How The Word Today Was Started
The Word Today was started in 1978 as the result of a spiritual challenge presented by the founder of the program, Paul R. Schroeder, to the members of Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Greendale, Wisconsin. Pastor Schroeder had seen great ministries begin as a response to a call for commitment. He asked the members of Our Shepherd to raise $25,000.00 in two weeks as a sign that God wanted the ministry started.
The evening of the deadline, just 1 ½ hours before the deadline, the last gift of $500.00 put the total at $25,100! Since then, God has been pleased to grow The Word Today by leaps and bounds. In 2003 the budget for the program was $480,000. Today it is more than $1,000,000!
One of the most significant developments in the history of the program occurred in 2007 when Trans World Radio chose to broadcast The Word Today in Arabic! Now, millions of people across the Mideast will be able to hear the Gospel presented in the clear, encouraging style of The Word Today!
In 2007 The Word Today took another giant step of growth. Broadcasts more than doubled from 21 languages to 46. That represented 116% growth in language groups being broadcast in one year! This was an extreme challenge, yet with this step The Word Today is now broadcast in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Phillipines, Niger, Cape Verde, Togo, Cote d’lvoire, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovakia, Serbia, and Bulgaria! Over the next several years 21 additional languages have been added expanding the reach to many other regions including, Malawi, Japan, Mali, Iran, Asia, Montenegro, Kenya, East Africa, Tajikistan, Benin, Pakistan, Nepal, and Krygyzstan Cities.
Currently The Word Today is in 67 languages globally. To find out where you can hear The Word Today see the Languages our languages page. There are millions of persons who are waiting desperately to hear some Good News, and The Word Today is going to bring it to them! If you would like to join in this mission work for Christ you can donate to this ministry which uses 100% of contributions to develop and broadcast the Gospel!