January 2014 · Written by Eileen, approved by Harry & Zoie ����

The halls were decked, bells jingled, gifts given, and most importantly the greatest Gift of all—Immanuel, God with us—celebrated!

After a busy autumn of travels, visitors, holiday celebrations and, of course, our work and ministry, we enjoyed a “staycation” December 23 through January 5. Some highlights were:

• Serving at a church Christmas dinner for those alone around the holidays

• A one-night surprise getaway, via train, planned by Harry ♥

• Christmas Eve service at our church, followed by tabletop grilling with friends (a Dutch tradition around several holidays)

• Hosting most of our Life Group in our home on “Second Christmas Day” (i.e., the day after Christmas) for fun, fellowship, and a [German] turkey dinner. The turkey cost one-third what it would have in the Netherlands! Here’s an interesting tidbit: we don’t have to pay an outrageous fee for cash ATM withdrawals in Germany like we do in the Netherlands. The money saved by doing our regular withdraw-

al in Germany, rather than here, more than paid for the gas! �

• The Moscow Circus on Ice in The Hague with a friend December 27th

• Having two little friends (ages 4 & 6) spend the night; their languages are Afri-kaans and Dutch—24 hours of only Dutch for us!

• Spending New Year’s Eve with friends. We are still amazed at the combat-zone atmosphere experi-enced in this country this one night of the year when fireworks are legal! If you are interested in a

firsthand glimpse, take a look at this video I found on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFzYkiZGP8Y. This will help you understand how, during my first New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands, a stray firework knocked my glasses off my face while standing in front of a colleague’s house!

• Completing a good number of long-awaited projects—administrative, organiza-tional—around the house and in the garden, and setting up a new computer. Both

our laptop and desktop computers decided to make their exit along with the year 2013. � My camera lens also joined the technological revolt—they say things happen in threes, so hopefully that is it!

• Getting the ball rolling with planning how to orchestrate our six-month stay in the U.S. next year. We hope to arrive in time to be in MI for the Bettig Reunion the last Saturday of June. Other factors: my weekly appointments in Chicago with the bite/pain specialist; we will

likely travel several times to the TWR headquarters in NC for meetings; we will need to do our normal “furlough” activities (visiting supporting churches, etc.) dur-ing this time; Harry will need to continue with his regular work during most of this time. If you know a place that will be available in the greater Chicago area for most of this time, please let us know!

Harry’s traveling shoes will take him to Vienna January 14 - 17, NC and TN Febru-ary 16 - 27, and Bratislava/Vienna March 10 - 18. Please pray for safe travels + encouraging and productive meetings for Harry while Zoie and I keep the home fires burning.

TWR: PO Box 8700, Cary, NC 27512; 800-456-7897; www.twr.org

We continue to receive responses from areas where it is not easy to be a Christ fol-lower. We praise God for this and hope these responses to the Leading the Way program in Arabic will bless you as well.

Yemen: “I live in a rural area in Yemen. I listen to your program on a regular basis; I am interested in learning more about Christianity. I like what I hear a lot and feel that what you are talking about is true and gives a person a new perspective in life. I am not sure if I would be able to connect with you all the time for many reasons, but I would like to keep hearing from you what would quench this thirst in me.”

Saudi Arabia: “I am a committed person to my religion; I memorize our book and preach it. Two years ago, some kind of doubts started to trigger in my soul about my own religion, and I found your program and many things started to move into place. I would love to continue to communicate with you till I understand the whole truth, which is being revealed through you. I hope you accept me as a friend and a seeker.”

PANI Update

1 Corinthians 16:9, “ […] because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” This describes quite well TWR’s two-year jour-ney toward launching the PANI project. In September, I wrote that after many delays the broadcasts were set to launch on November 25th. Unfortunately, additional ob-stacles thwarted this plan. Good news is coming, but first, a bit of background …

TWR has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to vastly increase our ministry to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and North India (PANI) by refurbishing a transmitter and building a new antenna system that will broadcast the gospel via AM radio. In many parts of the PANI region, the people have never seen a church or met a Christian. Due to Christianity often being mixed up with outside political agendas, there is a deficit of true understanding of who Jesus Christ is and what it really means to follow Him.

Millions of people in this region already turn to their radios for news, instruction, and entertainment. Thus, it is a simple, nonthreatening way to introduce these precious creations to a biblical worldview and to the Prince of Peace. Radio waves can reach

into whole villages where ambassadors for Christ would be not only unwelcome but also in danger.

Although TWR has been broadcasting in the region on shortwave radio for some time now, PANI’s new AM transmitter will expand our impact dramatically with 500,000 watts of power. This is 10 times the wattage of the most powerful AM transmitters permitted in the United States, covering an area as large as two-thirds of the States!

Use of this transmitter will also expand the time we can broadcast the Good News in the region’s six key languages: Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Urdu, Farsi, and Dari. AM receivers are very common in the PANI re-gion as they can be purchased cheaply. One media survey indicated that 40 percent of the Afghan people listen at least once a week to programs aired on AM radio.

Now, back to the current status on the PANI project: TWR engineers were recently able to bring this high-powered transmitter up to full

power, only to discover a problem with the cooling system. � In the words of the re-cently deceased Nelson Mandela, “It always seems impossible until it's done.”

Drumroll please … now for the good news. On December 16th, the first test broad-casts were transmitted under reduced power to Pakistan and Afghanistan! On that day, our Europe international director received this SMS from TWR’s VP of global operations: “A few minutes ago we went with PANI on the air with reduced power. To God be the Glory, great things He has done! We have a God of miracles. Thanks for your prayers.” We ask you to pray that the technical problems will be quickly solved, for the production of the programs (which is often done under extremely difficult circumstances), and for the protection of the program producers and others commit-ted to working on this project. With eyes of faith, look for more good news in our next newsletter!

Thank you so much for your love, support, and encouragement, Eileen & Harry

Amazing coverage! TWR's broadcasts reached a potential listening audience of 3.9 billion people in 2013. That's nearly half of the world's population who have the opportunity to hear the life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ!