A Christian television ministry to the Middle East keeps vigil over the tinderbox situation developing.

Middle East (MNN)–The Israeli army has a contingency plan, called “New Leaf,” to deal with the fallout from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s death.

A leadership crisis will likely lead the area into chaos, a scenario the Israelis and Palestinians hope to avoid. Sharing in that hope, is SAT-7’s Glenn Hartson.

He says God has been working in an amazing way in the region, however, “The times are very difficult right now for Christians because they are easy targets, they are ones in which they do not seem to have a loyalty on either side of the situation. So, in many cases, they are scapegoats for what is occurring.”

Hartson says even as the tensions mount, their teams are committed to maintaining ministry on the air. The reason? To support the believers in adversity. “We are very concerned about Christians throughout the region, especially in the Gaza area. There are some wonderful Palestinian Christians that are being caught in that situation, that certainly need our prayers, greatly right now. On the other side of the coin, we are seeing great harvest that is taking place through God’s Word at this time in history.”

Please pray for the safety of the believers living in these areas. Pray too, for the strength of their testimony in the days ahead.