By Friday, the death toll rose to 589 people, with thousands reported missing. Damages are especially heavy in the coastal region north of Caracas. 

Annabel Torrealba serves as the International Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for TWR. She has been in steady communication with quake survivors.  

“They say that the earth felt like it was moving up and down, and then when it got stable for a few seconds, then it was like moving like the ocean, like in waves,” she says. 

The quake left people feeling dizzy and paralyzed. 

“When they could move, they got out of the house, the buildings, and they stayed in the middle of the street, just waiting for the ground to get stable,” Torrealba says. 

The elderly or disabled had to be helped out of their homes. People saw God’s providence right after the quake in being at the right place at the right time for those in need. “That’s the common description from many that I’ve been talking with: ‘I don’t know why I was there in that moment, but I was there, and I could help this person. I could take them to a safe place,’” says Torrealba. 

Many countries are promising aid for Venezuela, but Torrealba says that it will take time. Rescue and recovery are currently hindered by a lack of heavy equipment for removing rubble. Also, the country’s main airport in Caracas had to be closed due to quake damage. 

In the meantime, many survivors have endured the agony of waiting to hear from family members, as communication challenges persist due to power outages. 

“After the earthquakes, they didn’t have power. Some of them could text and send messages. People were communicating with us until one in the morning [early Thursday], and then they ran out of batteries,” says Torrealba.

(Photo courtesy Radio Trans Mundial de Venezuela)

When the quakes hit, TWR’s team in Venezuela was at the office recording new content. Torrealba notes that Wednesday was a national holiday, so the team was working outside of normal business hours, “because they have so much passion for reaching the people in Venezuela.”

Pray for wisdom as TWR’s partners, RTM Venezuela, serve as witnesses of Christ on the long road ahead.

“The director is Gabriel Fernandez. Please pray for him that he can lead the team and do what God wants him to do during this time. Probably they have to switch some of their plans and go a different direction for a few months,” says Torrealba. 

Pray also for God’s comfort and help to come to Venezuelans through the Church as well as through governments and NGOs.

“Don’t forget to pray for them, because in the first weeks many people are praying, but when it’s after a month or two, the prayers are less and less,” says Torrealba. 

Header photo of Caracas, Venezuela is a stock photo courtesy of Bona Lee via Unsplash.

“People were not prepared — even our systems. It appeared that our systems are not ready to handle the kind of flash floods,” says Njoki Chege, the executive director of TWR Kenya and SIFA FM stations. 

CARE International reported that more than 70,000 people were displaced by flooding in western and central Kenya. Floods killed at least 108 people and destroyed thousands of acres (over 1,200 hectares) of cropland. 

Chege says the flooding has been described as apocalyptic, with images of destruction that people initially thought were AI-generated rather than reality.

“It has been a tough season for Kenya and Kenyans. But it has also been a season of introspection about asking questions around disaster preparedness and how we can prepare for such occurrences — because this is indeed a possibility to happen again next year,” she says. 

More than 80 percent of Kenya’s land is classified as arid or semi-arid, making communities highly dependent on rainfall patterns. Floods and droughts are both familiar challenges across the country. 

“We feel a sense of responsibility and the heaviness of the task to speak hope to people who otherwise would have given up hope because of the dire situation,” says Chege. 

TWR Kenya shares programs on topics like flood safety and climate awareness, alongside Bible preaching and teaching content. For low-income rural communities, TWR Kenya comes alongside them with specialized development programs and occasionally radio set distributions.

“Our job has been to speak hope in the form of devotional programs — unpacking the Bible and unpacking biblical lessons around hoping God, about trusting God, and about leaving everything to God while also doing our part,” says Chege. “We have also been involved in minimal food distribution. That’s not what we do normally, but because of the situation and the places that we find ourselves, people actually lack basic food, basic needs.”

Many of TWR team members are themselves living in places the Kenyan government classifies as “hardship areas.” Chege asks for prayer for strength, encouragement, and provision for their gospel-centered work. 

“We also want to pray that God continues to guide us in this noble task. It takes a special kind of grace [to speak hope], and so we are asking for the guidance of God,” she says.

(Photo courtesy of Bennett Tobias via Unsplash)

The TWR Kenya team is grateful for the support of partners, which has brought the organization to its 50th anniversary this year. They are also celebrating the recent addition of new staff members, whom Chege describes as “mission-driven, willing and able to use the gifts God has given them for the advancement of His kingdom through the media.”

Despite the challenges Kenya is facing today, Chege wants others to know that Kenyans are not in a state of despair.

“People have lost their property, they’ve lost their loved ones, but we still remain very hopeful,” she says. “Yes, we went through some really tough times, but we are also a very resilient people, and we have bounced back. Now people are moving on. They’re recovering, and I’m really grateful to see that.” 

Learn more about TWR Kenya’s work and how you can partner with their ministry by visiting their website. 

This story has been updated from its broadcast with a more recent death toll from Kenya’s flooding: 108 people instead of 88 as originally reported. 

Header photo of woman and child in Samburu, Kenya (Stock photo courtesy of Polina Koroleva via Unsplash).

Trans World Radio (TWR) is working with local ministry partners in both Russia and Ukraine. Over the past four years, they have felt the strain from every angle — culturally, spiritually, and personally — as the conflict drags on with no clear end in sight.

A Gospel worker* with TWR remembers the early days of the invasion and the shock that rippled across the region.

Ukrainian flag (Photo courtesy of Max Kukurudziak/Unsplash)

“Of course, as everyone else in the world thought, ‘Okay, this will be maybe a very short…crisis.’ But I think after the first year, everyone realized that it will be way harder to find a solution. Starting in the second and third year, I remember that they were so, so tired because nobody was expecting it to take so long.”

As the conflict zones reached deeper into the country, the team began to experience water, electricity, and power shortages alongside their neighbors. Yet, they refused to fall silent.

“They still wanted to continue to produce the content,” he says, “because there is an audience out there, especially in wartime, who need to hear about the Gospel.”

After four years of war and an estimated 600,000 Ukrainian troops killed, the devastation has carved gaping holes in families and communities. Nearly every household carries a story of loss.

Through radio programs and digital outreach, TWR and their ministry partners meet people in that pain — offering steady reminders of hope when everything else feels unstable.

“The director in Ukraine always says there is one thing we’re talking about – God, and that He’s always there. Even in these circumstances and times, God is next to us. God is near, and we can rely on Him. This is what the Ukraine team is talking about all the time in their content.”

On the Russian side, the toll is staggering as well. Nearly 1.2 million troops have reportedly died in the conflict. TWR’s Gospel worker says many people in Russia are also facing grief and spiritual struggles.

At the same time, ministry has grown more complicated. As the Kremlin tightens its grip on internet access, apps, programs, and even VPN providers, reaching listeners requires constant adaptation.

He explains, “You see that you have 5,000 subscribers, and the next day there is no one because they can’t reach the platform. So…they need to follow the audience. Where everyone is going, they need to follow regarding the connection, but also regarding the content. So upload the content again and again and again, kind of moving from one platform to the other, to not lose all our audience – because they have, as the Ukrainian people as well, questions and are waiting for the war to end.”

The spiritual hunger has not diminished. If anything, it has deepened.

Please pray for peace — for a just end to the war and for comfort for grieving families on both sides. Pray, too, that the Gospel would flourish in the middle of the devastation, reaching those searching for hope in their darkest hours.

Also, TWR’s Gospel worker adds, “Pray for…protection for our teams – and I would say on both sides. It’s still a miracle that four years after starting the war, no one was affected. No one was kind of drawn to the military from our [ministry partners], and that’s a blessing. But the people in the countries, they need the content of our teams. So please pray for security for our [partner] teams.”

Learn more about TWR’s vital faith ministry at twr.org.

*Name withheld for security purposes.

Officials say the worst of the flooding struck Haiti’s southern region. Houses collapsed or were swept away, and people were still trapped under rubble as of Wednesday.

Laurent Saint-Cyr, president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, says the government is mobilizing resources for search and rescue operations and emergency relief.

(Image courtesy of Friends of Radio-TV 4VEH, The Evangelistic Voice of Haiti via Facebook)

Haitians in the capital, Port-au-Prince — already displaced by gang violence — were hit as torrential rain flooded makeshift shelters and tent homes.

Kate Michel with Radio-TV 4VEH, a partner ministry of Trans World Radio in Haiti, says the loss is compounded by Haitians’ living situations.

“A lot of Haiti’s people are living in very vulnerable areas,” Michel explains. “They may be living in vulnerable housing that doesn’t really withstand strong winds. They may be living on the side of a hill or mountain that, when there’s a lot of heavy rainfall, the streams just come flooding down the hillside.

“My expectation is that we will see and hear more news of perhaps lives lost or people injured, people missing, homes affected, roads cut off, [and] communities stranded.”

While the storm battered Haiti’s south, 4VEH’s broadcast center on the northern coast continues to operate. In times of crisis, 4VEH becomes a practical and spiritual lifeline.

“A lot of the areas where we broadcast have no other radio stations or connections with the outside world,” Michel says. “So, particularly when there’s a very serious storm coming, we may change our programming hours, we may do more live broadcasts… and then we always have a very strong focus on prayer during our daily broadcasts.”

Now, as Haiti reels from the floods, Michel urges believers to pray. “People will have lost friends, neighbors, and family members. Maybe they’ve lost their homes and their crops and their livelihoods…. Let’s pray that the Lord will raise up the help that they need.”

Header photo: Hurricane Melissa (Photo by ABI imagery from NOAA’S GOES-19 Satellite – EOSDIS Worldview, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=177446071)

“Listening to shortwave radio broadcasting, listening to any foreign radio broadcasting is illegal and highly punishable,” Foley says.

However, he shares that this doesn’t mean radio is obsolete. “Twenty percent of North Koreans are estimated to possess radios where they can listen to shortwave broadcasts. That’s a much higher percentage than any other means of reaching people for the Gospel,” Foley states. “North Koreans are very private. When they hear those things, they don’t share them with many people. But when something is heard by North Koreans on the radio that really impacts them, there is that opportunity that they may share with other family members.”

(Image courtesy of mon18marti via pixabay)

Likely Increase in Jamming

Unfortunately, dwindling government broadcasts into North Korea likely mean some of the jamming efforts previously focused on the US and South Korean governments will now be turned to Christian radio broadcasts. The threat is real, but Foley says they are making preparations.

“Outlets in the US have erroneously reported that already the jamming has occurred, or that Christian radio broadcasts have been stopped. And that’s simply not true. That’s not an accurate statement. Instead, what’s accurate is that Christian broadcasters are really aware of it, and we’re taking all of the steps we can in order to prepare for the possibility that North Korea may repurpose some of that electricity that they used to use against the US and South Korean government broadcasts to jam ours.”

Continuing to Share the Gospel

Despite the challenges, Foley states that VOM Korea is adding another radio broadcast to their daily schedule. Like their other programs, this broadcast will feature sermons from early Korean Christians as well as continuous reading of the Bible. They try to make these broadcasts as practical as possible.

Man reading Bible (Photo courtesy by Unsplash)

“We started using North Korean announcers, and from the beginning, our broadcast has only had North Korean announcers. And then we found that these sermons from the early Korean Christians really spoke to the hearts of North Korean people today, because their situation is so identical. The South Korean church has changed a lot, as South Korea has become a much more modernized, westernized country. But for North Korea, you can draw a straight line from the early Korean Christians of the 1880s, which is when Protestant Christianity came to the Korean peninsula. Today, North Korean Christians haven’t changed. So the sermons from these great beginning first, early Korean Christians really speak to their hearts.”

Foley asks that the Church pray for North Korean Christians. Any Church activity is dangerous, but listening to radio broadcasts can be conducted in a great degree of secrecy. Please pray that any efforts to jam Christian broadcast signals would be thwarted. If you want to learn more about North Korea’s radio broadcasts, click here.

Header photo courtesy of Roman Harak of Flickr

Details about the new broadcast’s time, radio frequency, and launch date are being withheld for security reasons.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO, Pastor Eric Foley, says that listening to Christian radio broadcasts is the most common religious activity among North Korean Christians.

“Based on our own religious experiences, we often assume that the most common religious activities of North Korean Christians would be things like gathering together for underground worship services or reading the Bible privately or praying,” said Pastor Foley. “But these kinds of activities are easily detectable by onlookers, because they are distinctly Christian activities. Even prayer is typically done in a certain posture, where the person sits a certain way, holds their hands a certain way, moves a certain way, and concentrates and whispers. On the other hand, listening to foreign radio broadcasts is also illegal, but it’s a far more common activity which is less obviously ‘Christian’ to onlookers, including other family members who may not be Christian.”

NK defectors and South Korean volunteers record our shortwave radio broadcasts.
(Photo, caption courtesy of VOM Korea)

According to Pastor Foley, between 14 and 20 percent of North Koreans listen to foreign broadcasts through headphone radios purchased on the gray and black markets. He explains that because listening to such broadcasts can be done overnight in the dark in silence, it remains the primary way that North Koreans are able to access Christian content.

“Each time we meet North Koreans who are new to South Korea, about 30 percent of them have had some previous exposure to Christianity. The primary two means of that exposure cited by North Koreans are Christian radio broadcasts and Christian content sent by balloon,” says Pastor Foley. Foley says that meeting Christian workers during defection is also frequently cited as a source of Christian contact, but it is often less favorably regarded by North Koreans. “Often that kind of contact does not happen by choice but by necessity,” says Pastor Foley. “A North Korean may need a place to stay while trying to make money in China or may need help defecting. They meet a Christian broker or discipleship base leader, and they are then required to participate in certain religious activities in exchange for receiving the help they need. It’s very different than choosing to tune in a Christian radio broadcast or choosing to keep a Bible they find on the ground from a balloon launch.”

Pastor Foley says that when he and his wife, Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley, began their ministry 20 years ago, North Korean underground Christians made two requests of the couple.

“They asked us, ‘Please send Bibles by balloon, and please broadcast programs that help North Korean Christians understand Christian persecution biblically,” says Pastor Foley. He notes that balloons and radio have typically been used to send political messages or general news and information rather than content tailored for North Korean underground Christians.

“North Korean underground Christians expressed concern to us that much of the Christian radio broadcasting into North Korea is either the re-broadcasting of the regular preaching of South Korean pastors, which is difficult for them to understand both linguistically and conceptually, or it is content that says they are being persecuted because they have not repented of the idolatry of their ancestors,” says Pastor Foley.

He says that is why the ministry decided to broadcast the sermons of early Korean Christians, as recorded by Voice of the Martyrs Korea volunteers and students of its North Korean “Underground University” missionary training program for North Korean defectors.

“The life of the early Korean Christians is very similar to the life of underground North Korean Christians today,” says Pastor Foley. “The sermons of the early Korean Christians explain biblically that persecution is the result of faithful witness, not punishment for the actions of ancestors.”

(Photo courtesy of VOM Korea)

Pastor Foley says the sermons are broadcast Monday through Thursday, and the weekend broadcasts are readings of the whole Bible. “This enables North Korean Christians to make their own copies of the Bible by writing down what they hear, or simply to have a way to regularly hear the Bible. Very few broadcasts into North Korea contain only Bible reading, uninterrupted by sermons or teaching or other content.”

Pastor Foley says he believes the cessation of the government broadcasts to North Korea shows the difference in motivation of government and Christian broadcasters.

“For governments, sending information into countries changes as their strategic interests change,” says Foley. “Information is sometimes seen as a political tool for regime change or for applying pressure on human rights issues. For Christian broadcasters, the motivation is what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:2: ‘Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season’. Voice of the Martyrs Korea never broadcasts news, information, or politics. We simply preach the word. The cancellation of the government broadcasts means that more North Koreans than ever are likely to be exposed to the gospel, as fewer other options are now available for listening. That is why we are adding a fifth broadcast.”

Pastor Foley says his organization formerly aired five daily broadcasts but was forced to cut one due to a decrease in sponsorship. “Voice of the Martyrs Korea neither receives or accepts funds from governments or government-funded sources, but a drop in sponsorship a year ago led us to have to cancel one of our broadcasts,” says Pastor Foley. “We believe the time is right to add the broadcast back in, and we are trusting the Lord to continue to provide the funding resources.”

Individuals interested in hearing the Voice of the Martyrs Korea daily radio broadcasts into North Korea can listen online here. More information about Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s North Korea radio broadcasts is available here.

Header and story images courtesy of VOM Korea. 

Take South Africa. In early 2025 it had the highest crime index in all of Africa. Amid economic and poverty issues, the church is also battling the prosperity gospel, says Unathi Sithole with Trans World Radio Global.

“It doesn’t teach the joy of, the privilege of, perhaps even sometimes the difficulties of suffering that we will experience in Christ Jesus,” she says.

The Mission 66 team (Photo courtesy of TWR)

“People then come into contact with suffering. Suddenly, ‘Life isn’t as I thought it would be. I don’t have health, I don’t have wealth, I don’t have prosperity, I don’t have all these things that I was told I was going to have because I’ve given my life to Jesus.’” Sometimes these people will turn away from following Christ.

Yet there are churches in South Africa actively preaching the pure gospel, Sithole says. “We need to understand the gospel from the right perspective, and not just from the perspective of getting something from God, but that it also comes with offering up our lives to Him.”

In addition to faith-filled churches, God is using a new radio program called Mission 66 to spread His Word in South Africa. This conversational, chapter-by-chapter Bible study is co-hosted by Sithole.

“We want people to really see that the Word of God is our source. It’s our daily bread. It transforms our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit,” she says. 

Find your place in the story

Please pray for believers and seekers in South Africa that the truth of the Word of God would prevail. Pray that people will not be led astray after promises of physical prosperity. 

Pray for listeners of Mission 66 to be drawn to the program and discover the TRUE eternal prosperity of knowing Christ. Ask God to prepare their hearts. 

“[I pray that] wherever they are in their lives, regardless of what they believe in at this time… [that] they would be able to hear the message of hope through the gospel,” says Sithole, “and that they’d be changed, that they would leave their old ways and come to know Jesus Christ, because He does have good plans for them.”

Tune in here to listen to Mission 66 for yourself. 

Header photo: The Regina Mundi Church in Soweto, South Africa (Photo courtesy of Asher Pardey via Unsplash)

Haiti, plagued by gang violence and instability, has a desperate need for hope. While Christians can’t always physically reach those in need, radio signals do — uninterrupted and unrestricted. However, traditional radios relied on batteries, which eventually died, leaving listeners isolated from the uplifting messages they needed.

This challenge has been overcome with the introduction of solar-powered radios. Kate Michel from Radio-TV 4VEH, a ministry partner of Trans World Radio, explains:

(Photo of Haitians courtesy of TopSphere Media via Unsplash.)

“When we give these out in communities, we go door to door, share the Gospel with people, and invite them into a relationship with Jesus. Whether they choose to accept Him that day or not, we leave behind a solar radio for that family. It’s tuned to 4VEH, so they can continue to hear the Gospel content.”

The Gospel content includes preaching, programs on farming, health, and family counseling, along with worship music and the recorded audio Bible.

Their impact has inspired many Haitians and international partners to support the ministry. Michel adds:

“Our listeners have been giving to 4VEH for a long time because they see how important it is — not just in their own lives, but they see that as they contribute to 4VEH, they’re sending the Gospel to places in Haiti where they could never go.”

The 4VEH team carries these solar radios as they visit new communities, freely distributing them. Over the past few years, they’ve distributed more than 20,000 radios! In some instances, a single radio has brought believers together, fostering the growth of church communities and planting one church after another.

Michel also highlights the broader vision:

“The whole project is called Resounding Hope, because we just long to hear the hope of Jesus resounding through Haiti’s countryside, across the mountains, and all of that.”

To support the work of 4VEH,  visit their website. There, you can explore opportunities to give a financial gift, learn more about the ministry, and discover ways to pray and get involved.

Young Haitian man (photo courtesy of Kelly via Pexels)

Mission 66 from Trans World Radio is a chapter-by-chapter journey through the Bible. Its two co-hosts are eager to help Scripture come to life for every listener. One of the hosts is John-Paul Davies, a freelance broadcaster from Wales. 

“People are looking for something that only God can offer,” Davies says about Wales today. To him, Jesus’ words in John 14:6 (“I am the way, the truth and the life”) is a message that people from every country in the world long for. 

“That sense of hope and encouragement,” he says. “What’s a hope that lasts? Well, a hope that lasts is a hope that goes beyond this life.”

John Paul Davies is the voice of John Mathews on the Mission 66 program. (Photo courtesy of TWR)

Today, Davies sees how technology and media offer so many distractions from what really matters. But only the gospel of Christ gives hope for eternity. That’s where a program like Mission 66 redirects our focus — back on the eternal things in God’s Word. 

“It’s deep, because the Bible is deep and people’s needs are deep, but it’s accessible as well,” Davies says of the program. 

Would you join in praying for Mission 66? (Check it out for yourself here!) Pray that God will open the hearts of listeners to receive from His Word. Pray for blessing on the team as well.

“We go to it really with a sense of, ‘Lord, this is Your work. It’s not ours,’ and so we cover it in prayer,” Davies says. “That would be my prayer for Mission 66, that we would surrender it completely to Him and just say, ‘Lord, you lead the way.’”

Pray also for a move of God to come again to Wales. 

“There was [a revival] in the 18th century, 1735 — it was a Methodist revival. There was one in 1859, and then 1904 was the last great revival that swept across Wales, when tens of thousands of people were converted in a matter of months,” Davies says. “There’s a real sense of longing, I think, amongst young people — amongst students, amongst 20-year-olds. I see a longing for hope, a longing for something more in Wales.”

Header photo courtesy of Humble Lamb via Unsplash.

Mission 66 from Trans World Radio is a conversational, modern-day study through the Bible. Adapted from its original Portuguese (as created by Dr. Luiz Sayão), it now reaches the English-speaking world today, with plans for more languages on the horizon.

Unathi Sithole is the voice of Esther Sisulu on the Mission 66 program (Photo courtesy of TWR)

The two co-hosts of Mission 66 in English are eager to help Scripture come alive to you. Meet Unathi Sithole with TWR Global, the voice of Esther Sisulu on the program. 

“I’m so passionate about the work that I do with Mission 66 because of seeing the tangible change in my own life through what God has done for me,” she says. 

“You know, I have my own testimony about how God reached me, how He saved me and He set me free — knowing what it feels like being someone who was living in bondage, living in sin, struggling with insecurities, struggling with identity and all kinds of things.”

Now that Sithole has experienced the transforming power of Christ through the Holy Spirit, she wants others to know it too. Her hope is for you to discover in Scripture your freedom in Christ and His deep love for you. 

So, what is Mission 66? 

Each 25-minute episode of Mission 66 covers a chapter or two of the Bible. In the first half, John Mathews (voiced by John-Paul Davies) reads Scripture and offers commentary. In the second half, Esther Sisulu (Sithole) joins in.

(Photo courtesy of Trans World Radio)

“I ask [John] questions about some pertinent points that pop up as a result of the reading. So we discuss these things and we try to apply what we’ve read into our daily lives, so that our listeners can truly be encouraged to implement the Word of God in their daily lives,” says Sithole.

“It’s just a journey with friends through the Word of God with some explanations on some concepts that might be difficult to understand, or even answering some of those difficult questions that we very often ask in our lives, about what the meaning of life is, or why we’re here, or what we’re supposed to do, what our purpose is,” she says.

You can learn more about Mission 66 by tuning in online here. 

“Through listening to Mission 66, I hope that you’ll get a true sense, a deep sense, of how much the Lord is willing to do to just reach you,” says Sithole. 

“The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ will leave the 99 to find the one. And that’s exactly what He’s done for each and every one of us. It’s what He’s done for you.”

And if you’ve already joined the Mission 66 audience, please pray for the remaining episodes being recorded. Pray with Sithole that God prepares the hearts of those will hear, to receive His hope in the gospel, come to know Christ, and be changed. Pray also that the Mission 66 team continues to be used by God and that He will glorify Himself through this program. 

Header photo of the Mission 66 team courtesy of TWR.