Nelson Mandela International Day

18 July 2022


image by Ashim D'Silva

“It is easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.”

— Nelson Mandela —

Over the last decade, people celebrate the legacy of Nelson Mandela by serving their local communities. In south Africa there is a tradition to take 67 minutes and do something good for the community. This year the Nelson Mandela Foundation highlights food security and climate change with the tagline “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

TWR is primarily a media organisation that focuses on spreading the Hope of Jesus Christ to the world, overcoming barriers such as turmoil, persecution, ideology, limited access and brokenness. We use media to serve communities around the world.

Did you know that TWR has audio programmes that teach practical life advice? We don’t just preach the love and hope of Jesus Christ, we also teach people skills that enhance their life. Here in Africa we have two programmes (Farming God's Way and Foundations for Farming) that are produced to teach farmers about Christ while they learn practical skills in their heart language.

When a crises hits a community, we tailor our content to bring hope in difficult times and practical tips on how to deal with the situation.

TWR’s transmitter site in West Africa (WATS) has one of the most unique projects in terms of community engagement within TWR. Our team at WATS uses land next to the their office, to grow agricultural produce. They keep a number of bee hives for a delicious dark and wild honey, grow flavourful cashew nuts and cultivate white Teak.

“The land was given to us because it was unproductive, so with good stewardship God has now turned the land from being unproductive to being very fruitful in many aspects,” Garth Kennedy, TWR Missionary recalls.

Women from the local village near WATS are allowed to gather fallen or spare cut wood from the property, while the sale of the timber goes to support the families of the TWR staff with unexpected expenses such as funeral costs. The cashews are similarly sold and the revenue goes into the WATS education fund to help pay for schooling and training of WATS family and friends.

“I cannot say that we even had community projects in mind when we started but the fruitful land has allowed us to be involved with the community and helping them to benefit from good stewardship of the land. We just feel that this is where God has called us and [this] is what we call stewardship, it all comes down to obedience to the call of God,” says Garth.

Through our story at WATS, you can see how we do what we can, with what we have, where we are, to serve our local communities.