Working Hard as Guam Recovery Reaches Milestone

What began with devastating damages to TWR's gospel gateway to Asia has now been met with encouraging news. [Image courtesy of Grant Hodgins, TWR]

First, the great news about the ongoing recovery efforts of KTWR following the onslaught of Super Typhoon Mawar: All regular gospel programming is set to be on the air beginning this weekend!

Thanks to the skilled technical work and rapid management response of staff members thousands of miles apart, much of the broadcast schedule returned to the airwaves soon after Mawar blasted Guam on May 24. Prompt arrangements with three other shortwave broadcasters in Asia enabled some listeners to start receiving the disrupted programming within days. Soon after, broadcasting from KTWR began to revive and has grown incredibly quickly as the Guam station team repaired the wrecked antennas.

Mallika Moreno, TWR’s manager of Asia Media Services, announced Thursday that KTWR’s full regular schedule will be on the air beginning Saturday, July 15. The temporary arrangements with the other broadcasters are concluding the day before.

Mike Sabin, TWR’s broadcast technical operations director for Asia, celebrated the news and sought continued prayer for the Guam team.

“It is such a relief that KTWR will be resuming its full broadcast load on Saturday,” he said. “Even so, there is still a lot of work to be done with the transmitters and antennas. It will take months for all of that to be worked out. While we do keep an updated contingency plan for broadcast coverage, every catastrophic event we have had over the past two decades has proven to be unique. This particular event unfortunately took the prize for the longest complete outage at KTWR, ever.”

Emphasis on Resiliency

Sabin’s remarks also touch upon the not-so-great news arising from the recent typhoon crisis. Finding shortwave broadcasters who can help TWR carry Christian programming across all regions of Asia when serious outages occur is increasingly difficult.

“We were a bit surprised how few stations can cover Northeast Asia as well as KTWR can,” Sabin said. “I suppose one thing we learned is that keeping KTWR resilient and reliable is even more critical now than before.”

And resiliency is exactly what ministry leaders have been emphasizing. As the typhoon approached Guam, the major restoration project made possible by generous donors and known as A Strong Tower for Asia was wrapping up. Not only did the project strengthen the massive metal towers to withstand natural challenges such as typhoons, but it also helped prepare the station for a future of digital shortwave broadcasting.

Next, after completing the post-typhoon repairs, the Guam team will be replacing Antenna 2, another project that faithful supporters have backed with their prayers and financial gifts. All these projects, along with the smaller improvements and day-to-day maintenance carried out by KTWR staff, enable Bible-based broadcasting to reach out to millions in countries like North Korea, China and Indonesia and to adapt to a changing technological environment.

Keeping Our Listeners in View

When Super Typhoon Mawar struck Guam, we were deeply troubled to know that countless listeners were suddenly cut off from the programs they need. But we were also heartened to receive their messages seeking information and expressing concern. A number came from Japan, and several others (a selection included below) arrived from China.

“I heard that KTWR’s shortwave transmitter was affected by the typhoon and has temporarily stopped its broadcasting. May I know if this affects the broadcast to the whole of China? Such a pity. I hope it can be repaired and continue the broadcast.”

“Your station will need money for the repair. I will pray tonight when I reach home. Is the WeChat account for your station? Please accept my money transfer.”

“May God bless the maintenance staff’s wisdom so that they can repair the machines as quickly they can. May the broadcast of KTWR resume soon. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

As you can imagine, we were thrilled to get the following message from China this week:

“The broadcast on KTWR has finally returned. I feel so happy! I can listen to the programs on our radio station again every night. This makes my life more fulfilling. Thank you, engineers of KTWR, for working tirelessly day and night so that we can listen to the programs on KTWR again!”

To fully recover from the typhoon strike and remain resilient for future challenges and opportunities, our Guam team will continue their dedicated efforts to maintain KTWR as a bright beacon for Jesus Christ to Asia’s billions.

We are grateful for your prayers and generous financial support toward the Guam Typhoon Damage Repairs project, which has now met and exceeded its financial goal. Please know that any additional gifts we receive will offset additional costs that occur as repairs are completed.

Images: (top, banner) What began with devastating damages to TWR's gospel gateway to Asia has now been met with encouraging news, (middle, left) A member of the repair crew on Guam inspects storm damage. [Images courtesy of Grant Hodgins, TWR]