Trans World Radio recently interviewed TWR-Africa Director of Operations Ray Alary about the ministry’s new outreach in Benin.

Hear what he had to say or read the transcript below.

After many years of intense spiritual warfare and logistical hurdles, the Benin station finally went on the air earlier this year. How gratifying was it for the Africa staff to have this longtime project come to fruition?

You know, it’s pretty exciting. Just a week and a half ago, I had the privilege of going to Benin, and as I drove onto the property and saw the transmitter building and the antennas, and went inside and saw the transmitters and the generators and everything, tears came to my eyes. Because years ago, when we had our first communication with the president of the country, we never realized we’d accomplish this. So it was so wonderful to see it finished and to be there that night to hear the broadcasts go out.

The transmission signal seems to be quite strong from the new station. Overall, is the staff in Africa pleased with the signal strength and quality of reception from Benin?

When we first did our projections on how far the station would reach, we thought it would reach around 600 km, and now it appears we have a signal at about 900 km. [It’s] a good singal that people can hear clearly. One of the first places we got a response from was Timbuktu, Mali. We’re very excited. We have a much further reach than we anticipated, and along with that a much stronger signal than we originally anticipated. We’re really blessed by the signal strength and how far it goes out, which will allow us to do more broadcasting in more languages.

Could you speak to the fact that it takes time to build up a listenership, especially in West Africa where cultures are primarily oral?

In West Africa, the first thing we have to do is let them know we have a station, which is a challenge in itself. Because of the oral culture, we’re not putting anything on TV, because in the northern part of many of those countries, they don’t even have televisions. A lot of it is word of mouth; it goes from one person to another person to another person. The exciting thing is people listen to radios. Very often, when you travel on the street in Parakou or Continou, what do you see—you see a person with a radio on their shoulder. People tune across the dial. But it will take time for people to find it. We are advertising in newspapers and trying to let all the churches know that our programs are there.

Have you received any responses from listeners at this point? If so, could you perhaps share an excerpt for us?

One of the most exciting stories I’ve heard when I was in Benin just a few weeks ago, our Yoruba broadcast, the people in the northern part of Nigeria and Benin heard through the local church that we were back on the air. They said: “Our station has come back after 11 years.” Eleven years ago, we broadcast on the exact same time from Radio Elwa in Liberia. When we came back on the air, they said our programming has come back. The program that was produced by Radio Elwa 11 years ago is still produced by them today.

I was on the airplane going from Kenya to Benin, and I sat down beside a man, and he said he was from Porto Novo, the capital city of Benin. I said: “Have you heard of Trans World Radio?” And it was exciting to hear him say, and I quote: “Everybody in my church is listening to Trans World Radio.” People are hearing Trans World Radio and are excited about this new ministry.

I just got a report this morning that where our programs are produced in Nigeria, they’re getting SMSes [text messages] every single day now because of our programs. So yes, we are hearing from people and hope to hear from a lot more in the days to come.

How can people continue to pray for TWR’s ministry in West Africa?

Where we’re operating, we’re in the middle of a country where, when I was there, the temperature was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit every single day. It was hot. The northern part of that country is not well developed, so number one, you can pray for our people who work there. It’s not easy to live up there; it’s a difficult place to be. The other thing you can pray for is when you start any new station, you always have lots of little things. Even last week we thought we had a fuel problem. Through troubleshooting from here and the people working up there, we were able to fix the problem without someone actually physically going there. Keep us in your prayers that we’ll be able to broadcast every night. One of the great things is that we have a very dependable transmitter and a good generator so that is going well.

Pray for that area of the world. Pray that we’ll be able to reach into the hearts of those people. That’s what it’s really all about. It’s not about the station physically. It’s about being able to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s really why we’re there. Pray for our listeners—that’s the most important thing of all.