Christians Under Attack

Catholic and 3.6 million are Protestants.

But the Church in many Middle Eastern countries is shrinking. In 1900 Christians represented around 20 percent of the population of the Middle East. That number has fallen to less than 5 percent today. These numbers are even more striking in the Holy Land. Historically, the percentage of Christians in the West Bank and Gaza has declined from nearly 20 percent to 1.5 percent today (Sennott, The Body and the Blood 2001).

Those numbers show that there is a very real possibility that Christianity could vanish from the land of Christ’s birth! The indigenous church in North Africa, home of St. Augustine, is already nearly extinct. In many countries of the Middle East and North Africa Christians face various difficulties because of their beliefs.

But there is hope and it comes in the form of SAT-7, a unique Arabic satellite television channel that is reaching out to the believers of the Middle East and North Africa.

Begun by Terry Ascott, an Englishman who had been working with Operation Mobilization in the Middle East, SAT-7 is strategically positioned to encourage these, and all Christians who live in the region, by showing them that they are part of Jesus’ worldwide family and that when any believer suffers, for whatever reason, this family will be there to aid, support and pray for them.

It was on May 31, 1996, that SAT-7 began broadcasting to audiences in the Middle East and North Africa. At that moment, the dream of many churches, ministries and individual Middle Eastern Christians who desired to see a satellite TV service run by and for the Christians of the Middle East became a reality.

When SAT-7 began serving as a voice for the Church of the Middle East and North Africa, the channel only had sufficient programming and finances to broadcast two hours a week. Today, it transmits 24 hours a day, yet their Vision and Mission remain the same:

The Vision is to see a growing Church in the Middle East and North Africa, confident in Christian faith and witness, serving the community and contributing to the good of society and culture.

While the mission is to provide the churches and Christians of the Middle East and North Africa an opportunity to witness to Jesus Christ through inspirational, informative, and educational television services.

AT-7 airs more than 80 hours worth of Christian programs each week. The kind of programs that air on the network varies from scripture readings to testimonies, cartoons to films. Almost all of them are in Arabic or Farsi. Each one, whether produced in SAT-7’s own studios, by a partner organization or acquired from other countries and then dubbed into Arabic, is designed to be culturally sensitive and spiritually significant.

It broadcasts a wide range of programs from those for children, youth, men and women, and includes dramas, music, preaching and teaching.

The SAT-7 website says, “There is no doubt that satellite television is a phenomenon in the Middle East and North Africa. There are now about 115 million people (38 percentof a total population of 300 million) that have satellite television at home today. In some countries the number of homes with satellite television exceeds 90 percent of all households.”

The reach is quite amazing and they have received many letters from viewers from all over the region.

One man from Saudi Arabia wrote: “SAT-7’s program fills us with heavenly joy, and also it keeps us from watching the violence and the ugly scenes shown on other channels. We badly need your broadcast.”

While another man from Kuwait wrote, “I live in an area where I am totally cut off from any kind of Christian fellowship, teaching, and guidance. Praise God I found out about SAT-7, which provides me with what I was missing. I trust this channel to the extent that I am not ashamed of sharing my personal problems, weaknesses, and desires in order to get a godly guidance. God bless you.”

So with so much bad news coming out of this troubled part of the world, it is great to know that God’s light is still shining there in the form of SAT-7.

For more information, go to www.sat7.org.