Broadcasting Again After a Natural Disaster

Mike Lambert, a KTWR engineer, repairs a curtain antenna while suspended high above the antenna field on the Pacific island of Guam. [Image by Grant Hodgins] 

After Super Typhoon Mawar slammed into Guam on May 24, listeners in far-flung countries who count on KTWR to bring them spiritually nourishing broadcasts found that their radios went silent.

Winds of at least 108 mph swept over the TWR shortwave station’s radio towers, damaging all five curtain antennas, two of them severely. Not knowing how long it would be before KTWR broadcasts would again reach those uncountable listeners across Asia, ministry staff hastened to contract with other outlets to temporarily carry some of the programming. Other team members buckled down to repairs.

Amazingly, through the blessings of the Lord and the hard work of our skilled staff on Guam, a healthy portion of KTWR’s regular program schedule is already back on the air. One rough estimate indicated that a third or more of the station’s gospel broadcasts are going out again, including to countries of special concern such as North Korea and China.

TWR Vice President for Asia Daryl Renshaw said he is thankful both for the resumption of some of the broadcast ministry to North Korea and for TWR supporters who make the outreach possible.

“Because North Korea is a ‘closed country,’ we infrequently hear from believers in the country,” Renshaw said. “However, those we hear from consistently tell us that our Korean ministry programs are a great source of encouragement. This feedback has influenced our designation of Korean broadcasts as a top priority for ministry restoration work. And it has influenced our Korean ministry team’s decision to increase the number of daily programs they produce and broadcast.”

On the ground in Guam, the lean KTWR team is “juggling typhoon repairs with normal responsibilities associated with the daily operations and maintenance of the station,” Renshaw said. The team members scramble to add new wins each day in the recovery process, having leased a 125-foot boom lift that helps speed up repairs on the lofty curtain antennas.

Along with navigating the major and minor inconveniences commonly encountered after a natural disaster, the team is also struggling like the rest of Guam’s residents to overcome generator, fuel, internet and phone problems. The latest reports indicate that electricity has been restored to about two-thirds of Guam Power Authority customers.

As they have so often, TWR supporters are already stepping to the fore and giving generously to the fund set up to cover recovery costs that exceed what insurance will pay. Visit here to learn more about the fund.

“We are thankful and humbled hearing about sacrifices that ministry partners are making to help TWR restore the shortwave broadcast ministry from Guam,” Renshaw said. “We could not do what we do without their prayers and financial support.”

Please Join Us in Prayer

• Praise God for the incredible strides made in the recovery effort, allowing for Bible-based radio programs to get back on the air surprisingly quickly.
• Ask the Lord to enable the communications infrastructure for the station to be restored soon. Impaired communication slows down the recovery and makes already difficult work even harder.
• Please also pray for electrical service to be restored and for God to grant the team wisdom and tenacity as they seek to solve unexpected technical issues that have surfaced in the station’s backup generator solutions.
• The successes have been realized only through God’s favor and the demanding, constant, seemingly unending work of the KTWR team. Most of the team members operate “one deep,” meaning they are solely responsible for their assigned responsibilities and have no one to lighten the load. Ask the Lord to give them strength, concentration and peace as they serve him in challenging circumstances.