BY ANDREA STEELE

dventist World Radio (AWR) has received approval to construct a shortwave superstation in northern Italy that will be capable of beaming the gospel message through the Middle East, much of Africa, and central Asia as far away as India. This dramatic step in the approval process came Tuesday, July 4, 2000, leaving only a few details to be worked out between attorneys for the two groups. Building of the station is slated to begin later this year and is expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete.

The Argenta station will complement the AWR-Asia station, which has been broadcasting since 1987 from the island of Guam, sending programs to China and much of Asia. “We are rejoicing in God’s providence as we anticipate the construction of one of the most important mission stations ever to be built by the church,” said Don Jacobsen, president of AWR, upon hearing of the vote to approve the project.

The approval came almost 10 years to the day after a special offering was collected for the project at the 1990 General Conference session in Indianapolis. At times the approval process has seemed exceedingly complicated and slow, requiring at one point that a special law be enacted by the Italian government so AWR could be granted a broadcast license.

Thousands of New Hearts Will Be Reached From the New Station Here’s how it could shake down: Turkish is spoken by 60 million people—90 percent of Turkey’s almost 100 percent Muslim population. Kurdish is spoken by more than 16 million—in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. Only a handful of Adventists worship in this massive and ancient land. AWR will bring the gospel message in their own languages. Although India has more than 800 languages in daily use, 14 are classified as official languages. Already airing seven of these—Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Nepali, Punjabi, and Urdu, AWR with the new station could add Gujarati, Bhojpuri, and Kashmiri—languages spoken by about 100 million people, many of whom have never heard the good news. Only 2 percent of India’s population are Christians. Afghanistan’s population is approximately 25 million, most of whom are Muslims. Speaking Pashtu and Dari, the peoples of this war- and strife-ravaged country will hear the gospel in their own tongues from AWR’s new Italy station.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new station are scheduled for August 17, 2000, with General Conference president Jan Paulsen presiding.

The new AWR station is patterned after the success of the Guam station. The four antennas there are currently broadcasting 330 hours per week in 28 languages—to China, Asia, and the South Pacific. Because of the difficulty in acquiring listener data from such places as China, Vietnam, and North Korea, the number of listeners can be estimated only from the incoming mail. Recently the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) conducted a survey and reported that, according to their best estimate, AWR has at least 1.1 million listeners in mainland China alone. The number of listeners worldwide is estimated at 20 million.

While the Guam station broadcasts are aimed at the audiences of Asia and the Far East, the Argenta station will focus its programming and signals on the countries of the Middle East, northern Africa, and central Asia. Listenership could eventually reach hundreds of millions of people, hearing the gospel in their own languages. Nearly one third of the people in the world—most of whom are not Christian and are living in non-Christian countries—will be able to hear the new station. These regions represent both the most challenging and the most fertile areas for Christian evangelism, falling within the 10/40 window, identified by the Office of Global Mission as the region where most non-Christian populations live.

Guglielmo Marconi casts a long shadow—inventor of radio, he was born within miles of the soon to be constructed AWR station in Italy. Don Jacobsen, AWR president, visited Marconi's birthplace for this photo with Marconi's bigger than life-size statue.

A steady stream of mail from listeners, much of it from people living in places where the preaching of the gospel is restricted, has repeatedly demonstrated the effectiveness of shortwave radio in preaching the gospel in places where the church has very limited means and access. For thousands of Adventist believers AWR is the primary connection to the church; in fact, AWR functions much like a “visiting pastor” to congregations in remote areas.

AWR was established in 1971 with the goal of using shortwave broadcasting as a means to preach the Adventist message. The ministry has steadily grown, and today AWR can be heard in most of the nations of the world, broadcasting in more than 50 languages each day. AWR studios are locally operated, and programming is produced by persons native to the languages that are broadcast. This strategic decision to team up with those familiar with the culture and interests of the intended audience is part of AWR’s enduring mission, and it has been a key factor in long-term success. The Argenta station will build on this tradition and will host programs produced in studios located in west Africa, the Middle East, India, and Europe.

With the advent of the Internet and digital media, AWR has diversified the ways in which it develops and broadcasts programs. Although  AM and FM, the Internet, and satellite broadcasting are among the new tools, shortwave continues to be the backbone of AWR’s outreach ministry because of the sheer number of users of shortwave radios, estimated at 1 billion. In most of the developing world, shortwave radio is the primary mass media in use by the general population. Shortwave is the most widely heard broadcast medium on earth.

Allgon rotatable log periodic antenna being dismantled.

Make a Visit to the New AWR Station in Argenta Italy—Via AWR’s Web Site Visit AWR’s Web site, www.awr.org, and take an animated walk through the new AWR station to be built in Italy. Also see a timeline of the station: from vision to reality, a cultural glimpse into Italy, and reasons this station is important to the mission of the church. Occasionally check back for updates on language profiles, technical information, and station development through the various stages of construction to the on-air date.

The Argenta project incorporates state-of-the-art digital technologies in the collection and distribution of programming, as well as the use of sophisticated and time-tested antennas and transmission equipment. The six huge antenna curtains are actually steerable, says Jacobsen, giving the Argenta station a clear advantage in directing its programming very specifically to a wide variety of target populations.

Transmitter being prepared for shipment to Italy by AWR staff (from left to right) Claudius Dedio, Brook Powers, Giuseppe Cirillo, Christoph Gysin, Alessandro Lega.

AWR is funded primarily through church offerings and the donations of believers who are convinced of the effectiveness of its ministry. This station will be the largest effort in the history of AWR, and its completion will require significant support from donors to achieve. However, AWR leadership is optimistic and hopeful about the rapid completion of the station.

“We’ve been blessed by God in so many ways,” says Jacobsen, “and we have complete confidence in His continued leadership of this project. Based on the response so far, it is clear that financial support is going to grow rapidly. As we think of how this new station will reach out in so many different languages to the millions still waiting to hear the gospel story, we feel as though we are witnessing Pentecost every day.”

_________________________
Andrea Steele is associate director of public relations for Adventist World Radio.