Before I started volunteering at TWR I didn't really know anything about radio and how it could be used to share the gospel. I had no idea it could engage people and bring them into contact with Christians. I didn't know that the programmes we broadcast are just the starting point of what we do as a missions organisation. As I look back over the interview we conducted with Elena, I discover her own words illustrate this far better than I could.
Just like Sarah, the woman in my last blog post, Elena had come across the radio station by accident and started listening simply because it sounded good. She wasn't looking for a Christian station but she began to listen more and more. When life got really tough, Elena explains: "The only one I could turn to was the radio station." She sent a text message to the number given by the station and was surprised that a woman from TWR, Ledi, called her immediately. Elena's regular one-to-one correspondence with TWR began here.
Elena says: "I was most impressed by the fact that you listened carefully and responded to all of my messages. You considered every question I had. You didn't try to manipulate me. I felt free when I talked with you. Now I know that God was pulling me away from bad things towards good."
When Ledi asked Elena if she wanted to become a Christian, she said yes. And Elena's story also involves her family. Sharing her new faith with her parents and siblings, started a process with which they became Christians at different times. As they started asking the big questions, they could turn to the radio to learn more. They knew whom they could contact, they knew who could help them find a church community nearby.
The family continues to try and make ends meet by running a little shop in their village. It's a struggle to afford new stock for their shelves. And there is prejudice- they're the only known Christians in the village. Yet they are so happy to welcome us into their home and to tell us all about the radio. They want us to know how it's impacted their lives.
I would really like to continue supporting this work in Albania and other parts of Europe by devoting more of my working hours to TWR. There are some lovely people donating money specifically so that I can build up a salary and do this. Interested in knowing how this works? Email me at contact@twrachel.com (a one-liner is perfectly fine) and I'll be in touch.
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