More than 40 percent of the urban population of Latin America and the Caribbean lives in the region’s 50 cities that exceed 1 million people.* Because of this, TWR’s City Lights project is an effort to provide Christian programming to adults, youth and children living in the megacities of Latin America. To date, TWR has “lit up” 14 cities in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
TWR’s City Lights programs include the children’s programs Pedrito el Pulpo (Little Peter the Octopus) and Sabio y Prudente (Wise and Prudent); youth programs Entre Jóvenes (Just Between Us Teens) and Código Vital (The Essential Code); women’s programs Mujeres de Esperanza (Women of Hope) and Cosas de Nosotras (Our Things); a family broadcast called Integración Familiar (Rebuilding the Family) and a biblical teaching program called Tierra Firme (Solid Ground).
Maracaibo is the second most important city in Venezuela in demographics and economy. “In Venezuela, we have focused on the cities of Caracas and Maracaibo because they have the largest populations,” says TWR-Venezuela Director Annabel Torrealba. Poverty is high in this area (45 percent) and more than 70 percent of the working population is located in a sector that presents serious urban problems that often result in even more poverty. This, in turn, affects the national economic crisis.
Five stations transmit City Lights programs into Maracaibo. Annabel and her team also send these programs to another 41 stations in 18 of the 23 states in Venezuela, as well as beyond the border to other Latin American nations. TWR-Venezuela produces the City Lights programs Pedrito el Pulpo and Integración Familiar in its studios. Thousands of young Pedrito listeners in the country are thrilled to attend the puppet rallies that Annabel and her team conduct in various Venezuelan cities. Michael in Maracay wrote in to the program: “Hi Pedrito. I heard your story and I loved it, and it was a wonderful day. May you keep on telling precious stories.”
Last year, TWR’s staff in the Dominican Republic faced the monumental task of moving its offices and studios to a new, better-suited location. This new facility helps TWR-DR minister more effectively, including the production of three principal City Lights radio broadcasts: Cosas de Nosotras, Entre Jovenes and Integración Familiar. Each month the staff generates more than 50 Spanish broadcasts that are heard over more than 100 stations.
“City Lights has given us the opportunity to reach more people in specific cities,” says Georgina Thompson, director of TWR-Dominican Republic. “From the station that transmits our programs daily in the city of La Romana, we reach simultaneously four other cities. From Santo Domingo, we have the opportunity of reaching potentially 3 million people.”
“It is a great spiritual blessing to me to listen to your programs and I have acquired some biblical knowledge,” wrote a listener to Integración Familiar. “They have led me to study the Word with emphasis and devotion to humble my soul before God. I rejoice when I listen to your voices and the message of God to this world of calamities. I know that it is not in vain, because the living Word never will return void.”
And a young person responded to the Entre Jóvenes broadcast: “I give thanks to God for permitting you to preach His Word by means of radio. I have enjoyed the program a lot. The themes that you deal with are of much interest. It has allowed me to learn and understand many subjects. I will tell you that I am still young; 20 years old. Even though I do not have sufficient experience in many aspects, with persons like you, blessed by God, we are managing to acquire and enrich our spiritual growth.”
*Source: www.unhabitat.org
Prayer Points:
- Pray that the Lord will continue to guide TWR's Latin American partner offices in producing City Lights programs that are relevant to Spanish speakers in the Americas. Pray for the program producers and the technical teams.
- Pray that more Spanish speakers will tune in the programs and that God will use these broadcasts to transform lives.