Staff of the international media organization TWR joined churches, partners and other friends on Friday (October 31) to celebrate four decades of broadcasting from the ministry’s powerful transmitter complex in Swaziland.
The main gathering was at the transmitter site itself near Manzini, Swaziland. A simultaneous celebration at Croydon Baptist Church was made available for the many based in at the regional office in South Africa who couldn’t travel to Swaziland for the day. Both events featured praise to God in song, speech, testimony and prayer.
The TWR (also known as Trans World Radio) transmitter site in Swaziland, went on the air November 1, 1974, with programmes offering practical information and daily advice along with sound biblical teaching to a large portion of Africa. Today TWR Swaziland broadcasts in 34 languages.
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“When TWR Swaziland signed on the air 40 years ago, who would have imagined the impact the station has had on the entire continent of Africa?” TWR president Lauren Libby said. “From the very beginning days, the ministry has been a miracle! The very sand that the station is constructed from was literally a gift from God. So as we celebrate 40 years of changed lives, we pause again and thank God for making this ‘big voice’ for Jesus in Africa possible.”
TWR Africa, with headquarters outside Johannesburg, coordinates a busy radio schedule featuring many internationally renowned broadcasters as well as regionally produced and focused programs such as Witness at the Water, Africa Challenge, Foundations for Farming and Tools for Wise Leadership.
A listener in a restricted African country wrote to producers of Women of Hope, “We are listening to your program in a group. As you know there is no church in our place, so we hear God’s word from your programme only. We are encouraged and blessed by your programme especially the spiritual part. Please pray for us … because if anyone knows that we are listening to a spiritual programme, we will be in trouble.”
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The Manzini operation comprises two 100-‐kilowatt transmitters, a 50-‐kilowatt transmitter and five antenna arrays. The staff was honoured during a transmitter dedication ceremony in 1999 when the Swaziland king, Mswati III Ngwenyama, said, “TWR’s broadcasts to Africa have helped to put Swaziland on the map of the world. Everywhere the listeners know that TWR broadcasts from Manzini/Swaziland.”
People wishing to know more about TWR Africa’s diverse media outreach or interested in learning how they can support the ministry can visit
TWRAfrica.org (twrafrica.org/index.php/you/donate).
