SAT-7 offers hope for the hopeless in Iraq and around the Middle East and North Africa (SAT-7 photo).
Iraq (MNN) — More than 3,000 Christian families are now homeless, as the Islamic State told them to convert, pay a tax, or die. They decided to leave their homes. When they did, ISIS members also robbed them and forced them to escape with just the clothes on their backs.
SAT-7, Christian Satellite Television in the Middle East and North Africa, is providing hope for these believers and others in a hopeless situation.
President of SAT-7 USA Rex Rogers says this isn’t just a Christian issue. “Other Arabs who are moderate in their religious persuasion [are] also seeing that extremism is also dangerous to them. They see the destruction of a minority group like Christians, they begin to question their own religious perspectives, and they’re open to new ideas.”
Hopelessness is a widespread feeling in this region of the world. Rogers says, “When you give up hope, you lose in faith in any kind of justice or peace. You lose faith in who God is. There are more and more individuals in the Middle East and North Africa, Iraq included, who have turned to atheism.”
SAT-7 reports that nearly all Iraqi families, regardless of religious loyalties, are afraid. We have read about the atrocities they witness first-hand every day. Millions in Iraq have met their limit; the violence is too much. A reported 32% of Iraqis have rejected their religious ties (mostly young adults), and some are embracing atheism.
SAT-7 is viewed by more than 15 million people throughout the region. Rogers says their programming is providing hope to people who are 98% non-Christian. “The preacher here in one sense can be Satellite television because it penetrates. Everybody has hook-ups. It’s free to air, once in there. They get Christian truth from outside. It can’t be censored and can’t be effectively jammed.”
With so many watching, Rogers says SAT-7 is an effective ministry in which to invest. “One dollar will provide Christian truth, Christian programing, for one person for an entire year. There’s almost no return on investment anywhere with that kind of ratio.”
If you’d like to support SAT-7’s work in the region, click here to give.
