Satellite Brings Gospel to Middle East | 8th Mar 2010

For centuries, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Christians have been isolated, the image of Christianity distorted and the Gospel silenced. Over the course of the 20th century, the Middle Eastern church shrank from 20% of the population to less than 5%. Many Christians throughout this region suffer daily for their faith, from low level harassment and abuse, job discrimination and ostracism, to rejection by family and friends, deliberate violence and even death.
For believers and seekers, access to Christian teaching and resources is limited in many parts of the Arab world. But the exponential growth of satellite television over the last decade or more has presented Christians with a highly strategic way of encouraging the church, giving Christianity a voice, and making the Gospel available to millions. SAT-7 is a Middle Eastern satellite TV network that has been broadcasting locally made Christian programming across this region for 13 years. Recent surveys estimate audience figures of over ten million.
Abdul (not his real name) is a young man from Morocco who wrote to tell SAT-7 his story. He began watching SAT-7 when he was 12 years old, until his mother found out and forbade him. Undeterred, he watched secretly and entered a competition for which the prize was a Gospel of John. He won and in due course the prize arrived, only to be confiscated by his furious mother. One day he found it and eagerly read it. The first thing he read was, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God…” Suddenly all was clear to me, it needed no more explanation. He who appeared to me when I was praying at a younger age is Jesus Christ and he is the Way’. Despite continued opposition, Abdul grew in his faith and today is involved in Christian media himself.
In October last year, SAT-7 seized the opportunity of broadcasting its two Arabic language channels on a new satellite, Atlantic Bird 4. The new broadcasts on the AB4 satellite have enabled SAT-7 to reach millions of new viewers overnight! The Rev. Dr. Samah Maurice, senior pastor of the Kasr El Dobara Church in Cairo, the largest Protestant church in the Middle East, commented: “Most of the cities in the Arab world now, even homes in the poorest areas, have satellite dishes and they are even more common than refrigerators or ovens! Satellite TV is everywhere. SAT-7, from the beginning, has done its best to be a partner to the local church, not to be separate from the local church.”
“The local church cannot do what satellite can do these days,” he continued, “so I praise God and I think this is the door God has given us to reach the multitudes. We see its effectiveness, and so do the millions of viewers who are tuning in.

Source: SAT-7 Trust

BIBLE STUDY: Deuteronomy 5:23-25

Day 8 – PRAY: For wise, Holy Spirit-anointed programmes, so that hearts may break open to Jesus.

http://revivalmedia.org/2010/03/07/satellite-brin…t-8th-mar-2010/