MAGAZINE APRIL - JULY 2017 TWR.ORG. they. Gospel Media. hear. Reaching Unreached People

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1 MAGAZINE APRIL - JULY 2017 TWR.ORG? howwill they Gospel Media hear Reaching Unreached People

2 BECAUSE you gave EXTENDING THE REACH OF THE GOOD NEWS YOUR PARTNERSHIP GIVES LIFE TWR would like to praise God and extend our heartfelt thanks to you for standing with us in our 2016 year-end challenge. Some of TWR s closest friends launched the challenge with $200,000, and many of you, our supporters, added another $357,327. With this total of $557,327, TWR had a strong year-end. Your prayers and gifts sustained us for another year of speaking hope to the world, and for some, that means eternal life. A radio listener in Afghanistan told us: I love Jesus, because he changed my life and gave me a new life. A listener of English content on TWR360 said: This program saved my life. Thank you! BONAIRE POWER UP PROJECT NEAR COMPLETION In 2016 over $1.3 million came in for the Bonaire Power Up project, which will increase our Latin America broadcast signal from 100,000 to 450,000 watts. The upgrade will double our potential listening audience in Latin America from 50 million to 100 million people and blanket the entire nation of Cuba with the Spanish programs of TWR. Thanks to many volunteer mission teams working alongside our staff on the island of Bonaire, much construction was completed in 2016, and we are 91 percent funded, the remaining need now totaling about $320,000. We hope to purchase the transmitter in 2017 and get it up and running. Thank you for your generous support! PANI BROADCASTS GO WHERE MISSIONARIES CANNOT GO Radio is a unique vehicle for taking the gospel where it is difficult or impossible for missionaries to go. That is the case in Pakistan, Afghanistan and North India what we at TWR call the PANI region. TWR and several partnering ministries are broadcasting from the PANI transmitter in 14 languages, among them Dari and Pashto. In a threemonth period, we received nearly 3,000 phone calls from Pashto listeners alone. One was a shepherd who said, There are many other radio stations, but your programming is the best, because it leads to the real God and to the truth. TWR is grateful for the $244,470 you gave in 2016 to lead more people in the PANI region to Jesus Christ. RADIO KITS FOR CHINA GOING DIGITAL For over 20 years, TWR has been distributing radio kits in China that each contain a Bible, study materials and a radio with instructions on how to listen to TWR s programs. Today, TWR is enhancing the kits with a digital package that includes seven discipleship textbooks, a Chinese Bible and program schedules all stored in a groundbreaking Titus II digital receiver. The Titus II is a radio fused with a tablet computer. Rural believers who receive a kit will be able to study the materials on the tablet and listen to companion digital shortwave programs broadcast from TWR s station on Guam. Thank you for the $167,546 you gave in 2016 to keep the radio-kit project going. anniversary milestones Join us in thanking the Lord for these TWR colleagues who, during the first half of 2017, are celebrating 10 or more years of service. 50 Larry & Virginia McGuire, Elkhart, Ind. 45 Tom & Elly Streeter, Cary, N.C. 40 Brad & Sandra Swanson, Bonaire 30 Bob & Claire Rothrock, Netherlands Bob & Kelley Thorp, Cary, N.C. Daniel & Lynn Plett, Bratislava, Slovakia 25 Jim McIntyre, Guam 20 Judy Hughes, Penney Farms, Fla. 15 Mike & Eli Sabin, Guam 10 Anne White, Cary, N.C. 2 twr MAGAZINE

3 president s column by Lauren Libby, President/CEO When Jesus physically left planet Earth, he had touched at least two people groups with the good news that he had come to bring. Today Jesus mission continues. It is estimated that there are more than 6,000 unreached people groups on planet Earth. This translates to about 3 billion people who have yet to be exposed to Jesus and his good news. TWR s transmitters and digital platforms have the ability to speak to most of the world in the Lord s name. TWR reaches people in all stations and economic strata of life. People can listen and grow in their faith in places that are remote or where society is hostile to Jesus and his Word. One of TWR s key focus areas is around the equator, where Islam predominates. This area is a key future focus area for TWR programming and content. It is also one of the hardest places to penetrate with the good news. As a mission, we are committed to bringing Jesus to people groups within this strategic window. The heaviest users of TWR360, the digital platform of TWR, are in the Middle East. Last month, these countries listened, watched and read content intended for this area of the world. God has created an intense hunger in hearts because of political unrest, mass immigration and other major cultural disruptions. The entire world is TWR S CALLING To reach the world for Christ by mass media so that lasting fruit is produced. covered daily with content on demand from TWR s strong digital platforms. Also at this moment, TWR is building a powerful 200,000-watt AM transmitter that will penetrate the Boko Haram religiousextremist areas of Nigeria. Powerful transmitters speak good news to the Middle East every night. Indonesians, whose numbers include the world s largest Muslim population, hear about Jesus from FM stations. In Chapter 52, Verse 7, the prophet Isaiah says, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation. That statement sums up what we envision as the ultimate result of sharing Jesus with every nation. We at TWR strive for Revelation 7:9 to become reality: And behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. The entire world is the objective. Mass media are the tools. And lasting fruit is the result. Come join us as we exercise the TWR global calling. CONNECT WITH TWR twr.org/social President/CEO Lauren Libby Ministry VP for North America Tim Klingbeil Director of Marketing & Communications David McCreary Editor Jon Hill Designer Nicole Hughes TWR is a member of Missio Nexus, National Religious Broadcasters, Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and Association of Evangelical Relief and Development Organizations. TWR magazine (ISSN ) is published triannually by TWR, P.O. Box 8700, Cary, NC, Postage: Periodicals postage paid at Cary, NC, and additional mailing offices. Subscription: This publication is sent without charge and is sustained by contributions from those who have chosen voluntarily to support this worldwide ministry. Names on TWR s mailing list are used exclusively by TWR and are not sold to or rented by any other organization. Canadian address: Send Canadian address changes to TWR Canada, P.O. Box 25324, London, Ontario N6C 6B1 Postmaster: Send U.S. address changes to TWR, P.O. Box 8700, Cary, NC Published April 2017 Vol. 38, No Trans World Radio Printed in the USA PR

4 Some have called it the graveyard of missionaries not in the literal sense, of course, but because hopes to see Christianity flourish in Japan have repeatedly been dashed. filling a vacuum in their hearts lthough this ultramodern country has been astoundingly successful at adopting innovation from abroad to blend with its own culture, the gospel has fallen mostly on stony ground and failed to take root in Japan. In fact, the Japanese are classified as one of the largest people groups in the world still unreached for Jesus Christ. Samuel Tan, TWR s international director for Northeast Asia, attributes that rejection to the people s veneration of traditional culture, their devotion to social harmony and their belief that being a good person is good enough for anyone. Like other Christian observers, however, Tan noticed that the earthquake and tsunami in 2011 had shaken up not only the physical landscape of Japan but also the spiritual landscape of its people. Japanese people s hearts seem to be more open, more willing to listen, Tan said. Of course, all this devastation of the tsunami has the impact that they suddenly feel that there s a vacuum in their heart. I sense this is God s timing for ministry in Japan. In the past, religious programming, when not actually forbidden on commercial radio, was certainly unwelcome, Tan said. In the wake of the tsunami, though, Tan and his team were amazed when FM stations evaluated TWR programs, found them to be relevant to their audiences and accepted them for broadcast. Today TWR s Bible-based programming is aired by 14 FM stations, and more than 20 Japanese pastors have been coached in preparing and delivering messages for three indigenously produced broadcasts. A listener in the Fukushima region, where the 2011 quake and tsunami caused meltdowns at a nuclear power plant, wrote, I heard the program on Wednesday. I was impressed and encouraged. My perception of the gospel totally changed. Another wrote, I am now interested to know more about Jesus Christ. A new day seems to be dawning in ministry to Japan. In addition to the greater openness among radio stations, a website launched by the TWR Japan ministry team already has roughly 24,000 subscribers, and Japanese content is available on TWR360, the ministry s digital-content platform. And Tan said he expects to see a TWR national-partner organization established here in Another prong of the outreach to Japan has brought mission groups from China, South Korea, Singapore and the United States to partner with local churches, helping believers to evangelize their communities and to be encouraged despite sometimes feeling isolated within their own culture. At twr.org/japan, read about the visits, see a video about the ministry and consider playing a part. A Japanese believer presents gospel literature to a lady on a sidewalk in Kumamoto. "Japanese people s hearts seem to be more open, more willing to listen." SAMUEL TAN

5 reaching Somalis in a harsh land I am originally from Somalia, and I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I write to thank you for your powerful radio programs, which are a source of life and hope to us under very difficult circumstances. Amid much persecution and suffering, I took up the role as leader and pastor of a Christian fellowship in the refugee camp. Every day I assemble the others to listen to your programs, teaching and serving the flock in my capacity as leader of the group. As Christians, we suffer immensely for the cause of Christ. We are constantly threatened by extremist communities in the camps. My sister was attacked in the camp where she lived with her family. To escape from this place, she went back to Somalia, but there she died from the wounds she suffered. Do you see that we need more prayers as we face such hardships every day? Just about the same time, another brother was killed because of his faith in Christ. As Christian refugees with little in hand but for the love of Christ here in a strange land, we are vulnerable and exposed and always under extreme pressure. Our children are growing up without proper education, have no access to work or freedom to explore, no knowledge through a broadened experience of life beyond the boundaries and restrictions of the camps. We have only four Somali Bibles. Because of this, we are so grateful for the 40 windup More than 2 million people roughly a fifth of the population of Somalia have been displaced from their homes and are struggling to survive inside or outside the country. This Horn of Africa nation is gradually advancing toward stability after decades of anarchy, but living conditions are often harsh, and operational church buildings are virtually nonexistent. A Somali listener of TWR who is a refugee in a neighboring country described how radio is bringing the gospel into this unreached and often hostile environment. Photo courtesy of radios donated by TWR to share among the 330 regular worshippers. Amid these circumstances, with our radios in hand, we listen to your programs, discussing them and encouraging one another with the Word of God. Please pray for peace as we persevere through the man-made hardship of our times. TWR Africa staff members recently decided to stop sending Bibles to the camps refugees in possession of the Scriptures were being murdered by extremists. Instead, giving them radios attracts less hostile attention but still opens a channel for receiving God s Word. 5

6 unreached S N A P S H OT S O F ' S TA N L A N D By Anna Waller, TWR Europe A well-dressed 14-year-old sits slumped on the rubbled sidewalk, staring mindlessly at his phone and reeling from the dejection of another day of his father s absence and the jeers of his classmates. He suddenly receives an unexpected invitation from an acquaintance he recognizes from a popular social-media platform: Askar! Come join us for the meeting! Eager for acceptance, he leaps to his feet to join the troop of boys walking past, unaware that the meeting is an unofficial gathering of ISIS comrades or that this event will be his foray into a life of radicalization. Ravaged by the grief of her recent divorceby-mobile-phone from her husband, who is a migrant working in Russia, a young mother of two stares out her window at the rugged, snowcapped slopes rising in the distance past the dusty rural village she now calls home. Zaynab feels lonely and wishes she had someone to talk to, like the kind women she met in the city who told her about a man named Jesus. She lives too far away now, and the only women who live close by keep their hijab-covered heads down. Still wounded by her overbearing motherin-law s jealous rage, which she feels contributed to the dissolution of her marriage, Zaynab turns inward, unsure of how and whom to trust. These are some of the snapshots of life among the unreached people of Central Asia. Photos courtesy of Shutterstock (1), Elisabeth Saeth (2,4), Mr. Theklan via CC 2.0 (3). 6 twr MAGAZINE Central Asia is an obscure land where the whimsical and seemingly spontaneously invented country names ending in stan represent nations whose origins were largely engineered as a social experiment by the Soviet Union. Drawing neat boundary lines under the guise of ethnic reasoning, the Soviets asserted their systematic authority and catapulted millions into the continuing struggle for identity and independence. Today, the post-soviet regime and radical Islam compete for the control of people all too familiar with domination.

7 Shutterstock.com Though the people of Central Asia enjoyed the freedom to practice religion for a small window of time after the breakup of the USSR, this window is now closing due to a combination of extremist organizations and what critics call government paranoia. Depending on location, Central Asian believers face persecution unique to this region on one end of the spectrum are tapped phone conversations, violent church raids and extremely high fines for possession of Christian materials; on the other, rejection from friends and family. The hostility felt from authoritarian officials is challenging enough, but the most painful form of persecution can be abandonment from intimate family and friends. Many believers say that the persecution they face today feels similar to what they experienced under communism. Persecution is a terrible thing, but millions of Central Asians face an even more tragic fate: life without the chance to ever learn about Jesus Christ. Among the total population of around 66 million people, including over 100 ethnic groups, the majority are steeped within the tradition of Sunni Islam and do not have access to the gospel. So, how can people learn about Jesus where pastors and missionaries are not allowed and where it is virtually impossible for Christians to meet as a group? One taxi driver has found a way around the restriction, turning the small van he operates as a taxi into a church-on-wheels. A group of believers waits at the bus stop for his taxi to come by, one of TWR s partners in Central Asia explained. He then turns on the radio, and they all listen to the TWR Bible programs, sing and worship the Lord. After going for a few rounds, he drops them off and takes the next batch of people. TWR s ministry in Central Asia began in 2000 and now has two offices with recording facilities in the region. Carrying on the legacy of Christian faith in creative ways, the ministry reaches Central Asians through radio, internet and a smartphone app, providing isolated individuals and those in underground house-church settings with discipleship and encouragement in their heart languages. The broadcasts are in the Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, Karakalpak and Central Asian Russian languages. If you feel led to help carry the gospel to this unreached region, learn more at twr.org/project/central-asia-outreach. 7

8 GOT A WILL? WHO NEEDS ONE? CORRECT ANSWER: EVERYBODY. As a steward, it is extremely important that you have an estate plan. God s plan for the distribution of your property at death, and for the management of property in the event of incompetency before that, can be accomplished only through a valid estate plan. P.O. Box 8700 Cary, NC Non profit US Postage Paid Permit 238 Memphis TN twr.org Return service requested Is your plan more than three years old? Have you considered how recently enacted tax laws will affect it? Need to adjust designated beneficiaries? Let us help you with a free estate-design and planning guide. Get your free copy of the Will & Trust Planning guide today. Contact Tim Klingbeil at or planned.giving@twr.org.