Tony Dua, manager of Christian radio station Laif FM in Wewak, PNG emailed . . . 

"Hi Graham. We had a big thunder storm and at one stage there was a lightning strik hit the tower and there was a big noise came out from the studio, I was wondering what actually was demaged, It seems that nothing was demaged but now figure out, that our transmitter has been affected, Our listners are calling in and telling us we are not getting the signal here. after many calls we figured out we are not transmitting, the transmitter seems like transmitting but [it's not].

I decided to put off the transmitter and sut down the studio room, after discovering that we are not getting anywhere, please pray with us we need a miracle here. . ."

Meanwhile the Lord's work continues in Wewak, even though the station's not on air. 
Tony emails again . . .

"Greetings Graham. You may never know what God has for you each day, but as you prepare your heart, God does His work through you . . . I was so amazed this morning, after our prayer meeting some body was already at the gate wanting to see me: he introduces him shelf to me as Judith, and after shaking hand with him I took him in for a cup of coffee .

After talking with Him for a while, I didn't know that some of these very things I was sharing with him were his needs. He began to tell me all about himself, this is what he said, " I am a member of a Gang of five men, one of us was shoot by police, I felt I was the next? that's what he said, I am looking for a place to find safety and out of these problems. I always listen to Laif FM, and I was thinking, I need to see these people but had no time to come until today, Thursday. Something just caused me to this place this morning. My heart was filled with compassion as I was listening to him I almost shared tears when I heard this, I told Him we are here for you, that?s the whole reason for us being here, is for people like you. I prayed with him this morning, He joining the team for bible study?

Praise God for the great things he is doing? I began to realize that the more we draw close to God we began to feel how God feels about the lost: God always has something for us to do. 
Love you all, Tony"

Christian radio station Laif FM 
has been broadcasting since December 2003 from studios in Wewak town and a transmitter on Mt. Passam Towa, the second highest mountain in Sepik Province. The transmitter (when it's operating) reaches a long way - deep into the PNG highlands and across the border into Indonesia. It's difficult to run a radio station in a remote and isolated town like Wewak. And expensive! There are no local resources to operate a station or to repair a transmitter. The cost of freighting equipment to Wewak is very high, and there's always the strong possibility of the freight being stolen before it arrives.

What will it take to get Laif FM back on air again? 
We need to purchase and ship all the transmitter parts that may have possibly been damaged by the lightening (you can't phone Radio Shack for a spare part from the top of Mt Passam Towa!). Then our technician will attempt to talk Tony through installing the new components and starting the transmitter again. (Phone calls cost $1.00 a minute, and it takes a lot of minutes to talk technical things to someone with English as their second language.)

And we pray this does work, otherwise . . . 
we will have to send a technician to Wewak. (Air travel is also expensive - USD 1,900.00 (NZD 2,500.00) to fly in a technician. Plus the cost of his time and his expenses while in Wewak.) Once there, the technician has to travel 3 miles by bus from town to the village at Mt Passim Towa that hosts the radio tower. From the village it's a long, steep walk up the mountain to reach the transmitter building carrying your tools and equipment.

 It will take prayer . . . 
for the safe arrival of the radio parts in Wewak, 
and for success and safety as Tony works on the transmitter so we do not have to send a technician. And praise God for His work continuing in the lives of His PNG people even though the station is off the air!

 And it will take money . . . 
USD 2,000.00 for parts and shipping to Wewak. 
If Tony can't fix it, then we'll need . . . 
an extra USD 2,600.00 for travel plus local expenses to send a technician

 Contact Graham 
for more information about Laif FM at Wewak 
email Graham

Tony at the computer in the transmitter hut 
on Mt Passam Towa 

Tony (front right) and staff of Laif FM, Wewak PNG

Tony (right) and Judith at the station

The Laif FM studio build in Wewak PNG

 
Faye broadcasts from the Laif FM studio

Tony on the small tower that links the studio to 
the FM transmitter on Mt. Passam Towa

Carrying radio equipment up Mt. Passam Towa

A group of young Laif FM listeners at Wewak 
who can no longer hear the station