Canadian Generosity Plays Key Role in Broadcasting the Gospel in Africa
This article was originally published in the April 2014 issue of City Light News in Calgary, AB by Lisa Hall-Wilson.
In February 2007, Ray Alary, then Director of Operations for TWR Africa, was on a regularly scheduled ministry tour of Alberta with TWR Canada. Ray was to speak at a gathering in Three Hills that night when he received word that the UK flagged container ship MSC Napoli sank in the English Channel.
The Napoli was carrying the 2 generators needed to run the new TWR high-powered radio transmitter in [West Africa]. "Those generators are either on the bottom of the English Channel," says Ray, now TWR Canada President, "Or they were picked up on the beach. They were never found."
The whole project was complete in February 2007 awaiting the generators when the Napoli sank. "The towers were up and we were waiting for the generators. It was the last thing," Ray says.
Ray shared about the new project and the missing generators that night in Three Hills. Afterwards, Ray received a tip that a Christian man in Airdrie may be able to help. In Airdrie, Ray found two 300 kilowatt generators providentially equipped with special technology to deal with load fluctuations inherent in running a transmitter the original generators lacked, offered to him at a significant discount.
The following day, Ray was handed a cheque for $30,000 by a man who had heard about the lost generators. Other donations came in and the TWR Canada Board was able to cover the remainder of the cost of the generators and shipping.
Lyle Pennington of Lethbridge, AB visited the [West Africa] transmitter in 2012. "I was amazed, still am, by what happens at the site...My heart was softened. The nearby communities have changed their attitude toward God. They say, 'There must be a God' and give credit to TWR for extra rainfall and better crops than their neighbours."
The first broadcast...aired in January 2008. Those Albertan generators continue to power the Benin transmitter without hiccup and are expected to do so for a very long time. What could have been a major setback the Lord used to provide more than TWR realized they needed at the time. The very first listener call came from Timbuktu, Mali, 1300km away from the transmitter site.
