Adventist World Radio (AWR) is the official international broadcasting service and mission radio arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Based in the United States, AWR is a non-profit organization which aims to use radio broadcasts as the primary means to share the teachings of Jesus to unreached people groups worldwide. which are inaccessible to traditional missionaries. AWR hopes to eventually broadcast in over 200 languages identified as critically important for effective evangelism. In addition to AM, FM, and SW (shortwave) radio broadcasts, AWR also utilizes podcasts, social media, Godpods, and in-person evangelism efforts.
History Origins In 1969, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists established a committee to explore the feasibility of establishing a worldwide shortwave broadcasting service. The proposal had been suggested by several individuals, including H.M.S. Richards, Sr., the founder of the Voice of Prophecy radio program.
Prior to this initiative, the church had been broadcasting into Europe from a commercial station located in Tangier. However, this station ceased operations following a change in the Moroccan government, and the transmitter was relocated. The station's owner subsequently planned to construct a larger and more advanced broadcasting facility in Portugal and extended an invitation to the General Conference to utilize the new station once it was operational. By 1969, construction of this station was underway, with broadcasts expected to commence in the fall of 1970. This development served as the catalyst for the General Conference Communication Department (formerly known as Radio/TV) to initiate the concept that would later become Adventist World Radio. Adrian Peterson was the one who proposed the AWR name to Walter Scragg.
Timeline From its first broadcast on October 1, 1971, AWR has aired programs to unreached people groups around the world in their native languages. This chronological overview highlights key events, milestones, and developments in the history of AWR.
1970s 1971: Adventist World Radio (AWR) was established when the Seventh-day Adventist Church began leasing shortwave airtime from Radio Trans Europe in Sines, Portugal, initially broadcasting programs in Italian language to Italy. 1976: AWR programs in Southern Asia, specifically from Sri Lanka, in ten languages, became part of the organization's efforts and were designated as AWR Asia. 1978: Spanish-language broadcasts commenced from Guatemala to reach audiences in Central and South America. 1979: The first FM radio station was established in Florence. It was the first privately operated radio station in Europe that was run full-time by the Adventist Church. Adventist World Radio (AWR) conducted experimental relays from two locations in Europe: Radio Andorra and Radio Luxembourg. 1980s 1983: AWR launched its first broadcasts from Moyabi. These broadcasts were transmitted in the French language from Monday to Saturday. 1984: Adventist World Radio started broadcasting in Nairobi, Kenya. 1985: AWR constructed a shortwave station in Italy,. and commenced broadcasts to Europe and North Africa in Arabic and French. The station remained operational until 2001. Additionally, AWR Latin America established its headquarters in Alajuela, Costa Rica, initiating regular broadcasts to Central and South America. This regional division was later renamed AWR Americas. Furthermore, AWR received an offering from the Seventh-day Adventist Church's world session to fund a major initiative targeting China; construction began on a shortwave station located on the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. This new station in Guam was officially named as AWR-Asia while the station in India which was originally AWR-Asia was officially renamed as AWR-Southern Asia. 1987: In Guam, two 100 kW transmitters equipped with curtain antennas and over 300-foot towers commenced broadcasting in eleven languages across Asia. 1988: AWR began broadcasting English-language programs to West Africa through Moyabi on Sundays. 1990s 1990: Voice of Hope secured its inaugural 20-minute broadcast from a private home studio, becoming the first religious station to air programming amid political unrest, a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union. 1992: AWR launched transmissions from Russia. These broadcasts marked the first western transmissions originating from Moscow. 1993: The Voice of Hope, known as Ashar Bani in the Bangla language, is produced in a studio established by AWR. The first Bangla program was aired to begin this broadcasting effort. 1994: The AWR-Africa transmissions from Moyabi ceased after an eleven-year period. 1996: AWR reached its 25th anniversary. The Italian government enacted legislation permitting nonprofit organizations to operate shortwave radio stations in 1995. Subsequently, under this law, Adventist World Radio (AWR) was granted a shortwave broadcasting license in 1996. 2000s 2000: AWR launched its first live satellite broadcast on the Voice of Hope Network for Europe, marking its debut in live transmissions via satellite for rebroadcast on FM stations. The organization broadcasts shortwave programs from stations in Guam, Germany,. Italy, Madagascar, Slovakia, and South Africa, and provides satellite service to over 50 stations across the Americas and Europe. Additionally, AWR established a 24-hour satellite radio service covering Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, supported by the new AWR Europe satellite network, its second international satellite infrastructure. 2001: Following the overturning of plans to build a shortwave station in Argenta, Italy, AWR leased airtime on a station in the United Arab Emirates. This enabled AWR to broadcast 18 hours daily to the Middle East, Central Asia, and East Africa. 2003: Adventist World Radio (AWR) in Tanzania expanded its programming by including shows produced in the Maasai language. The goal of establishing AWR Maasai was to reach the semi-nomadic Maasai tribes. Adventist World Radio added broadcasts in two languages, Mizo and Assamese, which were produced in the newly inaugurated studios in Aizawl on February 27, 2003. AWR also added broadcasts in the Khmer language. This expanded the total number of languages in which AWR broadcast to approximately 55. 2005: The Guam station was rededicated in 2005 following a multi-phase modernization project, which expanded its potential audience to approximately 3.5 billion listeners in Asia. AWR's radio station in northern Cameroon was established, and its broadcasts were in the Fulfude language. 2007: AWR initiated a pilot project to distribute MegaVoice Ambassadors, solar-powered audio players capable of holding up to 160 hours of recordings. The first devices were delivered to Bible workers in South Sudan and North Africa. 2009: The Voice of Hope Media Center in Russia received a prestigious award from the country's parliament, recognizing it as a Socially Aware Enterprise. 2010s 2010: AWR launched a comprehensive podcasting service, making all programs in all languages available online worldwide. The organization invested significantly in a Media Asset Management (MAM) system called Mediator, which enabled automatic repurposing of radio programs into podcasts. Voice of Hope, operating from its studios in Tula south of Moscow, provided radio programming broadcast on more than 1,000 stations. 2011: AWR began partnering with Spain to operate several Mediterranean-based FM stations aimed at reaching North Africa, broadcasting programs in Arabic, Berber, Tachelhit, Kabyle, and more. In July 2011, AWR began broadcasting new shortwave programs in Arabic for four hours daily—morning and evening—to listeners in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. AWR played a key role in facilitating the creation of PT Radio Naik Nafiri (RAN FM), which was officially established on September 23, 2011. The station began broadcasting on 90.6 FM from Warembungan, near Manado. 2012: An FM station in Hyderabad, India, aired the country's first Adventist program, produced by AWR in Telugu. Previously, Indian listeners accessed AWR via shortwave, on-demand, or podcasts in 13 languages. The church's radio ministry also signed a contract with an Indian broadcaster for an initial series of 11 programs. 2013: A major upgrade was completed on AWR's shortwave station in Guam, featuring a new 229-foot tower and high-frequency antenna, which enhanced signal reach into deeper parts of Asia and allowed coverage of multiple countries simultaneously. Amharic, Somali, Punjabi, and Urdu were added to the list of languages AWR broadcast in. 2015: AWR launched AWR-102.9 Light FM, The Voice of Hope Radio, on March 21, with Dowell Chow, and received licensing from the Uganda Communications Commission. 2016: AWR, through the East-Central Africa Division (ECD), donated a generator, STL, a 3-kilowatt FM transmitter, and four pairs of antennas with their connectors to the AWR-102.9 Light FM radio station. These contributions expanded the station's transmission range and addressed power challenges, thereby enhancing the stability of the radio station. 2017: Dowell Chow retired in January, and Duane McKey became President, introducing the new slogan AWR360º – From Broadcast to Baptism. AWR began broadcasting over local radio airwaves in Mindoro in 2017 as part of an Adventist Church initiative known as Total Member Involvement evangelism. 2018: AWR360º facilitated 1,000 evangelistic meetings simultaneously happening across Lusaka, Zambia. Plans were initiated to establish an AWR360º Center for Digital Evangelism (CDE) in the Philippines. AWR implemented the Dalet Galaxy system for media management. The Majuro radio station is established. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Dutch Caribbean territory established its first radio station on the island of Bonaire. AWR provided broadcasting equipment for the new studio. AWR played a crucial role in the launch of Adventist Radio London (ARL), providing funding and equipment support that helped the station go live on Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) on April 8, 2018. The station, which features a 'Sunday Breakfast' show hosted by two millennials, received its Ofcom license in August 2017, with leadership backing from the Adventist Church's world headquarters. 2019: The Arusha Training Meeting in Tanzania gathered over 90 producers from across Africa, resulting in 1,526 baptisms. The coverage expanded with new stations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda. The new theme song, Airwaves of Love, was released. The AWR360 Philippines - From Guns to Bibles production received a Bronze Telly Award in the Charitable/Not-For-Profit & Cause Marketing — Television category in The Telly Awards. 2020s 2020: Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman debuted worldwide in May and was followed by the Unlocking Bible Prophecies 1.0 series in June. From October 3–17, an updated Unlocking Bible Prophecies 2.0 series aired globally in multiple languages, including Arabic, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Russian, German, Romanian, Mandarin, Estonian, Bahasa Indonesia, Mongolian, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Bengali, Mizo, Bhojpuri, Malagasy, and Afrikaans. Additionally, Earth's Final Countdown featuring President Duane McKey was launched. In February 2020, Khemnel Radio, operated by the Mongolia Mission of Seventh-day Adventists and supported by AWR, won the National Best Children's Content for Radio award at a contest hosted by Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh. The station's children's program was selected from over ten entries, receiving 10 million tughriks (approximately US$3,600).