Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders from around the world gathered on August 17 to mark the groundbreaking for the Adventist World Radio (AWR) Superstation that will be constructed in Argenta, Italy.

“We are here today in specific response to a command of the Lord to bring His message of salvation to people who are otherwise almost unreachable,” said Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist Church worldwide. When constructed and operational, the station will have a potential listening audience of more than two billion people in 47 countries of the Middle East, North Africa, and Indo-Asia.

In his remarks, AWR President Don Jacobsen noted that while the station was hosted in Italy, it is being built to serve the world church. “This is not an AWR project,” said Jacobsen, “this is a church project.  It is a project that we are taking on together because of our commitment to transmitting the gospel to those who may only hear the story of Jesus and His love through the means of radio.”

Created in 1971, AWR broadcasts from ten transmitter sites in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas to a potential listening audience that includes approximately 70 percent of the world’s population. AWR currently offers Adventist programming in 47 languages.