acid over his body and left him for dead. Some friends found him and took him to the hospital where he spent an entire year of his life. Douglas endured many operations.

When he returned home, his physical wounds were healed, but the acid left permanent scars on his body. The acid had burned through his eyes and into his eye sockets, leaving him blind.

In excruciating emotional pain, Douglas cried out, “What reason do I have to live? I should have died!”

To drown his sorrows he started drinking heavily and lived recklessly. One day in utter despair, Douglas switched on his radio to block out the travails of life with loud music. Instead, God guided his fingers to tune in TWR broadcasts, where he found Jesus as his Savior.

“I came here to tell you that your broadcasts touched me,” Douglas says as he recounts his life story to the staff at the TWR Zimbabwe studios. “I am here because of your radio programs. I was made blind so I could find Jesus.”

Douglas and his entire family are now believers in Jesus. This courageous man found God’s grace sufficient for all his needs.

FINDING NEW LIFEAFTER NEARLY FATAL ATTACK

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SHONA

COUNTRYZIMBABWE

Lemuel Larrosa, TWR’s director of Hispanic ministry, shared the following story from a woman who wrote in by email. She had expe-rienced a unique encounter with the popular TWR devotional book Alimento para el Alma (Food for the Soul), roughly a half million copies of which have been sold and distributed throughout Latin America. 

I am 24 years old, and I live in Asunción, Paraguay, where I work as a cleaning lady in a commer-cial center. A few days ago we were cleaning a storefront that was empty, and I saw a book that had been thrown on the floor. I went to pick it up to see what it was. I saw the title of the book, and the lady in charge of the cleaning crew said, ‘Don’t get wound up in that here. None of the stuff here is worth anything. Let’s get this cleaned up.’ So we picked everything up and threw it in the garbage. 

But the title of the book stuck in my mind – Food for the Soul. I’d been going through some difficult days in my life. I have a small child, and my husband left me for another woman. So the title of

the book just stuck in my heart. At the end of the shift, I went to where we had thrown away the trash and started looking through the debris. 

I spent about an hour going through the trash, and then I finally found the book. It was a little bit messed up and dirty. I opened up the book and read the story about the Prodigal Son. And there in the middle of the trash I found Christ. I sat down right where I was and gave my life to Christ. 

So I want to know you. What is Trans World Radio? How may I know more about this?”

FINDING GOD IN THE TRASH

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYPARAGUAY

Fisnike was born in a poor village of central Albania. The entire family of six lives in extreme pov-erty. Her father travels to Greece each summer to find work; with the earnings he makes, they are able to survive the other seasons.

Fisnike was 18 years old when she heard about Jesus Christ, and she was the first in her family to do so. Before then, she had many doubts and often thought of suicide, a serious problem among girls her age. She felt helpless, and there was no one she could go to with the challenges she faced. She couldn’t afford to go to school, either.

One day, Fisnike’s friend gave her a solar radio. Every day after that, she brought the radio along with her as she tended sheep until the afternoon. This radio was all she had to keep her company. As she began to listen to the pro-grams, she was encouraged. She stopped contemplating suicide and desired to know God better. Eventually she accepted Christ as her Savior.

The radio programs Fisnike lis-tened to had a significant impact on her life. She began to pray for her family members, asking the Lord to help them see the light now radiating inside her. She encouraged them to listen to the TWR broadcasts.

TWR Albania’s staff members kept in touch with Fisnike after she wrote to them. Before long, the staff received the news that all of the family members had accepted Christ into their hearts! They began attending church near their village.

COMING TO CHRISTALONG WITH HER FAMILY

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE ALBANIAN

COUNTRYALBANIA

A woman wrote to tell us that she listened to our programming every day on a Spanish-language Chris-tian station in Austin, Texas. She asked for the notes and outlines [mentioned on the broadcasts] so she could continue feeding on the Word of God. “In God I have found the reason for living,” she said.

Man is nothing without God. We need to understand that we are sustained by grace. I have found the greatest and most precious treasure, the Lord Jesus, the one who loved me first. It is so beau-tiful to know what he has begun in me. The only thing I ask him is that he frees me from sin and from doing evil in his eyes.

I want to share with you a little about my life. My whole family is Catholic. They live in Mexico. I come from a poor family. My dad died leaving my mom pregnant with me and with six small children to care for. I always thought it

should have been me that died and not my dad. He was the one, not me, that the family needed. I was just like another animal to feed.

When I was 8 years old, my brother raped me. He was very mean to us. He would hit us. It even got to the point where he would hit my mother. I tried to commit suicide on many occasions.

I never really understood what had happened to me. I remained silent for 10 years, but I began realiz-ing the evil I had gone through. During those 10 years, I suffered in silence. God came to change the story of my life.

For this reason I am sharing my ex-periences with you who have gone through the same situation. You need to know that God heals every broken heart. He comes to give you a name. Now I know that I am his daughter, that he loves me and that he has always loved me. He was

always there with me, and he is with every heart that suffers.

He wants to dry your tears, take you in his arms and tell you that he loves you and has been with you in the saddest times of your life. All you have to do is open your heart and accept him. He has a beautiful life waiting for you. He is waiting for you with open arms. What will you do?

Thank you, and may God greatly bless you all.

AFTER SILENCE, GOD WAITING WITH OPEN ARMS

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYPARAGUAY

You need to know that God heals every broken heart. He comes to give you a name. Now I know that I am his daughter, that he loves me and that he has always loved me. He was always there with me, and he is with every heart that suffers.

THOSE WHO REACH OUTTO OTHERS

SPEAKING HOPE TO...

Bohpa is nearly 60 years old and leads a house church in Cambo-dia. Each week, she leads the 20 or so people who come together to worship God. This sister in Christ has a passion for the unreached, a passion that has led her behind bars – but not in the conventional sense of the word.

“Once a month, I go to the local prison to minister to the prison-ers,” she explains. “There are 20 big rooms there, and each room has more than 15 prisoners living in it. That’s more than 300 people in there who really need to hear God’s Word.”

Some of the prisoners have responded to her visits and her sharing, but she wants to do so much more with her limited visiting time.

Most of the prisoners are illiterate or have limited formal education. Perhaps as for many Cambodians facing similar situations, educa-tion was a luxury that they could ill afford.

For them, the best way to get to know God’s word is to hear it.

TWR Cambodia worked with Bohpa and gave her access to one of our portable MegaVoice units. Preloaded with Stories of the Potter, a Khmer-language program produced by TWR Cam-bodia for oral learners, this audio player speaks Jesus’ promises of life, redemption and salvation to the incarcerated. It also gives instruction on biblical values and behavior so that the listeners can apply these to their lives.

“I take the MegaVoice with me so that they can listen,” Bohpa says. “It is the best tool to help me evangelize, and even their leader tells me so. I pray to the Lord that he will provide more of this kind of tool so more can do the work of his Kingdom!”

SO THE PRISONER MAY BE FREEABOUT

THIS STORYLANGUAGE

KHMER

COUNTRYCAMBODIA

I pray to the Lord that he will provide more of this kind of tool so more can do the work of his Kingdom!

“After what I have gone through, I decided to build a home to help disabled people like myself. Even though I have experienced painful circumstances in my life, I be-lieve God has a greater purpose for me. The Lord knows every-thing, and whatever happened to me can be turned around for good by Him. This is the truth I learned from your program.”

So says Ignacio, a 61-year-old listener of TWR broadcasts in the Philippines.

Ignacio lives in Pagadian City. He worked at a bank for 10 years until he met with an accident that caused half of his body to be paralyzed from a spinal injury. The home accepts elderly people who have illnesses or health conditions similar to his. To help offset the overhead in running the home, Ignacio goes around asking for donations. He also takes things a step further, even

providing wheelchairs and crutch-es to the blind and lame around the city.

What keeps Ignacio going despite his own condition?

“I do all this because of your faithful proclamation of God’s Word through your programs,” he explains. “Your messages have made a difference in my life. That is why I like them very much and share them with others as well.”

Ignacio did not simply stop at setting up the home and meeting the practical needs of the sick. He also promotes TWR Philip-pines programs in his church and neighborhood. What’s more, he makes the programs available for everyone at the home so that they can have a chance to listen.

“It is my prayer to the Lord that your ministry will be blessed. Many members living in the home

are grateful toward your programs. They know the messages they are receiving will improve their lives. Truly, the Lord is powerful because he used that fateful ac-cident to give me a mission that I can do as long as I live. May the Lord grant you more strength and power to proclaim his Word!”

Praise God that he is using TWR’s programs to inspire people to reach out and help others in need.

TURNING PAIN INTO VICTORYABOUT

THIS STORYLANGUAGE TAGALOG

COUNTRYTHE PHILIPPINES

I do all this because of your faithful proclamation of God's Word through your programs. Your messages have made a difference in my life.

A man behind prison bars found freedom in Christ. Here is his story:

I stood behind iron bars, hearing terrible sounds in the hallways and smelling the rot of my cell. I looked into the eyes of the desperate and hopeless, realizing my life was doomed to failure and anguish. Sentenced to 15 years, I tried to kill myself more than once, but it was in vain. Even death refused my companionship!

One night, after everyone was asleep, I was flipping through the radio stations and came across one that would soon change my life forever! Someone was talking about the love of God that forgives, restores, and gives joy and peace. I was raised to believe that love is a lie. No one loves genuinely or sacrifices without expecting something in return. I was taught that God loves people, but they had to be good and righ-teous. For God to love a wretch like me was out of the question. Yet the announcer said, “The love of God goes beneath the deepest stain that sin could ever leave. It redeems souls to live again.” Oh, how I needed to live again!

I became addicted to listening to Trans World Radio. I woke up early every morning to listen to its programs. At night, it was the last thing I heard before I slept. One night, I heard a hymn that was calling me to make a lifelong decision: “Come, ye sinners, lost and lonely; Jesus’ blood can make you free; for He saved the worst among you when He saved a wretch like me.” I bowed my head and cried out to the Lord. Suddenly, the gloom and fretful-ness were gone. Instead, joy and peace filled my heart.

I started corresponding with the TWR team, who helped me grow in my journey and relationship with the Lord. In a miraculous way, I was able to have the Bible. I started witnessing to my fellow inmates. As many as 10 of us used to gather around the radio to listen to TWR. One day, a prisoner asked, “What’s the secret of your constant smile and joy, your self-control and good behavior? I want to be like you, what shall I do?” After testifying to him, that prisoner accepted the Lord as his Savior, and together we started Bible study groups in prison.

For five more years in prison, God used me to witness to the broken hearts, and he healed their souls. Once I was released, God prepared another vital ministry for me. I was passionate to tell my family, friends, all those who live in darkness and ignorance that the only way for true freedom is through Jesus Christ.

I am committed now and until I meet my King to let freedom ring. I join my voice with the songwriter [Bill Gaither] and say: “Let freedom echo through the lonely streets where prisons have no key.”

LET FREEDOM RING

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE POLISH

COUNTRYPOLAND

“Dear Lord, thank you for the ministry you have entrusted to us. We are grateful for the opportu-nity to bring the message of your Gospel to children. However, we are running out of teaching mate-rials. Please provide for us,” Dr. Maria in the Philippines prayed.

Dr. Maria used to be an anthro-pologist. Two years ago, after see-ing the destitute state of people living in slum areas, she decided to minister to the children living there. Her objective was to edu-cate and reach out to these chil-dren. Unfortunately, though, there was often a lack of educational materials and teaching aids. Together with her co-workers, they began to pray for God’s provision in this area.

One day, while tuning her radio, Dr. Maria accidentally tuned to TWR Philippines’ radio program Little Lights. The program presented narrated Bible stories, songs and materials in ways that children could enjoy and have fun with while still learning about God.

Dr. Maria was so excited that God had answered her prayers in this

way. This was beyond what she had imagined! She contacted TWR staff in the Philippines. “We have been praying for friends to help us. Your program is the an-swer to our prayers!” she said.

TWR staff members sent her au-dio CDs featuring the Little Lights programs. In this way, not only would the children benefit from listening to the programs, but Dr. Maria also could obtain ideas re-garding how to create educational Christian content for children.

Today, Dr. Maria’s ministry con-tinues to reach out to children in in the Philippines. Truly, our Lord answers prayers in ways that we do not expect.

BEYOND OURIMAGINATION

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE TAGALOG

COUNTRYTHE PHILIPPINES

Faithful listeners of TWR often become outspoken promoters of the Christian broadcasts. One Cu-ban radio repairman even found a way to incorporate his advocacy into his job.

TWR representatives encountered the man during a tour of the Caribbean country to meet with Cuban audience members of the ministry’s programming. Much of the work of the technician, whose name is withheld for security reasons, involves peddling his bi-cycle to small neighboring towns to fix residents’ old radios made in the Soviet Union – back when it still existed.

The frequency of some station has to be used during the final adjustment phase, so this techni-cian does his fine-tuning on 800 AM – the dial position of TWR’s 100,000-watt transmission from the island of Bonaire. On each radio fixed, therefore, 800 AM has served as the standard for best reception.

Then the technician goes a step further, marking the dial to indicate the TWR frequency. And for good measure he instructs the owner where to place the radio in the house to get optimal recep-tion of the Bonaire broadcasts.

This radio technician, in a country where the government controls all broadcast content and prohibits editorial independence, unashamedly introduces his clients to the Gospel radio signal from which he draws spiritual nourishment.

WITNESS ON THE JOB

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYCUBA

If she ever gets the chance to travel to her tiny Caribbean namesake, Elaine Bonaire likely will get a VIP tour of the powerful transmitter site from which TWR broadcasts the Gospel to much of Latin America.

The Michigan woman, you see, shares her surname with the trans-mitter site’s home, Bonaire, which is part of an island group informally known as the Dutch Antilles. And that shared name isn’t just a ran-dom coincidence but a bond that tightly links Elaine’s family story to the island and to TWR’s 50-year presence there.

In 1970, Elaine headed south to study at the University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia. At a local church, this bilingual coed whose father once served as a YMCA exec-utive in South America got to know her future husband, Jose Anselmo Muñoz Barajas. After the two mar-ried, Anselmo, as his family called him, was the pastor of a church before they relocated to Michigan, where Elaine’s family lived.

“After coming to the States, people wanted to call him Jose, which was easier for them than wrapping their English-speak-ing tongues around ‘Anselmo,’” Elaine wrote in a letter to TWR.

“He had trouble being called Jose – [it felt] like people were talking to someone else. He got tired of the Jose jokes, too.”

“Jose jokes” apparently involved quips using the phrases “No way, Jose!” and “Jose, can you see” – the latter sung to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“Muñoz” also presented pronun-ciation and spelling problems for many of his new countrymen, so when he decided to become a U.S. citizen and was asked whether he wanted to change his name, he was ready to take the plunge. Elaine helped out, doing some research and compiling a list of Hispanic surnames that English speakers would find easier to spell and say.

In the end, though, Anselmo picked a name that wasn’t even on the list: Bonaire. Why? Because that 114-square-mile island off the coast of Venezuela was the point of origin for TWR Gospel broad-casts that helped lead his family to Christ when he was a boy.

“I married Jose Anselmo Muñoz Barajas in Colombia and buried Ariel Anselmo Bonaire in Mich-igan,” wrote Elaine. “I’ve had one husband. He was pastor of

a church in Medellin, Colombia, during the first year we were mar-ried. Later he was pastor of the Hispanic congregation of a church in Holland, Mich. His calling to be an evangelist was cut short by his death in January 1995.”

Anselmo felt called to serve as an evangelist and was working at an automotive-parts manufacturer in Traverse City when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

With her letter, Elaine included a donation and the words “Que Dios bendiga el Ministerio de TWR” (“May God bless the ministry of TWR”). She closed with a P.S.

“I understand that the island of Bonaire is very pretty. Should I ever have the opportunity to visit, I would like to visit TWR.”

COUPLE 'MAKES A NAME' WITH TWR

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYCOLOMBIA

As I have already told you about my father, he called himself atheistic. He said he did not believe in God, that God does not exist. When he said that, I asked him, “Of what kind of god do you speak?” He answered me, “There are 46,000 gods in the world, and one does not know which one is true. Since my childhood I believed in the god of the religion of my country and in his prophet. But all the time I have been unraveled, all alone. This god had not brought me the least help in the world.”

I replied to my father, “This is because the god of the religion of your country is only a divinity among these 46,000 gods. On the other hand, the true God is God the Father. The path that leads toward him is Jesus.”

While discussing these matters with my father, the hour came for your

program. I told him, “Come, let us listen to the program on TWR, and we again shall see clearer.”

By God’s providence, that evening the program was about the apoc-alypse! We listened to Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” My father marveled when you explained that Christ wants to become a family member of the one who opens the door of his heart and house to the Lord. The phrase “I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” means that I do not have anything to offer to Jesus; on the contrary, it is he himself who brings all sorts of blessings into our house.

My father was very touched by the explanation that you gave of

Revelation 3:20. He said, “I can-not do otherwise than to open the door of my heart and my house to Jesus.” Now our house is open to the Lord and has become a house of meditation of the Word of God!

I exhort you, my dear friends, to continue to explain God’s Word for your listeners, because it is very important. Stay in the peace of the Lord.

ANSWERING THE DOOR WHEN CHRIST KNOCKS

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE BERBER KABYLE

REGIONNORTH AFRICA

Now our house is open to the Lord and has become a house of meditation of the Word of God!

THOSE WHO ARE LOST

SPEAKING HOPE TO...

For generations, Seetha and his family had believed in many gods. His family used to make sacrific-es and follow rituals.

But after listening to TWR’s broadcast of The Word Today, they started to question what they were doing.

“We wanted to know more about the truth of Jesus Christ and the salvation that is offered through him,” Seetha writes from his home country of India. “We have learnt many spiritual truths through your program. Initially, we were concerned if our gods would penalize us for deserting them, but listening to your programs has taught us how to confess our sins and believe in Jesus Christ.”

When Seetha and his family were confused, they called a number given during the program.

“The spiritual advice you gave me prevented me from going back to my old practices again,” Seetha writes. “After that, we called you up frequently because we longed for the light of the Lord Jesus

Christ. The conversations we had with you have encouraged us.”

Seetha says it is a great privilege to know the truth and to learn how to pray.

“It has shown us the way into the light,” he wrote. “Our special thanks to TWR and the program The Word Today! Please pray alongside us for the salvation of our relatives.”

Many like Seetha come to a sav-ing knowledge of Christ through programs like The Word Today. Pray that more like Seetha will come to hear, believe and be transformed through God’s Word.

WALKING IN THE LIGHT

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE UNSPECIFIED

COUNTRYINDIA

Dear Friends, your radio broad-cast is one of a kind. From where I live, Christianity is vague, and we do not have literature or books about it. Since my childhood I liked Jesus Christ, but because no one could help me with know-ing Him better, I tried to seek different means and ways.

Many Christian TV channels and radio stations criticize non-Chris-tian religions. I found that only TWR is not doing that. Appar-ently, TWR is going with the teachings of Christ, to love and to forgive one another. TWR talks about the truth that Christ taught.

I’ve always wanted to have the Holy Bible, but I couldn’t find it in my country because it is forbidden. I did finally download it as a phone app, and now I can read it all the time, but I couldn’t have loved the Bible if not for the Thru the Bible radio program! It

really is helping me understand Christ and Christianity.

The program is like a door to the light for me, with all the teach-ings and explanations. I feel hap-py and do not want each episode to end, because it is like treasure for me! Many of those who are around me are listeners, too, but they are hesitant to write because of security issues. Thank you so much and keep it up.

A DOOR TO THE LIGHTABOUT

THIS STORYLANGUAGE

ARABIC

REGIONMIDDLE EAST

I couldn't have loved the Bible if not for the Thru the Bible radio program! lt really is helping me understand Christ and Christianity.

I am your faithful listener. Listen to my history.

I was the only daughter of my par-ents. They spoiled me too much, to the point where I became nasty and intolerable, although I exercised the traditional faith of my country in depth. My mother said to me that I did not deserve my name – Fetta – which means silver. She said, “My girl, your behavior is not bright like Fetta. It is time to change your behav-ior.” I cried during the night when I tried to sleep.

The next day, I told my misery to a friend who frequently attends a house church in Algiers. She told me to call to Jesus when I cry and to say, “My Lord, come into my life. I am miserable. Please come to my aid.” So I prayed.

During the night, I had a dream as clear as a sunny day. I was walking in the street, where I met a beautifully dressed merchant. I stopped to look. I said to myself, Why stop here to look? I do not have any money to buy anything.

The merchant surprised me when he said, “Why do you say in your heart that you don’t have any money to pay?” I was frightened,

as he had heard what I said in my heart. Then, he took a roll of white silk fabric and draped it around me. Suddenly, I saw my-self clothed in a white silk dress. He told me, “Listen to my words, and you will live.” And then I woke up.

It is only afterward that I realized it was Jesus who had answered my prayer and was revealed to me. Since then, I do not stop listening to Jesus’ words on TWR. Jesus changed me. Since then everyone has told me that now I am brilliant and deserve to wear the name Fetta. Now five people in my family have joined me in the way of Jesus.

God bless you and bless your pro-grams!

LISTEN TO MY WORDS

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE BERBER KABYLE

REGIONNORTH AFRICA

This story is about a man’s radical life change, which came about through Christ pursuing him in a dramatic fashion. May this story encourage you to never give up on those whom you desire to accept Jesus Christ as Savior! Ahmad is a believer from the Persian-speaking world. Here is his story as told by his pastor:

When Ahmad was young, his father was arrested and even-tually died in prison during the political upheavals of the region. Growing up, Ahmad conducted his homework with the radio on. Often in the afternoons, he would pick up a channel from Europe that talked about Jesus and that he found to be very interesting. After hearing about an offer to get a free New Testament, Ahmad mailed a request to receive one. About a month later, a package arrived including the New Testa-ment as well as a poster of Jesus, which he hung on his wall. 

Ahmad grew to become a devout believer of another faith. One night, though, he had a dream about Jesus that frightened him. Jesus came walking toward him, but as he got closer, Ahmad was shocked to see the face of Jesus reflecting the face of Ahmad's older brother instead of the familiar face on the poster. When Ahmad’s older brother had come home from Europe, he told Ahmad about Jesus. 

At first, Ahmad was angry that his brother had left their religion, but thoughts of the package and the dream kept coming back. Finally, he decided to really read the New Testament. Ahmad fell in love with the words of life, joy, peace and hope. At his work Ahmad began to talk about Jesus, but his boss warned him that he would have to stop or be reported to the government because of many complaints. 

Later, Ahmad came to Europe to get a business degree as well as

to experience religious freedom. After finding our church, Ahmad asked to be baptized. Talking with him, it was clear that there was a lot about the faith that he did not understand, but he clearly loved Jesus. We studied Romans together because the Lord used this book to clarify the beauty of the Gospel.

After six months with us, right before he went back to his country, he was baptized publicly in the sea in front of 100 witnesses, before whom he gave a testimony of his faith in Christ.

A DREAM ABOUT JESUS

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE FARSI

COUNTRYIRAN

Finally, he decided to really read the New Testament. Ahmad fell in love with the words of life, joy, peace and hope.

Rami is a young non-Christian Yemeni who has been a victim of harsh social, economic and spiritual circumstances. At 24, he married the girl he deeply loved, but only a few hours after the wedding, he discovered that the new wife’s cousin had raped her when she was still young, and that the cousin had then married her older sister. It was definitely not the family Rami had dreamed of having. After countless con-flicts, he divorced his wife.

His heart was stirred again a few years later, but it seemed that he was not destined for love. Because of his poor economic conditions, the girl’s family would not accept him.

During these difficult circum-stances, Rami began listening to TWR’s Arabic broadcasts. He heard about God’s love and provi-sion, his mighty hand that heals broken hearts and wounds. He began to correspond with TWR’s Arabic follow-up staff.

In the midst of his economic situation, especially with the difficulties Yemen has been expe-

riencing, Rami called TWR asking for financial help. TWR staff indicated that it was not possible to provide financial assistance but encouraged him to seek God, who gives abundantly in his own time and ways.

Rami, still struggling with the “God of Christians,” not being sure whether Jesus truly is the Son of God, had learned about Jesus through a TWR broadcast. He decided to pray to him and ask for a miracle, so he prayed: “Dear Jesus, if you are the Son of God, and if you love me and died for me, I need you now to help me.”

Rami told TWR staff members that on the very same day he prayed, he heard a knock on his door. It was one of his relatives, who brought him money as a gift. There seemed to be no reason behind this gift, but he was cer-tain that it was Jesus who made it happen. From that day onward, Rami’s life changed forever. He now believes in the almighty God and has accepted Christ as his Savior. Now he wants to help

others meet the Lord as well.

He used to struggle with heavy waves of despair, mistrust, hatred and the desire for revenge, but now he is on the safe and peace-ful shore where love and forgive-ness abide.

Who would have thought that a radio broadcast could make a per-son expect a miracle from God? Yes, this is what radio can do in closed counties such as many in the Arab world. It can proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and penetrate to the hardest places and into the most hurting souls to redeem, restore and recreate a new person!

A KNOCK ON THE DOOR CHANGES EVERYTHING

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE ARABIC

COUNTRYYEMEN

Coming from a strong religious background of a major religion, I was hooked on our God. The rules from the holy book were laid out for me to follow. However, if I did not obey them, I would have to face the wrath of God. A personal relationship with God was never discussed.

I had been memorizing our holy book since childhood, and I even led prayer in our building of worship. Nevertheless, I felt a powerful pain and longing for something that I was missing. I tried to satisfy my heart’s desire by studying, as I had always been an excellent student. However, religion only filled my days, not my heart.

Finally, I asked myself: Is God for real? Looking around at creation, I knew he must be there. In a fi-nal attempt I said, God, you know I am sincere, so I want to find

you in this holy book. When I was almost done reading it, I knew more of who God was, but still my heart remained empty. It felt as if something great was surrounding me and waiting for me to run to it, but what could it be?

One day, as I was listening to the radio, I suddenly felt a great sense of happiness and excite-ment. Nice, comforting words were spoken through the Arabic program of TWR, even though I did not understand at all what they meant. The words talked about Jesus. That was what my heart had been yearning for! I decided to look further this time, so I secretly went to a nearby church to meet the priest, who was from southern Europe. That day, joy filled my heart, and it felt as if the bells of the church chimed in harmony with the beats of my heart.

I’ve learned about Jesus’ love and his longing for a relationship with me. I have much more to share, but for now I want to declare: Jesus is God and the Son of God, and that is my faith now! My dream is to be baptized and pray at church, but the situation in my country is life-threatening. This is my story of salvation. Is there anyone who can stand by me?

A SALVATION STORY

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE ARABIC

COUNTRYSYRIA

Nice, comforting words were spoken through the Arabic program of TWR, even though I did not understand at all what they meant. The words talked about Jesus. That was what my heart had been yearning for!

I am an officer in the national army. I got saved during very diffi-cult times thanks to your program Good News for All.

My colleagues and I were in the bush fighting during the civil war in my country. We could not go to church, and no preacher could come to us in the bush. Radio was the only source of information and our church!

One Saturday, the preacher made an altar call after his sermon in that program. I knew I needed to surrender my life to Christ, and I did that. Thank you for saving my life because I now know that even if I died during the fighting, my soul would be saved.

From that time on, I persevered in that way, and now I serve in my church with responsibilities en-trusted to me by the congregation.

I PERSEVERED

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE FRENCH

COUNTRYBURUNDI

Eritrea is on the east coast of Africa with Sudan on its left and Ethiopia on its right. A short boat ride over the Red Sea will take you to Saudi Arabia or Yemen, depending on whether you steer left or steer right. It’s a country of more than 5 million people, roughly half of whom are non-Christians, according to the Joshua Project research group.

One day, a listener in Eritrea was persuaded by his children to tune in to TWR. He did so reluctant-ly at first, but things changed. Here’s his story:

It is through the radio ministry that I came to learn what a sin-cere Christian life is. I have been blessed with a new hope, new life, new understanding and new Christian friends.

I am 36 years old and a father of two. I used to go to church on some special occasions, such as Christmas, and for some cere-monies, such as weddings and baptisms. But every week I sent my two little children to attend Sunday school classes.

A concerned woman from the neighborhood came every Sunday morning to take the kids with her own children. When they came back from Sunday school, instruct-ed by their teachers, they tried to brief us on what they had studied, but we did not pay much attention to what they had to say.

One Sunday they came home with a flyer containing information about the radio ministry. They in-sisted we turn on the radio, search for the station and listen. They pleaded earnestly with us, and finally we accepted their request. Following the instructions on the flyer, I searched for the station, and after a while I found it.

I did it simply to obey my chil-dren and make them happy. I listened without any intentions or interest, but because of my chil-dren, I kept listening. Gradually, my interest began to develop. To my surprise, the words in the Bi-ble lessons started to work in my life, and I began to experience a change inside me. I kept listening and began to read the Bible refer-ences, and then I started going to church with my children!

This is the wonderful way God worked in my life, I have expe-rienced a great deal of change I never thought possible before. God has extended his mercy and opened a way of life to me, through my little ones.

Therefore, I am sharing my experiences with others so they will be alert and watchful – God is speaking through different ways, ways that you may not expect. The Lord is saying, “Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

May God bless the radio ministry and give his servants strength.

MY CHILDREN POINTED THE WAY

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LANGUAGE TIGRINYA

COUNTRYERITREA

David worked on a farm in Kenya and spent most of the little money he earned on alcohol. One night, while walking on the road in a drunken stupor, he was struck by a car and seriously injured. After the accident, David woke up in the hospital, fortunate to be alive but unfortunate to learn that he was paralyzed.

After months of treatment, he returned home a very bitter man and cursed God for what had hap-pened to him. He heaped verbal abuse on his wife and children until they could take it no longer. In desperation they asked a pas-tor to visit him, which the pastor did several times while enduring David’s verbal abuse.

But one day the pastor brought a radio with him and tuned it to a TWR program in Swahili, David’s own language. He turned up the volume and put it out of David’s reach and left. David had no choice but to listen. He was challenged by the speaker, who told of God’s love for listeners even though they may be walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

The next day David listened again – then again and again. At last he surrendered to Christ, and his life was completely changed! Today he plays his guitar at church and participates as much as he can. With tears in his eyes, David gives thanks for TWR programs and for the change that Christ made in his life.

David’s story is a modern applica-tion of Paul’s exhortation to the Galatians. Put away fits of anger, enmity, strife and drunkenness, Paul says, and seek the fruits of the spirit – patience, kindness, joy and self-control.

GOD'S LOVE COVERS ALL HURTS

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SWAHILI

COUNTRYKENYA

A TWR staff member visited a woman after receiving a text message (or SMS) from her saying that she had been threatened by her husband. The staff member prayed with the woman, who told her story:

I had an unpleasant past. My fa-ther died when I was very young. By grace I was able to complete my primary school. In my first year of secondary school, I be-came pregnant and had to stop school for a whole year.

Later after resuming school, I fell in love with a man and spent much of my time in that relation-ship, causing me to fail. Later, I lived with another man (though we were not married) and still later was found to be infected by HIV/AIDS.

This man caused me a lot of pain, but I was not able to separate myself from him. I became pregnant, and my man never took care of me. Instead, he threat-ened that he might kill me. He even wished that I would die as I delivered the baby. After listening to your program, I realized there is a gracious God who would take care of me as I gave birth.

It was that day that I sent the SMS to the presenter of the program. When your member of staff came to visit me, he prayed for me and invited me to join a prayer group at his church. Things started to change, and my husband was changed. He no longer threatened me and started to be tender toward me.

Seven days later, I delivered the baby without any problem. And that proved to me that God’s hand was upon me. My husband came to visit me in the clinic and was so happy to see the baby. Today I can testify that there is an im-provement in my relationship with my husband.

GOOD NEWS IN RETURN

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE KIRUNDI

COUNTRYBURUNDI

Reflecting the variety of the listeners themselves, responses from TWR audience members to our programs come in many forms: letters, text messages, in person, emails, phone calls. A young man from the province of Pontevedra, on the northwest coast of Spain, called to share his experience with our staff and ask for more information.

It has been only 20 days since I began listening to your program. Before, I was literally hooked on a certain radio network, as it broad-casts an excellent sports program. But something very curious happened, and I do not find any normal explanation to it.

One night the lights went off, because of an electricity problem, and when the light came back on, my radio dial was on another station, and it happened to broad-cast your program. And since that night, I listen to you. I find myself waiting for it every day! I just have to confess that I’m truly, really hooked on your program!

I searched for you on Internet, but I couldn’t find you, and I struggled with the decision to call you personally and speak with somebody. I’m not very religious. I nearly never enter a church. The purpose of my call is to let you know that I like your program so much. I left my favorite sports program for it gladly.

You offered [in the program] to send the book of the Bible, and I have never had one. Could you send me a copy? If I understood wrongly, please excuse me.

Well, I just wanted you know that you have a new fan of the program. Many thanks!

A NEW LISTENING HABIT

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYSPAIN

She cried out to Jesus, and the Lord spoke to her over the airwaves.

Judy was born into a household of another major religion in Durban, a South African city with a large Indian population.

"As I grew up, I diligently fol-lowed a life patterned by what my parents had taught me and had practiced themselves. My parents taught me to be respectful to everyone and to follow all the religious rituals. I learned that we needed to do penance to help pay for our sins and to win merit or fa-vor with god. As a teenager, I often lay awake at night terribly afraid. I tried hard to be a good person, but all that I said and did still troubled my conscience daily as I was never sure if “good” was “good enough.'"

She worked hard at being a faithful follower of the other religion and was furious when her husband, also a devout follower of that faith, converted to Christianity after reading a forgotten Bible and being influenced by his sister-in-law.

"I asked aloud, 'Jesus, who are you? Why have you ruined my life like this? You have taken a perfectly happy life and destroyed it. How can I believe and worship

you when I do not even know you? If you want me to believe in you, then you must reveal yourself to me. Only then would I believe.'”

Unbeknown to Judy, her husband, Marlon, before leaving for work that day had tuned the radio to a station that often aired programs distributed by TWR. Just when Judy challenged Jesus in her heart and mind, Chuck Swindoll started to preach.

"Now at the instant I had asked the Lord Jesus to reveal him-self to me, I heard a loud voice coming from the radio saying, 'WHO ARE YOU FOR GOD TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO YOU? YOU ARE MAN ON EARTH, AND HE IS GOD IN HEAVEN!' He said it again loudly and then went on to say, 'If you want to believe in Him, you must believe by faith that he died on the cross for your sins and that he rose on the third day to give you eternal life.'”

It was the first time Judy had ever heard the Gospel, but she was certain that this promise of forgiveness of sins and of eternal life was the answer to her fears.

"Immediately I fell prostrate before the Lord and started to confess my

sin. I told the Lord everything that I had ever done wrong in my life. I wanted a new beginning and to be cleansed from my old way of life. I realized that even though I had tried so hard to be good, I could never do anything that could make me acceptable to this holy God."

That day Judy felt a peace in her heart beyond understanding. It has been more than 10 years now.

"He has changed my heart, and his Word leads and guides me through life. I find all my answers to the questions of life in the Word of God. We serve a God who knows our hearts, and in that time of need, God knew my heart and my needs better than I did. He gave me something more important than the love of man and family – the love of God and an eternal hope."

THE RADIO ANSWERED ME!

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LANGUAGE ENGLISH

COUNTRYSOUTH AFRICA

Mark woke up one day ready to go about his business – robbery. Little did he know the tide was about to turn on his life.

Until recently, Mark (not his real name) had been adrift in a sea of meaninglessness, living as an armed gangster after his life had been deeply scarred during years in the Mozambique military. Later the same day, Mark would steal a radio, and it would be the instru-ment God used to bring Mark into the Kingdom.

Mozambique is one of the world’s poorest countries, the majority of its population living below the poverty line. Less than one-third of the people have an estab-lished, significant church, accord-ing to the Joshua Project research group. The country struggles

mightily as a result of a history of colonialism, unstable economics and intense guerrilla warfare.

Is there hope for a land beset with so many problems? Mark’s story suggests that there is indeed. For him, a TWR radio broadcast was like the voice crying in the wilderness.

“When I turned on [the radio], I was looking for any radio station,” Mark said. “It turned on to the TWR transmission. I listened to programs in different languages. One program called me to pay attention. It was the program Weherya MwaYesu [in English, Words of Hope]. Pastor Mutilima was talking about crime and all kinds of sins. The pastor said that those who live in sin are enemies of Jesus and they will be judged on the last coming of Jesus.”

This got Mark thinking about the second coming of Jesus.

“I read the passage in Revelation about murderers, the immoral, idol-

aters and all liars – ‘their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death,’” Mark said, quoting Revelation 21:8.

And Mark didn’t just think about it. He placed his faith in Jesus and immediately set out to do the work of evangelism, passing the message along to three compa-triots. The whole gang took Jesus into their lives, and the members are “testifying about his second coming to others.”

Perhaps the dramatic conversion of Mark and his friends will serve as a wake-up call for Mozambique.

STOLEN RADIO SHAKES UP GANGSTER'S LIFE

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE PORTUGUESE

COUNTRYMOZAMBIQUE

For him, a TWR radio broadcast was like the voice crying in the wilderness.

When I turned on [the radio], I was looking for any radio station. It turned on to the TWR transmission...

Lying on the floor, blood spilling from a leg wound suffered while working outdoors, the Colombian drug lord was without his usual contingent of bodyguards and had to turn elsewhere for solace.

Carlos Yepes scanned the dark-ening room to find something to take his mind off his throbbing, swelling leg and noticed a radio. Radio signals, however, don’t reach into this part of the isolated Sierra Nevada mountains this late in the day.

“So I turned it on just so that it would make noise next to me,” Carlos recalls. “And it made noise a little while, but then a station came on with the news – interest-ing, the news and everything. … And [a man] began to preach on the Prodigal Son. I almost looked to see if the man was standing beside my mattress speaking to me personally. He covered virtual-ly my whole life.”

When the voice on the radio invited listeners to pray to accept Christ, Carlos joined in and felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted. It was a TWR broadcast, along with some earlier groundwork laid when

he started reading the Bible sim-ply to fight boredom, that helped turn Carlos’ life around.

Immediately, he gave up his ownership of cocaine-growing land and then burned down his cocaine-processing lab. When the small army of men who worked with and protected him returned from various destinations and heard what had happened, all 40 chose to become Christians. Carlos’ leg soon healed, and many of these men later followed him into the ministry.

Strangely, after that evening when he lay bleeding, Carlos and his companions couldn’t locate TWR on the radio dial for many weeks, even on a better receiver they purchased. Eventually, the group rediscovered the frequency and wouldn’t allow it to be changed, drawing spiritual nourishment from all the Spanish programs aired by Radio Trans Mundial, the Spanish for Trans World Radio.

“I tell you, Radio Trans Mundial is our spiritual father, our spiritu-al mother,” Carlos says. “We grew with Radio Trans Mundial. It’s a blessing.”

After starting a number of churches in different regions of Colombia, Carlos ended up in the capital, Bogota, where he and his wife, Janeth, work with teens in poorer neighborhoods. They grabbed the youths’ attention by organizing a weekly soccer com-petition that later expanded into a ministry providing spiritual and physical food along with educa-tional help.

“They were getting involved in gangs, in drug addiction, many bad things,” Carlos says. “So that’s where the idea was born: God brought us to help these children.”

BROADCAST BRINGS LIFE-CHANGING NEWS

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYCOLOMBIA

THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED

SPEAKING HOPE TO...

A listener from Indonesia shares the following powerful story.

I walked to the front of my house, afraid of what I might see. “What if it’s there again?” I wondered to myself. Questions flashed through my mind: “What was going on? Who was trying to cause harm to my family? Who did we offend?” My heart sank the moment I laid eyes on the yellow rice and flowers sitting suspiciously on the front porch. “How can something so seemingly harmless be full of ill intentions?”

Flowers and yellow rice have been mysteriously appearing at the front corner of my house for many days now. I do not know who put these there, but I was intent to find out what they meant. The first time I saw these, I thought someone had left them behind. But after a few days, I noticed they would be replaced even after I cleared them away. This realization that some-one was deliberately putting them there sent a chill down my back.

I started asking the neighbors in my village about the significance of flowers and yellow rice. What I heard from them made my hair stand on end.

Witchcraft!

I was told that spells were cast into the flowers and yellow rice, and these were left at my front porch in an attempt to cause harm to me and my household. I knew nothing about witchcraft, and fear gripped me.

By the way, my name is Vivi, and I am a 40-year-old housewife who sells snacks from a small stall to help make ends meet. I have two dear children, and my husband is a driver. Because of the nature of his job, he is seldom at home. Most nights, it is just me and my children in the house. Because of that, my fear was heightened.

Prior to the witchcraft incident, I used to listen to TWR programs on a local station. These broadcasts taught me many spiritual truths and guided me in my journey with God. I found explanations to parts of the Bible that were confusing to me. Unfortunately, as a result of technical problems, I was not able to continue listening to the programs. Yearning to find spiritual guidance, I tried without success to find other Christian programs in my native language. I soon stopped

reading the Bible as I had no one to explain it to me anymore.

It was during this time of empti-ness that the flowers and yellow rice started appearing on my front porch. Who could be so cruel as to cast an evil spell on us? Anx-iety took over, and I was unable to perform my daily duties. I was restless and scared. I could not focus on God’s Word or even pray.

One night, as I stared into the darkness, TWR programs came to my mind. In desperation, I turned on the radio on my mobile phone hoping to find some entertain-ment to distract me.

FLOWERS + YELLOW RICE

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE INDONESIAN

COUNTRYINDONESIA

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE Javanese music, just like what I used to hear on TWR programs, filled the room. To my amazement, I had found TWR programs again. Praise the Lord for his guidance!

God spoke to me through the lesson that day, indicating that no others can protect us but the Lord Jesus. Immediately, I prayed to the Lord and handed him my problems. I begged Him to keep me and my family safe.

Flowers and yellow rice no longer scare me or have a hold over me. Every morn-ing, after praying, I sweep the porch to clean them away. It’s been three months since the first day I saw them, and I still have no idea who puts them there. But one thing I do know, my Lord Jesus is more powerful than any other forces in this world. I believe that Jesus is my only Protector (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

A few years ago, a TWR ministry leader went to China on a field trip and had the opportunity to meet Ruth. Ruth was a new believer then. She is married and had a 12-year-old daughter. Her marriage, however, has been on the verge of divorce several times. Ruth’s hus-band is a compulsive gambler, and she has been physically abused by him. Not surprisingly, she has been leading a life filled with hurt, anger and bitterness.

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

On a recent trip to China, our min-istry leader managed to catch up with Ruth again to find out how she was getting along. It turns out Ruth has been listening to the programs with her family from the day she received them. Thank-fully, she has been healed from her hurts, and, by God’s grace, her marriage was saved. Through it all, she has learned the impor-tance of forgiveness.

“I am now a changed person,” Ruth says. “If God had not guided me, I would not be able to forgive my husband. I stopped being

resentful toward him. He still gambles, but he is slowly trying to change. He has already changed in other areas, for example, helping my parents and picking up our child after school. We have stopped quarreling and our relationship has improved.

“I do not harbor anger and bit-terness anymore. Amazingly, my overall health has also improved! My life is significantly more joyful now. I am very thankful to God.”

Since then, Ruth has passed on the CD and portable audio player to nonbeliever friends she is reaching out to while praying that God’s Word would be a blessing for them as well.

Praise God that his Word is able to bring hope, salvation and healing to all who listen and believe!

HIS WORD HEALS + SAVES

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LANGUAGE MANDARIN

COUNTRYCHINA

Halim lives in Indonesia and makes his living by going on his rounds picking up discarded items and recycling them. Some call him a rag-and-bone man, while others label him a waste collector. On occasion, he even makes the effort to refurbish an item so that he can resell it at a better price. This is the only way he knows how to make a living.

Surrounded by trash every day, Halim started comparing his life to trash. He saw no meaning in what he was doing. His life was empty, and just like the discard-ed materials, it seemed as if he meant nothing to anyone. Mocking words from the people around him pierced his heart. They were like whispers from the devil absorbing every ounce of joy and drowning him in a pool of depression.

One day, Halim tuned his radio to a Sundanese language radio

program broadcast by TWR Indo-nesia. Excited to hear something that gave him hope, he started listening regularly. This ignited his hunger to know more about Jesus Christ. Like a lion arising from slumber, his faith started growing.

Halim decided to become a Chris-tian. His choice for Christ did not impact his financial situation; nor did his problems cease. Still, he had gained the insight that his worth did not revolve around having a good job. Even though he still collects trash, he gives thanks to God every day!

The mocking never stops. Halim often faces jeers – for example, “A waste collector is still a waste collector even though he is Chris-tian. He will never be a boss.” But instead of letting the words tear him up like they did before, Halim now returns the jeerers’ scorn with a smile.

“They don’t know that God has made my life meaningful although I am just a waste-col-lector,” he says joyfully. Indeed Halim goes about his job faith-fully. He knows that the Lord has changed him and that life has taken on a whole new meaning. To declare this fact to the world around him, he and his entire family have taken the step of bap-tism by water to proclaim their commitment to Christ.

LIFE NOT WORTHLESS LIKE TRASH

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SUNDANESE

COUNTRYINDONESIA

They don't know that God has made my life meaningful although I am just a waste-collector.

My name is Krishna. I live in Ne-pal, and I am 11 years old. When I was 6, I lost my father to illness. That was when the struggles in my family began. Initially, my mother really struggled to provide for us. However, she was soon able to give us a comfortable life – even though I did not know how.

During that time, I noticed many women started coming to our house, and I heard my mother assuring them that they would be sent to the Middle East to get jobs. I learned that she worked as an agent, and I was happy that things were getting better at home.

One day, everything changed suddenly. The police came to my house and arrested my mother for human trafficking. After a long process, she was put in prison for 10 years. I had to take care of my brother, and there was no one to take care of us. People used to think negatively of us, and they hated us. Nobody wanted to have nothing to do with us.

From time to time, my mother would call us on the phone. During one of these phone calls, she told us that she was happy in prison and that she had the opportunity to learn sewing from a class started by TWR Nepal. She also shared that through the training, she learned about Jesus Christ. She had accepted Jesus as her Savior, and she indicated that she wanted us to know Him as well.

She told me about this children’s program called Balfulbari. From that day on, I started listening to the broadcast over the local FM station. From the program, I learned many things. I was most touched when I discovered that we children are very precious in the sight of the Lord and that he will never leave us even if other people hate us. Our names are written on his hands, and he knows everything about us.

This program touched my heart and brought me comfort in diffi-cult times. It is also very effec-tive in sharing the Gospel with

children. I am telling my friends in school about this Nepali children’s program, and now six of us gather to listen to Balfulbari regularly!

I do not know whether my mother is really a trafficker, but I thank God that she had the golden op-portunity to know the Lord Jesus Christ in prison. Now I am waiting for her release so that my mother and I can go to church together.

I would like to thank the entire Balfulbari team for producing this program, which comforts and nourishes me in Christ. May God bless you richly. Thank you!

PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE NEPALI

COUNTRYNEPAL

Despite difficult circumstances and continual waves of persecution, a pastor in Central Asia is helping build up the church in his region.

Oibek (his name changed for security reasons) was an unwanted child when he was born. His mother left him on the doorstep of a large family and disappeared. Years later, Oibek’s adoptive family told him the truth about his past. Oibek was filled with hatred toward the parents who deserted him. This hatred became so strong that he decided to exact revenge. He wanted to make them pay for what they had done to him.

While Oibek made plans for his revenge, something happened that changed his life. A friend from his apartment building told him about Jesus. Oibek was gripped by this message of love and accept-ed Christ as his Savior. His once hate-filled heart became filled with the saving love of Jesus. Oibek eventually found his birth mother and was reconciled with her.

He became part of a small group of believers who shared their faith with others. The small church they formed continued to grow, and Oibek became the pastor. He preached the Gospel and helped wherever he could to encourage church growth.

The first wave of persecution came, and Oibek was arrested. His interrogators wanted to know why he left the religion of his country and became a Christian. He had the opportunity to share his life story with them. The tormentors all listened attentively as he shared how his heart had been full of hate but was now full of forgiveness and love. Oibek was later able to prove his innocence and was released. He continued his activity in the church.

Not long afterward, police officers came with a search warrant to Oi-bek’s home and began looking for forbidden material. They searched for several hours, taking away liter-ature and the computer and tearing apart the floors and walls. Oibek took advantage of an inattentive moment and fled his home when the police were not looking. The authorities began searching for him. He faced a difficult decision: Should he flee, leaving his wife and family behind, or stay? His Chris-tian brothers strongly advised him to flee because it would be better for him and the church. Miracu-lously, God opened the doors for him to leave the country safely and undetected. After a difficult year of separation, Oibek’s wife and family were able to join him.

Unfortunately, Oibek’s persecu-tion continued in his new home. As he was leaving his home one day, men carrying machine guns knocked him to the ground, put a sack over his head and shoved him into a van. His wife watched helplessly from their apartment window and called for help. Peo-ple searched for him, but no one knew where he had been taken. Oibek was set free several days later when the kidnappers discov-ered he is not a terrorist but only a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Despite these difficult circum-stances, Oibek is not discour-aged. God has helped him estab-lish a new home church, and he has produced a series of radio programs in his mother tongue to reach out to his own people via the radio waves.

SUFFERING FOR THE FAITH

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE UNSPECIFIED

REGIONCENTRAL ASIA

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. - Psalm 119:105

“[T]he people dwelling in dark-ness have seen a great light,and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” - Matthew 4:16

Hello, brothers and sisters in Christ! 

Through the word of the Lord that you send to us via radio, thousands of men and women have seen this great light. They have all left the darkness of the religion and of death.

I read the texts that I have just quoted [above] for a follower of the religion of our country who greeted me along the way and wanted to try to convert me to his religion. I told him, “Listen, my friend, I believe you will not have anything to teach me of the religion that I left.”

I read the verses of Psalm 119:105 and Matthew 4:16, and he listened attentively. Then he

said to me, “What is this, ‘the shadow of death’? It must be terrible, isn´t it?”

I told him, “Those who live spiri-tually in darkness, they are all the time sitting in the shadow of death of the religions that they give themselves over to. On the other hand, those who live in the light of the Word of Christ, they share the love of God. In addition, the love of Jesus, who gave his life for them, has united them in peace.”

After some seconds of silence, our friend was convinced that he was among those who live in darkness, in the shadow of death. He asked me if he could borrow my Bible. I gave him my Bible as a gift and the broadcast frequen-cy of TWR. Fifteen days later, he came back to see me, accompa-nied by five of his friends, also followers of the religion of our country, and asked that I give them Bibles, as well.

The leader of the [religion of our country’s] place of worship in the village had learned what happened. He told me, “I am going to file a complaint against

you because you want to emp-ty our place of worship to fill your church.” I told him, “I am nothing in this business. I only do what my master has ordered me to do.”

He asked me, “Who is your master?”

I answered him, “My master is Jesus – file a complaint against him, if you want.”

My dear friends [at TWR], every day there are new converts, and they need your programs. Know that you are our great institute of biblical teaching. But keep us on your prayer list. Because the fight is tough!

TAKE YOUR COMPLAINT TO MY BOSS!

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE BERBER KABYLE

REGIONNORTH AFRICA

In Egypt it is mandatory for young men to serve in the military for three years. Almost from the start of his service after college, Hussein was drawn to a group of fellow soldiers who were different and had a deep belief in God. They even bore without retaliating the humiliation and persecution from those in charge because of their faith. 

It was these young fellows that encouraged Hussein to listen to TWR’s Arabic radio broadcast. The Arabic team has come to know Hussein over the years as a deep and earnest thinker with a heart longing for truth and justice. This young man was showering the team with many questions, hungry to know many things, eager to find real life. “You are the light that helps me to gain insight,” he once told them.

All of a sudden, Hussein stopped writing. After some time had passed, TWR’s Arabic team heard from him again. The joy of being reconnected was soon overshad-owed by sadness and compassion as Hussein cautiously shared the reason for his long silence.

He had been handed over to the authorities by one of his relatives. For an entire month he was im-prisoned in a dark room. Guards would torture him using a com-bination of freezing and boiling water plus electric shocks. At his release, his relative warned him that he would have to go back to his inherited religion if he did not want to be imprisoned again.

In the midst of this painful and frightening trial, Hussein could sense Jesus was close to him. Hussein describes himself as “pu-rified and humbled from all ego and pride.” Although he is no lon-ger subject to physical pain from his ordeal, the emotional scars are a heavy burden to carry alone.

EXTENDING THE HAND OF FRIENDSHIP AMID PERSECUTION

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE ARABIC

COUNTRYEGYPT

In a desk in an Addis Ababa office sits a 23-year-old letter that changed lives.

The letter belongs to Wakshuma Terefe, and he unfolded it recently and told his story to TWR Ministry Relations Director Joe Fort, who was visiting Ethiopia on busi-ness. Today Wakshuma is head of electronic media for the Ethiopian Evangelical Church’s communica-tion service – a partner of TWR – and the letter is partly responsible for that fact.

Wakshuma grew up in a family that worshipped evil spirits, witch-craft and magic. In 1989, he was 20 years old and the communists governed Ethiopia during that period.

“It was strictly forbidden for the young people to even talk about God, let alone worship,” Wakshuma said. “There was bitter persecution on the followers of Jesus Christ, and as a result, many believers were imprisoned, tortured and murdered.”

Wakshuma met secretly with other believers to pray. Often they were caught by the authorities and beaten. He came across a radio program that had spilled over to Africa even though it was broad-cast to India from TWR’s Guam transmission site.

He recalled the worst instance of persecution he suffered: “They forced me to walk, on my knees, over rough gravel. My knees were cut and bleeding, and I was in tears. But I went home and listened to the TWR programs and was encouraged.”

Seeking advice, seeking encour-agement for the group of believers, he sent a letter to the address in Hong Kong, 5,000 miles away.

Forwarded another 2,100 miles to Guam, the letter eventually was answered by TWR missionary Joan Zensen. She encouraged him to remain faithful to the Lord and to make the Bible essential reading, and she suggested he take TWR’s free Bible correspondence course.

“I firmly believe from what I know of God’s Word, as well as from my own experience, that God will not forget your commitment to Him,” Joan wrote. “He will lead you and guide you until at least you recog-nize that He has indeed given you your heart’s desire.”

To Wakshuma, the letter was more than just a polite response: It was nothing less than an instrument of the Holy Spirit.

“I had received no instructions con-cerning how to walk in the new life except through reading the Bible,” he said. “Therefore, the letters of

LETTER FROM AFAR HELPED HIM HOLD FAST

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE ENGLISH

COUNTRYETHIOPIA

My knees were cut and bleeding, and I was in tears. But I went home and listened to the TWR programs and was encouraged.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE Joan Zensen came to me full of such instructions. It en-couraged me to stay with the station [tuned in to TWR] and also gave orientation about how I should continue growing in my Christian life. … In gen-eral, her letters have changed the course of my life.”

The correspondence contin-ued for a time, and in 1996 Wakshuma went into full-time Christian service with a personal mission to change even more lives.

When Joe Fort asked if he would like to send a message to Joan, now semiretired in Elkhart, Indiana, Wakshuma jumped at the chance. Joan, though, is quick to point out that it was God who “used my work in such a remark-able way” and that she was one of the many required to broadcast the Gospel over the airwaves.

“His recorded ‘thank you’ was a huge blessing to me,” Joan said. “Just to hear the love in his voice was an ex-perience I will never forget!”

TWR’s programming – by radio, the Internet or any other medium – always grows out of the centrality of Scripture and the necessity of personal salvation through Jesus Christ. But TWR Burundi demon-strates that many of the ministry’s broadcasts also present very con-crete ways for biblical principles to be applied in daily life.

Two listeners wrote to tell how messages of one of the programs aired by TWR Burundi, Africa Challenge, had left a big impact on family life.

I am student and like to listen to your radio program Africa Chal-lenge. I was much helped by the episode in which you talked about how women are mistreated.

Evildoing against women is pres-ent in my neighborhood. Some men go to the extent of beating up their wives. The consequence of this is that children cannot respect their mothers when they see how women are badly treated. In turn, the mothers find it hard to show love to their children.

My request is that you continue in your program to educate males to love and treat women and girls well.

For the other letter writer who got in touch with the TWR staff, the lessons about how men should treat women had very personal ramifications.

Thank you for the Africa Challenge program. I used to spend my days drinking in the bar, and when I re-turned home, I would beat my wife up just for any small reason.

Today I am a transformed person, thanks to your program. I now wake up early in the morning and go to the farm with my wife, and I have come to realize that it is more fruit-ful to live in peace with my wife and help her.

LESSONS AGAINST ABUSE OF WOMEN BEAR FRUIT

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE KIRUNDI

REGIONBURUNDI

THOSE WHO ARE GROWING

IN FAITH

SPEAKING HOPE TO...

A sister from Shandong prov-ince in China who is a student of TWR’s Seminary on the Air program, writes to share her story with us.

I am a first-year student of Sem-inary on the Air. Although I have yet to meet you face-to-face, I feel as if we are old friends.

A sister in Christ introduced your broadcast to me, and it has been such a great blessing in my life! Every night, I listen to your broad-cast with great excitement. My heart finds great comfort listening to the program.

Also, the voices of your presenters share the Word of God in an inti-mate manner. It is like meeting with the Lord face-to-face! It feels as if the Lord is upholding me and leading me forward, step-by-step, via the radio during times of trials and tribulations.

Through your program, the Lord has been opening my eyes. I have gained a greater understanding about many truths of his King-dom. I have also personally expe-rienced God’s almighty strength and great merciful love.

Now I am studying the Seminary on the Air curriculum on the Internet. God has opened the way, and he has helped me find time to be equipped. Even though it is part of the second-year curricu-lum, the lesson on homiletics is of tremendous help to me.

I wholeheartedly thank God as well as the teachers and produc-ers of the program. I will tell more people about your radio programs so that your broadcast may be a blessing to more people.

While writing this letter, I could not hold back my tears. Thinking about your work and what you have offered, I am overwhelmed

with unspeakable gratitude. I am grateful for the merciful love of God for allowing me to experience his almighty power and goodness.

My relationship with God has also become more intimate. I have some good news to share, too! God has begun work within my family. My parents have decided to pray and trust in the Lord. Also, God has brought about great change in the attitudes of my husband and my in-laws.

"THANK YOU, DEAR FRIEND..."

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE MANDARIN

COUNTRYCHINA

Also, the voices of your presenters share the Word of God in an intimate manner. It is like meeting with the Lord face-to-face! It feels as if the Lord is upholding me and leading me forward, step-by-step, via the radio during times of trials and tribulations.

I am Brother Chen, a leader of a church in a rural province in China. We had a lot of members in our church who did not have a clear understanding of God and had no inclinations to serve Him. However, things changed in 2006 when we received grace from God through the TWR Radio Church Kits.

Each Radio Church Kit consists of a radio, a Bible and printed study materials to complement the Discipleship on the Air and Self-Confrontation radio programs. In the short span of three months, there was a great change in the spiritual life of the church. Previ-ously, the believers were focused on asking for miracles, healing and God’s blessing in their lives; now they began to demonstrate a deep willingness to offer their lives to Jesus Christ.

I saw a great change in their lives and their witness for God. They have also grown in their under-standing and interpretation of Scripture. Thank God for blessing us this way through the Radio Church Kits.

Others in the church observed the change and joined in the

learning. A lot of the members, especially the youth, have started studying the courses. I have seen them listening to the programs and taking notes while they listen, after which they will share with one another the things they have learned.

In our church, we now have more than a hundred co-workers who serve God ministering to others and reaching out to those around them. Other churches have noted this revival in us and have shown great interest in learning through Radio Church Kits. Please help them like you have helped us. May God bless you and all who have given toward these Radio Church Kits!

BLESSED BY RADIO CHURCH KITS

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE MANDARIN

COUNTRYCHINA

This letter has long been for-mulated in me. MERA [TWR Europe’s partner in Hungary] has been very important in my life for years. The truth is, sometimes words cannot express it.

In everyday life, I always look forward for the new programs to be uploaded on the website and can’t wait to listen to them. One by one I listen to all the programs, the sermons, the testimonies and teachings. I can download all and listen to them again and again!

I am a kindergarten teacher, so I am in contact with many people. Many times I see into families’ lives, their joys and difficult sit-uations, as well. I also often rec-ommend MERA programs to them to listen to. I’m so glad when they tell me about the blessings of what they heard on these radio programs! Not only I and my loved ones but also my friends and acquaintances are faithful listeners of MERA broadcasts.

Years ago, when I discovered the Internet broadcast, I was certainly very grateful for it. In spite of how

hard it used to be to catch the Trans World Radio broadcasts, I can remember that Grandma and I listened! Thanks to our great God for the broadcasts! Unfortu-nately, my grandmother is no lon-ger among us, but we believe that she is with the Lord now. It’s so wonderful that now we can easily listen to the Gospel message. Thanks to God!

I admit that I listen to the MERA programs while doing household chores. Thank you for the many nicely prepared programs, and I am sincerely grateful to our God. God bless you and give you strength for the continuation of the work in his service. You are all in my prayers.

THANKFUL TO OUR GREAT GOD

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE HUNGARIAN

COUNTRYHUNGARY

Much of TWR’s programming is evangelistic, aimed at reaching out to nonbelievers to introduce them to the Gospel message and bring them into Christ’s fold. But the work doesn’t stop there. Another important aspect of the ministry involves discipling new and longtime believers and then helping to train potential leaders of growing Christian communities.

Pramod’s story, which takes place in a hilly village of the Indian state Tripura, highlights the value and importance of this discipling task. Only about 5 percent of the people in this area are Christians, and the rest mostly follow animis-tic practices.

At first, Pramod did not belong to the small group of believers. In fact, he was staunchly non-Chris-tian and practiced the customs and traditions of the other religion. He was intolerant toward Christians, detesting them to the extent that he wouldn’t even sit next to them.

One day he met someone who gave him Bible tracts and urged him to read them. He took the

booklets grudgingly but read them out of curiosity. His interest was piqued, and he read them whenever he got time. One day he came across a verse that said Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He was fascinated by this message and soon accepted Christ as his Savior – but he still didn’t have a personal relation-ship with the Lord.

Pramod attended the small church in the village regularly and even became a deacon, but he wasn’t receiving solid spir-itual food. As deacon, he was often asked to speak at church and to deliver remarks at special functions, but he felt inadequate to the task of sharing God’s Word, and he became ashamed and disheartened.

One day while seeking a Scripture passage to preach in church, a fellow believer suggested he try a program broadcast by TWR, Khakchangma Panda (in English, The Discipleship Hour). It was exactly the kind of Bible study he needed to better understand the Bible, and he started tuning in every day.

Almost immediately, Pramod’s preaching and teaching changed. He was now receiving the spiri-tual food he was starving for, and even his presentation and delivery changed. He developed confi-dence because of the knowledge he gained through Bible study. Equally important, the congrega-tion noticed the change and was impressed with the transforma-tion.

Strong grounding in the Word, made available over the airwaves to this remote spot, had made a crucial difference in the life of this struggling Christian leader. And through him, the life of the church was affected, as well.

HELPING A CHURCH LEADER GAIN CONFIDENCE

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE BENGALI

COUNTRYINDIA

I would like to sincerely thank you for such useful programs. I am listening with great joy. And I will admit all of this is because of my 89-year-old grandmother. Every evening she listens to all kinds of programs. At that time I am usually already in bed in the next room, but I can hear this very well.

I am 20 years old, and my name is Galina. For a long time I have wanted to write to you, but some-how I did not dare. I believe there

are many young people like me that listen because of their grand-parents. Your listeners are not just elderly people, but with them their children and grandchildren listen, too.

Because elderly people do not hear well, the radio is on very loud. So your programs are sounding through the whole house. I am sure of that just because of my own experience. Believe it, too. Rejoice and continue your blessed ministry.

SOUNDS THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE UKRAINIAN

COUNTRYUKRAINE

Qelibare is a 45-year-old woman. She is married and has two teen-age sons. Fourteen years ago, she had to take care of the children alone because her husband went to Greece as an immigrant for two years. It was an extremely hard time for her, but during that time she accepted Jesus into her heart.

After her husband returned, Qelibare was a different person, and she wanted to let him know about the great change in her life. In the beginning her husband was reluctant. But seeing his wife’s behavior, he understood that something was different. She talked to him about Jesus and the life that he offers.

One of her friends told her about a Christian radio station. Ever since then she never turned off the radio. Since she works at home as a tailor, the radio doesn’t disturb her at all. At the same time, her husband had the chance to hear the radio pro-

grams, as well. Listening to the radio programs was so easy for him because he was timid and didn’t like to encounter crowds of people when attending church. And the radio programs came directly into the privacy of their home. Slowly, his heart began to soften, and he decided to go to the church. Now he is a believer.

“Radio is a great tool,” says Qelibare. “It is not only for us as believers but also for many unbelievers.” She has been an encouragement to many clients who have come to have a dress or something else made. The radio has helped her to share the message of the Gospel.

Qelibare has been blessed by many programs but especially by In Touch, which features the teaching of Dr. Charles Stanley. “Your radio programs have helped me a lot, encouraged me, made me cry, and understand who I am and who I belong to. The teach-ings have inspired me to take

more time with God. Sometimes it seems that I do not have time, but God reminds me that he has created the day with 24 hours and there is time for everything.”

She goes on to say that the programs have changed her life completely. “We are people, and sometimes we get off the track of the Lord, but praise the Lord that he is always there to help and take our hand. I praise the Lord for the ministry of Dr. Stanley. I am so blessed, and the message of each program guides my whole week when I listen.”

RADIO IS A GREAT TOOL

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE ALBANIAN

COUNTRYALBANIA

Your radio programs have helped me a lot, encouraged me, made me cry, and understand who I am and who I belong to. The teachings have inspired me to take more time with God.

I have listened to TWR programs since 1978, when your programs were aired only on shortwave (my favorite). My consistency in listen-ing is limited by my profession as a sailor.

In short, I am a believer, and I like programs with spiritual content, but I am still not quite satisfied with my knowledge and understanding. The more I discover and understand the Bible, the more questions and insecurities I have. Often I feel even a disbelief regarding many logical discrepancies that occur in my Bible studies. I do not belong to any religious community or church, and I do not have problems with my family tradition either.

My first Bible was the one I received from TWR in Monte Carlo in 1978, and since then, I often listen to the “waves” of your programs. I still believe that God will help me realize the truth completely. Until then, I try to live by the measure of a believing people: righteousness, truth-loving and tolerance.

I would describe the style of my life with this wonderful passage from Proverbs 30:7-8: ‘Two things I ask from you; deny them not to me before I die: remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me …”

I hope that your programs contin-ue to be lighthouses of hope and encouragement for all and also for me. I greet you cordially and hope that God’s blessing fills our hearts with hope and faith, which are so much needed in this “tired” world we live in!

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SERBIAN

COUNTRYSERBIA

RADIO WAVES ON THE HIGH SEAS

Peer pressure can be a beautiful thing – that is, when your peers are pressuring you in the right direction! Yet in the case of one high school student in Eritrea, her friends were determined to see her waste her life. Their voices were loud and persuasive, and they were pushing her deeper and deeper into immorality. As she accelerated downhill, she recalls, “No one was around to help me.”

However, a moment arrived recently amid the cacophony of voices when a true friend and peer appeared, introducing her to TWR’s radio ministry. The girl is now listening regularly and says, “These days, things are changing.” Through the broadcasts and under the ministry of God’s Word, she is “developing the strength and confidence to re-sist – and even to protest” against her peer group.

The apostle Paul describes our encounter with the living Christ like this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our young Eritrean friend has expe-rienced this, and as she grows and listens to the broadcasts, she says, “The lessons on the radio broadcasts are creating a new person inside of me – a new person with a new view of life and new way of thinking. The mer-ciful Lord has visited me in my troubles and tribulations and is setting me free from sin and bad influences.”

Once again the radio waves have served as a channel for redirect-ing a troubled life. Now Eritrea has one more voice that can call out in the darkness and lead oth-ers to the one who changes lives. And this is exactly what this girl intends to do: “I am determined to reach the ones who are suffer-ing from the same problems I had experienced. The ministry has a lot to do: to save lives, to bring people out of the darkness and to set the youth free from immoral practices.”

Our Eritrean friend ends her letter with encouragement: “May the Lord help you to reach people with his Word.” Her blessing very simply sums up TWR’s purpose and reflects Paul’s point in Romans 10:14: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”

A NEW CREATION

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE TIGRINYA

COUNTRYERITREA

The lessons on the radio broadcasts are creating a new person inside of me – a new person with a new view of life and a new way of thinking.

TWR Malawi witnessed an inspiring encounter in which one listener was blessed by two other listeners. This is a beautiful story where faith and love meet, lives and hearts are touched, and God is glorified.

Stella Kalinde was born with full vision 50 years ago, but in April 2012 she suddenly became blind from an unknown illness. Stella, better known as Nachanza, told us that she was a regular TWR listener before becoming blind. “I have been a keen listener of TWR all along. I became an even more committed listener when you intro-duced [the radio program] Friday Night Live in January last year.”

She is the mother of three girls and a boy and worked more than 12 years in a stationery office before having to stop because of her eyesight problem. The Kalinde family lives in Chilinde, a suburb of Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe.

She used to own a radio, which de-veloped technical problems late last year. Therefore, she started relying on her neighbors when she wanted to tune in to TWR. “Unfortunately, my frequent visits caused tension in the neighbor’s family because some members felt I was intruding,” she told us with sadness.

During one edition of Friday Night Live, Nachanza called the TWR studios to share her needs. They were twofold: prayer for healing of her sight and a request for help in obtaining her own radio receiver.

Mr. and Mrs. Blessings Nkhoma in Salima (about 100 kilometers from Lilongwe) heard Nachanza’s plea on the air that night and were moved to do something about her need for a radio. They committed themselves to getting a radio set for her! They obtained the radio, got in touch with the TWR Malawi office and arranged to meet with Nachanza at the radio station.

When Nachanza visited the TWR offices in Lilongwe to collect her radio, she was filled with joy. She exclaimed: “I could not believe my ears when I heard that someone has bought a radio for me. You know, I have been missing my favorite programs, Nkhomaliro Ya Mau and Nzeru Pa Chuma, for some days now.”

She thanked the Nkhomas for extending a hand of love to her through the purchase of the radio set.

“I will now be able to listen to TWR throughout, as I don’t have to in-

convenience my neighbors anymore to do so,” she added.

In May 2013, she was among the listeners who blessed TWR with a gift. She said that she had been moved to respond to the ministry’s appeals for support and that she had peace only after giving a tithe of her income from the rentals on her small houses.

Asked how she meditates on God’s Word, Nachanza said she mostly relies on audio material because she is unable to read braille.

“My major desire now is to have the audio Scriptures. I know that God will heal me and recover my sight, but maybe for now he wants me to hear his Word through this approach,” she said.

BLIND FAITH MEETS WITH COMPELLING LOVE

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE CHEWA

COUNTRYMALAWI

We encounter Jirmo Bokayo, a 58-year-old woman from the Dub Goba area of Marsabit County in Kenya, on a rainy afternoon. The Marsabit team of Sifa FM, a network of radio frequencies used by TWR Kenya, is visiting Dub Goba to distribute food. At first, Jirmo is shy and a bit reserved, but later she opens up to us and shares about events of years ago that still shape her life today.

Once, this widowed mother of eight children was a happily mar-ried housewife. She stayed home with the children and tended her small farm while her husband worked as a guard in Nairobi. He supplemented the little bit of income she made from farming with the earnings from his job. But nothing or no one could pre-pare her for the worst nightmare of her lifetime.

Early one morning 10 years ago, she received a phone call and was told that the father of her eight children had been attacked and killed by thugs while he was at work. She was now a widow, her children were orphaned and the primary breadwinner was no more. Life had come to some-thing of a standstill.

Yet life had to continue – some-how. The eight children had to be schooled. They had to – and still have to – be fed. They have to be trained and guided to maturity. What a burden for a semiliterate single mother!

“I do menial jobs. I go to town where I look for jobs like washing people’s clothes,” says Jirmo. She also continues to till her small farm to supplement her earnings from those other jobs, but she adds that “the farm is really small, and I can only get a few kilograms of maize and beans in a good season.”

Indeed, the seasons in Marsabit, where one of TWR Kenya’s Sifa FM stations is located, are not very reliable. Rain has become erratic and unpredictable. Crops have dried up prematurely on several occasions, and more and more residents are becoming pes-simistic about crop production. Food security is a major issue.

This predicament of people like Jirmo is the reason the TWR team is visiting Dub Goba to distribute food made available to us by our kind supporters. We meet faces that are filled with joy and warmth not only because

of the food but also because of the drizzle of rain that falls and the chance to be with some of their favorite radio presenters in person.

Jirmo is a faithful listener of Sifa FM Marsabit. “I listen through the phone,” she says, “… but the phone doesn’t keep power for long, so sometimes it is on and many times it goes off because I can’t charge it here.”

When Jirmo’s cellphone has no power, she has to walk 7 kilo-meters (more than 4 miles) to the town of Marsabit to have it charged. This makes listening to her favorite radio station very difficult.

But today she is in line for a blessing: We had one more

THE STORY OF JIRMO

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SWAHILI

COUNTRYKENYA

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

radio receiver – a portable, windup one. To listen to Sifa FM, Jirmo and her family no longer have to have an electrical outlet. They can tune in after getting a bit of exercise winding the radio handle.

Late this evening, then, Jirmo is a proud mother of eight go-ing home not only with some maize, beans and cooking oil but also with a simple, modern radio receiver. The Sifa FM Marsabit team prays that it will be a special portal bringing hope, advice and new life to her family.

A woman named Sara Calderon Lott shares the following story about the long-standing impor-tance of TWR’s programs:

My father, Julio, started listen-ing to TWR from Bonaire in the 1960s, after the revolution in the Dominican Republic. We listened together in my parents’ bedroom. We all gathered on the bed. My father put a [clothes] hanger on the radio’s antenna to increase the radio-signal strength. If he wasn’t going to be there, he recorded the program. In villages, many were meeting for church services around the radio programs. 

After I toured TWR’s office in North Carolina, I was so excited

I called my father. “Guess what I have seen today?” I asked him. When I told him, he was so happy.

TWR was such an important part of our lives. There was no TV. At night, it was TWR.

CHURCH SERVICES AROUND THE RADIO

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYDOMINICAN REPUBLIC

For a blind man who drew hope from TWR broadcasts while recov-ering from a tragic traffic accident, a visit to the ministry’s office in Kenya was a dream come true. It was a moving experience for the staff who received him, as well.

A staff member was the first one to notice the arrival of special visitor Francis Mwai at the TWR Kenya facility. Two people entered the gate – one a man in his mid-20s and the other much older and wearing dark sunglasses and carrying a walking stick.

“Hallo, I am Francis Mwai, and I was told to come here today,” the older man said. The other man was his nephew, Geoffrey Mwangi, who had accompanied him and served as his guide for the visit. Mr. Mwai had come to the office to pick up his highly anticipated copy of the audio CD version of TTB NENO (Thru the Bible in Swahili).

The jovial Mr. Mwai shared his life story and his longtime connection with TWR broadcasting. At the age of 34, he was in a head-on crash between the public-service vehicle he was riding in and a diesel tank-er. The vehicle burst into flames, but he was rescued from the burn-

ing vehicle. He remembers crying out to God just before the collision to save his soul and not let him go to hell, and he was eventually rescued from the burning vehicle.

When he regained consciousness in the hospital, he couldn’t see and much of his body had been badly burned. The hospital was to be his home for the next four years as the doctors saved his life and then performed reconstructive surgeries so that he could breathe and open his mouth. Still, he remained hopeful.

In the hospital, he asked his fam-ily to bring him a radio so that he could listen to NENO, produced at TWR Kenya in conjunction with the TTB ministry. The program helped to strengthen his love for the Lord and gave him hope, he recalled. He couldn’t seem to get enough of the extensive Bible study and eventually began to listen to Rugendo, the Gikuyu lan-guage version of the TTB program.

Hearing that NENO audio CDs were now available, Mr. Mwai was eager to have his own copy. But he had also hoped that one day he would be able to meet the NENO and Rugendo broadcast presenters to

tell them in person how much of a blessing they had been to him.

This was his chance, and the staff introduced him to Pastor Geoffrey Munialo of NENO and then Pastor James Karichu of Rugendo. The excitement caught the attention of TWR Kenya Director Bernice Ga-tere, who stopped by to welcome Mr. Mwai and to thank him for spending time with the staff.

Before ending his visit, Mr. Mwai offered words of wisdom gleaned from his own experiences.

“There is nothing as dangerous as having spiritual weakness,” he said. “You can have physical weakness, but not spiritual. Look at me, for instance. How many have left this world before me! God knows why am still alive.”

VISIT GIVES BLESSING TO BOTH LISTENER AND MINISTRY

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SWAHILI

COUNTRYKENYA

You are blessed in the name of our Father, Jesus Christ, our Savior. My heart is glad every time I listen to your messages. I traveled across the United States from 1984 till 2005, and I have listened to you at different times depending on the state I was in.

I live in Norwalk, California, and I listen to you on 1390, Radio Nue-va Vida. I have not been working for a year because of an accident on the job site, but God is good.

I have wanted to write to you or call you on many occasions. I cannot find the words to express how grateful I am to you for your bless-ing on our lives. At one point in my life, I did not want to go to church, and for two years I was living in sin, but I could not hide from the love of God (his mercy followed me).

It was because of your teachings that I could not stop listening, your unique way of explaining the Word and the love and mercy of our Heavenly Father Jesus. In one of

my last trips on my way home from Texas, I felt completely broken listening to your message. It got to the point where I couldn’t drive anymore, and I stopped by the side of the road. I fell on my knees at the feet of my Creator and asked for forgiveness of all my sins.

When I arrived home, I asked my wife and five children for forgive-ness. Our two oldest children were following the wrong path. They told me they didn’t believe me, and that was when I got on my knees in front of all of them and called out to God. I made things right with Jesus. I prayed in front of them, and I surren-dered them to Jesus.

From that time forward I have been praying for my children and for my wife on a daily basis. And God performed the miracle. Now my children are right with God. Our two oldest play instruments in the worship team, and they are forming a group to worship our Heavenly Father.

I never tire of thanking you for the way you allow God to use you (may he bless you always). Now I live to give glory and honor to my Savior, Jesus Christ. My heart yearns to read and study his Word. When I am sleeping, I leave my radio on 24 hours a day every day, and many times your messages come on in the early morning hours. My subconscious or my spirit wakes me up, and I listen to your studies with my Bible.

God is good, and he had mercy on me and my beautiful family.

ROADSIDE ENCOUNTER SET HIM ON RIGHT PATH

ABOUT THIS STORY

LANGUAGE SPANISH

COUNTRYUSA

It was because of your teachings that I could not stop listening, your unique way of explaining the Word and the love and mercy of our Heavenly Father Jesus.

WHO WE ARE Speaking fluently in more than 230 languages and dialects, TWR exists to reach the world for Jesus Christ. Our global media outreach engages millions in more than 160 countries with biblical truth. For 60 years, God has enabled TWR to lead people from doubt to decision to discipleship. Wheth-er through high- powered radio, emerging digital platforms or face-to-face interactions, TWR leaves a lasting spiritual footprint.

OUR CALLING To reach the world for Christ by mass media so that lasting fruit is produced.

CONNECT WITH US P.O. Box 8700, Cary, NC 27512 1.800.456.7897 • twr.org

OUR MISSION The purpose of TWR is to assist the Church to fulfill the command of Jesus Christ to make disciples of all peoples, and to do so by using and making available mass media to:

• Proclaim the gospel of sal-vation to as many people as possible.

• Instruct believers in biblical doctrine and daily Christ-like living.

• Model our message through our corporate and cooperative relationships.

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