Article supplied by TWR Africa

Living in Kenya’s enormous Kakuma Refugee Camp, Peter heard a life-changing message. “The discussion on drug addiction spoke directly to me,” he wrote. “I think I need to seek help and begin a journey to recovery.” We don’t know Peter’s surname or his origin – the hundreds of thousands of refugees in Kakuma come from across Africa. We do know what he was listening to: Biblica’s Reach4Life, broadcast on the Kakuma station of TWR Kenya’s Sifa FM network.

A Bible-anchored response
“What Reach4Life is doing is really tackling the issues that young people are facing directly, but using the Bible as a compass and Biblical principles as an anchor for life’s challenges,” said Njoki Chege, executive director of TWR Kenya. Reach4Life began in 2004 as a 40-lesson Bible study curriculum in response to the HIV epidemic in South Africa.

The Church asked for an answer
“It was very much the Church who asked for a Biblical response to HIV,” said Carien Kotze, Biblica’s director for southern Africa since 2021. A crisis that caused 330 000 premature deaths in South Africa from 2000 to 2005, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Reaching millions across borders
The curriculum is in its fourth version, adapted to address a variety of concerns, and is now printed in 40 languages and has impacted three million youth, according to Biblica’s data. It’s especially appropriate in Africa, where about 60% of the population is younger than 25.


A timely moment for Gen Z
The emergence of audio versions of Reach4Life is timely, Chege said, with reports of a rising interest in spirituality in Gen Z. “This is the generation that is … really defining the meaning of life and the meaning of success and turning back to God, turning back to Church,” she said. “So there’s a real opportunity there for Reach4Life.”

Coming to radio
Kotze saw additional opportunities in the spoken word. “When we started talking to Trans World Radio, I said to them, ‘You’re the experts. Do with it whatever you want,’” she related. TWR Kenya signed its agreement with Biblica in November 2023, Chege said, and it’s aired on all six Sifa FM stations.

Kiswahili connects deeply
The programme was originally recorded in English, but translation of the script into Kiswahili was completed in 2025. This version proved to have the greater impact, Chege said. “Most of our listeners identify more closely with Kiswahili, and the stations airing the programme primarily broadcast in that language,” she explained. “We introduced the Kiswahili version in direct response to listener feedback, as many expressed a preference for engaging with the series in Kiswahili for better understanding and connection.”

Discipleship that sparks evangelism
In southern Africa, the English programme started broadcasting over three radio stations in five countries (Eswatini, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique), with growing interest. It has also been presented in Portuguese and isiZulu, said Victor Kaonga, TWR international director for East and Southern Africa. Reach4Life was developed as a discipleship programme, Kotze said, but has proven to be a strong tool for evangelism, with surveys showing 87% of participants shared what they learnt with family and friends.

Meeting young people where they are
Evangelism certainly comes into play in Kenya, Chege said. Although Kenya is a majority-Christian nation, the Sifa stations broadcast in places that are primarily Muslim, such as the Lamu archipelago. “We are speaking to a majority of young people who are encountering Christ and Christianity for the first time,” she said.

Youth under attack
Nonetheless, the youth population of Kenya faces numerous challenges, Chege said. They include disappointment in life and in the institutions “that should be protecting them”; depression and anxiety; and alcohol and drug consumption. And then there’s social media: Kenya already has fast internet service, readily available WiFi, and affordable cell phones, and the government wants to make WiFi free for everyone. “And so the issue of smartphone addiction comes in very strongly,” Chege said.

Truth in digital spaces
TikTok is especially popular in Kenya, with young people using it as a search engine for questions about life and mental health. That’s why TWR Kenya promotes Reach4Life on TikTok and other social media sites. “We need to have Reach4Life in those spaces very boldly, very unapologetically, very in their face, really, to give them the truth about life and about Jesus,” Chege said. “Because there are people out there who are hell-bent on giving young people sadistic content.”

Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi
In Mozambique, the programme was originally broadcast in English, but now it is aired in Mozambican Portuguese. The message she heard on Reach4Life “made me think about the consequences of disagreements in our families,” said Mariana of Maputo. “This can even bring mourning and promote revenge. But it is good to see that in Christ all of this can be resolved.”

When feedback is deeply personal
The largest potential broadcast audiences for Reach4Life are in Zambia, where One Love FM reaches as many as four million people, and Malawi, where the potential audience for TWR Malawi is six million. The feedback from listeners can be poignant. “Growing up without a father who abandoned my mother and me was challenging,” wrote Sonfwa from Zambia. “However, today’s message from Luke 15 has opened my heart to God as my Father. I wish I had known this message earlier in life, but I’m grateful to have discovered that there is a loving Father in Heaven who cares for me.”

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Date published: 16/03/2026
Feature images provided

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