MENA (MNN) — Bringing hope to a region shaken by war, economic crisis, and natural disasters is no easy task — but it is one filled with powerful lessons.
Beirut, Lebanon (Photo courtesy of Sara Calado/Unsplash)
The media we consume is shaped by the world around us. In North Africa and the Middle East, recent years have been difficult. Tragedies — from war-torn streets and earthquake rubble to economic collapse — have filled the news, radio, and TV. That’s where SAT-7 ARABIC steps in to say: the news might be bad, but there is still hope!
The headlines coming out of the region reflect the same pressure felt by SAT-7’s Arabic media ministry. Every day, the team faces at least four major challenges, explains Executive Director Rami Al-Halaseh.
1. The first challenge is offering hope in the midst of crisis.
“We want to function with a crisis response approach where anybody who’s watching SAT-7, anybody who follows SAT-7, will find something that will help them go through the crisis, go through the struggle, the challenge, with at least some hope.”
2. The second challenge: staying clear of political entanglements.
Called to be a voice for the Church and to shed light on injustice, SAT-7 often navigates complex and controversial stories with wisdom. Still, discussing political topics can be difficult. “We’re a Christian satellite station that presents, and, you know, promotes the message of hope, salvation, and, you know, new life in Christ. However, we cannot really disconnect ourselves as people of the land from the ongoing daily challenges,” he adds.
“If this is unjust, what’s happening, we have to say it’s unjust in our biblical way, not in a political way.”
Woman praying in Cairo church (Photo courtesy of Selim Graphy/Pexels)
3. Another challenge is misinformation, like the claim that no Christians remain in places like Palestine or Lebanon.
Some assume that if there are few news reports about Christians in an area, they no longer exist there. But SAT-7 has interviewed believers living through conflict in Gaza and Lebanon.
“Where we were, we were interviewing Christians, you know, falling under the war itself. Same thing in Lebanon, when people were displaced, and where they had to leave their homes. We interviewed all those people, Christians, who live in the south, but they had to leave because of the strikes.”
“The task,” he adds, “is giving them the voice to share the story!”
4. The final challenge — and a constant prayer request — is for the safety and peace of mind of SAT-7’s team as they serve amid war, inflation, and earthquakes.
“We deal first hand with these things because it’s our people. It’s our staff that is in the studio of Lebanon, where, for example, we’re meeting on Zoom, and then suddenly their windows are shaken because of the air strikes.”
Pray for the safety of SAT-7 ARABIC workers — that they would be protected from persecution, war, economic hardship, and more. Pray for their peace of mind as they continue their mission, and for wisdom as they face ongoing crises.
Header photo courtesy of Alex Azabache via Pexels.
