Awards of Merit

Over the past number of months, AWR has been pleased to present Awards of Merit to several valued partners:

• Solomon Assienin, who has served as the studio director for the Voice of Hope studio in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since 1997.

• Elian Adriamitantsoa, who has served as the studio director for the Voice of Hope studio in Antananarivo, Madagascar, since 1997.

• Pastor Kee Myung Lee, who served with AWR for 21 years and retired as studio director and producer of AWR Korea.

• Ruben Engdahl, who has been a Swedish radio program producer for 30 years.

• Gosta Wiklander, who has also been a Swedish radio program producer for 30 years.

New Sindhi Production

AWR plans to fund the production and broadcast of programs in the Sindhi language, which will take place through the Pakistan Adventist Union. Sindhi is spoken by more than 27 million people in Pakistan and India, and is the third most-spoken language in Pakistan. It is taught as the first language in schools in the Sindh province, where less than one percent of the people are Christian. Staff at AWR Pakistan are also producing daily programs in Urdu and Punjabi, and have recently added broadcasts in Pashto. Radio work is considered to be a very important outreach tool for the Adventist church in Pakistan. 

A Voice in North Africa

AWR has partnered with the Spanish Union and the Trans-Mediterranean Territory (TMT) to establish a radio station in the Spanish territory of Ceuta, located in North Africa. The 24-hour station is broadcasting programs in Spanish, Arabic, English, French, Tachelit, and Sussi dialect, and has in development two Berber languages that are widely spoken in neighboring Morocco.

Education and Service

The new FM station that AWR helped construct at Pacific Adventist University in Papua New Guinea is benefiting both students and the community through its 24-hour programming. University staff say, “Each week, a number of different departments and classes present programs to the local community as part of their studies. Topics are as diverse as the subjects offered on the campus, covering health, religion, the environment, language, and small business advice. Spiritual programs and religious music from local and international artists make up the balance of the programming. Named 2G, the station broadcasts to Port Moresby and the surrounding area, which has a population of approximately 300,000 people. To identify an appropriate name for the new station, a competition was held within the local community. From approximately 75 suggestions, the name 2G was prayerfully selected. 2G is an acronym for the words ‘To God,’ a constant reminder that the station is dedicated to God.”

Radios for Vietnam

Through special-project funding, AWR has provided 1,200 portable AM/FM/SW radios for use in Vietnam. Two hundred of the radios are being used by church workers, while the remaining units have been distributed to individuals in villages in the highlands and rural areas. Listeners are encouraged to form listener groups, so that more than one family can benefit from each radio.

Reaching the Big Cities

When the Gabon Mission in Libreville, Gabon, was struggling to complete the installation of its new FM radio station, AWR was able to provide the necessary equipment and help the mission complete its set-up before its license expired. The station is called Radio Il Est Écrit de Libreville, and its broadcasts in the capital city are helping to fulfill the Adventist church’s mission of reaching people in the big cities of the world.