What is silence?

For Bae in North Korea, silence is being forbidden to talk about Jesus in public. For Alyona in Russia, her favorite Christian website was silenced, being deemed "extremist material." For Grozdan in Serbia, silence is living in a remote area of the mountains, far from other believers. In Kenya, during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, silence meant empty streets, with schoolchildren stuck at home. Then there's Tomáš in the Czech Republic, who grew up in an agnostic society and never heard about Jesus.



Silence is everywhere in this lost world, but Trans World Radio breaks the silence with a voice of hope.

[photo_footer] Listening via radio is a safe way to hear the gospel and to study the Bible more in-depth, as is the case with this listener from East Asia. / TWR Singapore [/photo_footer] 



A full lineup of shortwave radio programs are broadcast into North Korea from the island of Guam.   



TWR uses a variety of platforms to encourage believers and spread hope within Russia. A listener named Alexey reflects, “I always listened to Christian music on a flash drive in the car, and then I decided to see if there was a Christian radio livestream, and I discovered your radio programs. I was pleasantly surprised that your music is diverse; all podcasts and programs are very relevant and have touched my heart more than once."



Thanks to programs such as Thru the Bible, people in Serbia can study God's Word no matter how isolated they may be from other Christians.



In Kenya, TWR was asked to broadcast school programs for children during the pandemic, since TWR has such a broad reach into remote areas. In this way, after the educational content ended each day, children and their parents could hear Christian radio programs. 



With one of the highest percentages of atheists in the world, the Czech Republic is a nation in dire need of eternal hope in Christ. TWR Czech Republic produces a compelling range of programs for young people who may never hear about God otherwise. A faithful listener named Barbara says, "When I was looking for the Lord Jesus, I learned that there is a radio station that talks about God. Whenever I have time, I go to the archives and listen to World of the Bible, Biblical Reflections, and anything that teaches about God. Any word is a blessing to me as I only accepted the Lord Jesus into my heart three years ago and I still have a lot to learn!"

Hope breaks in

It’s no secret that we live in a broken world. If we don’t see it in our own neighborhood, we see it on the news.

In the past year alone, there’s been unrest in Kazakhstan, with intentional internet shutdowns and mobile phone disruptions. The war in Ukraine has separated families, making communication between family members difficult, if not impossible. When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, many Christians had to get rid of any hint of Christian materials from their mobile devices, or risk death.

When vital communication outlets are closed, family members are separated, or believers are forbidden to worship Jesus openly, there is a resulting silence. The good news? The global ministry of TWR is uniquely positioned to speak into the silence, bringing the light into dark places.

TWR airs fourteen different Christian programs into Kazakhstan through AM radio, without relying on an internet or mobile phone signal. Even when the government hindered access to certain technologies, TWR was able to reach beyond the barriers.

In response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis, a 24/7 livestream delivers hope to Ukrainian refugees through encouraging words and music. In addition, radio programs like Beacon of Hope offer comfort in hard times.

“It’s my first time writing to you,” a Ukrainian woman said. “I listen to your AM radio broadcasts. It’s the only way for us. My husband and I are the only believers in the village, and the closest church is 5 km away. We don’t have access to the internet or smartphones. That’s why your programs are such an important source of spiritual food.”

From snow-covered mountains to arid deserts, TWR beams the gospel message into Afghanistan from a 500,000 watt AM transmitter. Since the transmitter is located outside of Afghanistan, the turmoil within the country doesn’t affect the broadcasts. An Afghan listener writes, “I enjoyed listening to Sounds of Life and I recommended it to some of my friends. One of them had a broken radio, and borrowed one from a shop so he wouldn’t miss a program. I want to know Jesus better and learn more about Him. I pray with you when you pray over the radio.”

The hope of Jesus speaks into the silence to bring restoration. TWR began a spiritual legacy with the first broadcast from Morocco to Spain in 1954, and continues to spread the love of Christ to nations, tongues, and tribes.

Jade Alger, writer and communication specialist for TWR Europe and CAMENA.