Lebanon (MNN) — "It's a very exciting development, and it's a complete 180 degree change from just yesterday," said SAT-7 's David Harder on the new compromise agreement in Lebanon.
The two opposing groups–the government and the opposition, including Hezbollah–have agreed to elect a president to be the head of the army. The hope is that this will bring
together the two factions and end the paralysis that 18 months of unrest has caused in the country.
In the weeks preceding this agreement, Harder said some of their teams became immobilized. "They couldn't get out of the country. They couldn't get into the country. It was really having a major effect on their psyches, as well as what they could do."
While they had been trusting in the Lord all along for protection, the possibility of sudden violent outbreaks was always on their minds. No one in the
country, including the SAT-7 team, knew what would happen next, at any moment. "You drive to work, and you don't know if something could happen that would prevent you from going home that night," Harder explained. "I had lunch with one of my colleagues, and a truck went around a corner here in Cyprus, and made a loud bang. He
wondered if a bomb had gone off. They lived under this constant pressure of when someone could be killed in a bombing."
Now, much of that worry is gone, and "they can move forward with much greater confidence and peace." Many people can finally rejoice.
Harder said the director of the office in Lebanon has given all credit to prayer for this miraculous compromise. SAT-7's second annual Day of Prayer is coming at an especially important time with these new developments unfolding. On June 1, SAT-7 invites partners and audiences to pray for their ministry and for the country. The date is significant because the day before, May 31, the 12th anniversary of their first broadcast.
"Take some time on that day, maybe share with their friends, their passion for this ministry," said Harder. Pray for Christians in the Middle East, for the needs of the ministry, for their teams and the audiences, and simply for the spreading of the Gospel
there. "We're in a very difficult area. We've seen how prayers can have an effect, not only on big political issues but on individual lives. Pray that somebody would tune in at just the right moment to hear a message that would help them in a time of struggle, of crisis, of really being thirsty for knowledge of Jesus Christ."
