Potential audience for TWR’s daily Bible-based programming will double to about 100 million people. TWR’s three-year campaign to expand its gospel broadcasting to Latin America and the Caribbean has exceeded the $3.8 million goal.
By Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) CARY, N.C. (ANS – July 20, 2017) – TWR CEO Lauren Libby announced the success of the Power Up campaign to the media ministry’s worldwide staff in a June email.
“I am overjoyed to announce that the financial need to upgrade the station from 100,000 watts to 450,000 watts has been met!” Libby wrote. “The transmitter has been ordered, the antenna array will be tuned in early July and, Lord willing, the sign-on will occur by the end of January.”
Libby made the announcement soon after returning to TWR’s corporate office in Cary, North Carolina, from Pennsylvania, where he had appeared on the air in a two-day campaign that involved 14 radio stations and aimed to raise the roughly $80,000 still needed to reach the goal. The results of that radio drive, combined with a direct-mail appeal about the same time, pushed Power Up over the goal line.
The upgrade will boost TWR’s signal to cover all of Cuba and more of Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Central America, making the Christian facility on the island of Bonaire the most powerful station in the Western Hemisphere. The potential audience for the TWR’s daily Bible-based programming will double to about 100 million people.
 “God has been very gracious throughout the entire project,” Libby said. “Over 220 volunteers have visited Bonaire to work on the project. U.S. churches have been involved, large donors have given generously and thousands of people have given toward the project.
TWR is planning a special event for Jan. 30, 2018, on Bonaire to celebrate the fruition of the Power Up project and the potential impact of the enhanced signal.
“I have noticed when TWR moves forward by faith, God motivates people to be involved,” Libby added. “This is key not just for finances but also because these projects raise the profile of TWR in the body of Christ.”
Gifts beyond the goal will help pay for the increased electricity required to run the more powerful transmitter, Libby said.
The culmination of Power Up represents an answer to prayer for many listeners across Latin America and the Caribbean who have called for the signal boost and sometimes even donated to the fund drive out of scarce resources.
 For Alberto Gonzalez, a pastor and broadcaster who is TWR’s representative in Cuba, the timing of the expanded broadcast reach is critical.
“More than a political change in Cuba, we need Jesus,” he said. “People in Cuba are expecting a lot of changes, new opportunities for life, and they are really open to receiving new things into their lives. So this is the moment to have Jesus for them.”
Media Contact: David McCreary, 919-460-3778, dmccreary@twr.org
Photo captions: 1) TWR’s Bonaire towers by day (TWR). 2) TWR’s towers at night (TWR). 3) TWR’s Bonaire footprint (TWR). 4) Michael Ireland.
About the Writer: Michael Ireland is a volunteer internet journalist serving as Chief Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well as an Ordained Minister, and an award-winning local cable-TV program host/producer who has served with ASSIST Ministries and written for ANS since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. Please consider helping Michael cover his expenses in bringing news of the Persecuted Church, by logging-on to: https://actintl.givingfuel.com/ireland-michael
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