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Radio is a powerful medium in Africa. There are only a handful of high power broadcasters reaching the rural communities of Africa. (Rural communities make up 61% of the population in Africa.) When those in rural areas are able to hear the Gospel and biblical teaching, especially in their heart language, it can be very impactful.


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Trans World Radio (TWR) is an international Christian broadcaster with the goal of aiding the church to make disciples by sharing the Gospel and teaching the Bible via Radio. TWR operates a 100,000-watt AM transmitter outside of Parakou, Benin. This transmitter covers a large portion of West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger and Togo).


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There is a potential audience of 194.5 million people in range of the Benin transmitter. Of these 194.5 million, 45.5 million are unreached. An unreached people group is where there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group without requiring outside (cross-cultural) assistance. Currently TWR is broadcasting in 19 different languages from Benin and is working toward adding more languages.

The chart below summarizes the languages that are currently being broadcast from Benin.

LANGUAGE
   SUMMARY
  Baoule
The largest ethnic group in Côte d’Ivoire, a mixture of traditional religion, Christianity and Islam
  Bariba
A people group in central Benin that has a mixture of traditional religion, Christianity and Islam
  Dendi
The most unreached Islamic people group in Benin located in northern Benin and southwest Niger
  Ditamari
A small ethnic group on the Benin-Togo border—the primary religion is Islam.
  English
English is the official language of Nigeria (the most populous country in Africa) and of Ghana.
  Ewe
An ethnic group that has speakers in seven countries across West Africa with a mixture of traditional religion and Christianity
  Fon
Fon speakers are mostly located in the southern part of Benin with a mixture of Voodoo and Christianity.
  French
French is the official language across most of West Africa. The two major exceptions are Nigeria and Ghana.
  Fulfulde
A large Islamic people group throughout West Africa
  Hausa
The largest unreached Islamic people group in West Africa—most Hausa speakers are located in Nigeria.
  Igbo
A Christian and traditional religion people group in Nigeria
  Ife
The Ife are located throughout Benin, Togo and Ghana and consist of traditional religion, Christianity and Islam.
  Kanuri
An Islamic people group in Nigeria
  Lokpa
A small people group located in Benin and Togo that has traditional religion and Christianity
  Moore
A large people group in Burkina Faso made up of Christianity, Islam and traditional religion
  Pulaar
An Islamic people group in Senegal
  Songhaï
A small Islamic people group located in Burkina Faso and Mali
  Twi
A people group of Togo holding to traditional religion and Christianity
  Yoruba
A large people group in Nigeria with a worldwide diaspora consisting of traditional religion, Christianity and Islam

Note: Precision in people groups and language can be a difficult task, especially in Africa. For example: Ibo is commonly used in Benin rather than Igbo. Another example, the language Fulfulde is spoken by the people group Fulani. This difficulty is further complicated by different dialects and cultures amongst one language. For example, there are seven different dialects of Fulfulde. While one dialect may understand the dialect there can be very significant culture differences and tensions between these different dialects.

Main Sources:
http://www.joshuaproject.net/languages.php
, http://www.ethnologue.com and personal research by Roland Paul Cox.
Other Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org

Paul is the director and engineer of the TWR Benin transmitting station. In addition to all the technical responsibilities of ensuring that broadcasts are aired without problems, Paul also works on developing the Benin staff to increase their effectiveness and to develop them for future leadership. Donna helps with TWR hostessing for Benin and works with Parakou Christian School, a small home schooling co-op that the Cox children attend.


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TWR Links:
http://www.twr.org
http://www.twrafrica.org
http://www.twr.org/twr/engage/serve

Mission Statement:
The purpose of Trans World Radio is to assist the church to fulfill the command of Jesus Christ to make disciples of all peoples, and to do so by using and making available mass media to:

proclaim the gospel of salvation to as many people as possible.
instruct believers in biblical doctrine and daily Christlike living.
model our message through our corporate and cooperative relationships.

Vision Statement:
To reach the world for Christ by mass media
so that lasting fruit is produced.

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