In Depth:  SAT-7

Christian satellite television and digital media network SAT-7 has celebrated 25 years of broadcasting across the Middle East and North Africa.

Its first transmission was a two-hour programme on 31 May 1996, modest but significant in that it was the first time that Christians from the region had shared their faith publicly on TV. Now, 25 years later, SAT-7 airs four channels in the three main languages of the Middle East and is watched by over 25 million people.

With several Middle Eastern countries documenting a rise in domestic abuse during the pandemic, SAT-7, a Christian TV station viewed by many who aren’t Christians, addressed this deadly trend.

By speaking out on a taboo issue and helping families manage emotions, it is hoped it will contribute to prevention while offering vital support to victims.

6 February marked the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). On the day, Sat-7 (Christian broadcaster in the Middle East and North Africa) ran a programme on the practice, hoping to open up the conversation and save lives.

FGM often involves the cutting or removal of the clitoris or other external genitalia. It stems from a cultural belief that women must be circumcised in order to be ‘pure’. Proponents claim that if a woman feels no sexual pleasure, she is less likely to have extramarital sex and will be less ‘demanding’ of her husband. Regionwide, FGM is practiced both by Christians and Muslims, with girls and women living in smaller communities at greater risk.

A new documentary released in June shares the story of a 13-year-old refugee from Iraq, who is rebuilding her life there after saying she forgave the ISIS terrorists that swept through her country.

Myriam was interviewed in 2014 when she was nine years old and living in a refugee camp in Kurdistan, northern Iraq, after fleeing ISIS terrorists. She captured the hearts of millions with a message of hope and forgiveness. Now, five years after ISIS overran Iraq, Myriam and her family are back home in the largest Christian town – Qaraqosh. Sequel In the documentary, of Hope, Myriam shares how her faith has sustained her. The film also shows the power of hope in Qaraqosh, which recently celebrated Easter with a vibrant procession amid the ruins.

Taraneh*, a young refugee in Tajikistan, travels three hours to watch her favourite Christian programmes at a relative’s home, and the girl’s messages to the Christian broadcaster have inspired many in the faith.

Her enthusiasm is particularly striking in light of her family’s difficult circumstances. ‘We have to live out of town because we don’t have much money,’ wrote Taraneh on the messaging app she uses to communicate with the TV team. ‘We have to travel three hours to my uncle’s house to watch this programme.’

Being a woman in the Middle East can be challenging at the best of times.

But what if you are a woman struggling with financial insecurity and raising children on your own? Nasrin, a SAT-7 PARS viewer from Iran, was one among the millions of women searching for hope in the midst of loneliness and despair.

A new documentary being filmed in the Autumn is aiming to change the perception that Christianity is a foreign faith.

By filming the Gagauzian Church and its society, SAT-7 is demonstrating that Christianity isn’t scary, but that the faith has roots in this part of the region that go way back.

A former Turkish soap-opera star became the host of the first live daily Christian women’s show on the Christian satellite platform SAT-7, it was reported in August. 

In her ten-year acting career, 33-year-old Şemsa Deniz Tolunay has appeared in long-running soaps, historic drama series and comedy roles. But she admits how much more at ease she is in her new role.

A viewer survey in July by Christian satellite TV channel SAT-7 produced hundreds of viewer testimonies, showing that SAT-7 is changing perceptions towards Christianity and is providing valuable support for believers across the Middle East and North Africa.

Over 5,000 people responded to the survey, which was promoted on social media. Viewers rated SAT-7 highly on almost all criteria including image, sound, and content quality. SAT-7 says that the viewer testimonies are ‘compelling evidence that SAT-7 is succeeding in its mission of making God’s love visible in the Middle East and North Africa’.

Nineteen-year-old Joy Basta, a presenter on the SAT-7 KIDS’ channel which broadcasts in the Middle East, pointed people towards Jesus in a June interview.

He said: ‘Although I attended a Christian school, it was in a very rough area. Everything you could imagine was happening there: drug dealing, sexual abuse and fist fights.’

Young Ramin* contacted SAT-7 eager to know more about Jesus after watching a programme.

Excited that he had discovered God’s love, Ramin asked the station to contact some of his friends who also wanted to know more about Christianity. In just a few weeks, Ramin and five of his friends decided to follow Jesus.

A Christian TV channel watched by at least 4.6 million Arabic speaking children in the Middle East and North Africa, celebrated its tenth birthday on 10 December.

‘We would need the largest cake ever to invite all our precious viewers over for a party,’ said SAT-7 KIDS Channel Manager, Andrea el Mounayer. ‘Borders, practicalities and wars mean that isn’t possible. But, watching us – even when there has been danger all around - they will share in the joy and fun in the safety of their homes.’

A new satellite television channel called SAT 7 Academy launched on 1 September.

Broadcasting round-the-clock in Arabic, the channel offers millions of displaced or refugee children complementary learning opportunities through a variety of television programmes.

Anger at his family’s financial struggles led Shawky to violence and drinking. Until one night, in a drunken haze, he drove the family truck over a cliff edge.

Shawky (not his real name), a member of the Berber community in mountainous northern Algeria, recently appeared on Free Souls, a testimony programme screened on Middle East Christian TV network, SAT-7.

For decades, North Africa’s young people have pushed against social, economic and religious restrictions. A Moroccan Christian shares their struggles and the new paths some are finding as they turn to Christ.

Ever since they shook off European rule or ‘mandates’ between 1951 and 1962, the five countries forming Northwest Africa (known collectively as the ‘Maghreb’) have not served their young people well. The new governments in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania and Libya all brought various shades of dictatorship.

It isn’t easy to define ‘religious freedom’ in Morocco.

The Moroccan Constitution ‘guarantees the free exercise of worship for all’. Foreign Christian residents can attend officially recognised churches, and Morocco’s 3,000 to 4,000 Jews generally go about their lives freely.

Michel Aoun is the only Christian president in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and over Easter he gave a clear message about his faith in an exclusive interview on SAT-7.

‘Resurrection is what we wish for after death: this is the Christian hope based on our faith.’

Little Musician, a new Farsi-language programme for children aged 4 –12, was recorded in late September and early October this year, to teach children Christian music and worship using stories from the Bible.

The programme’s presenter begins each episode by sharing a Bible story. She then teaches the children a relevant song, inviting the young viewers to play along at home with their own instruments.

Iranian seekers have stunned the Farsi language channel of Christian satellite TV network SAT-7 with their overwhelming response to a chat room launched on Telegram, a new secure messaging app.

SAT-7 is being inundated with 2,000 messages a day from viewers in Iran and has seen over 60,000 downloads of the Bible in whole or in part since it opened a Telegram chat room in September 2015.

On 28 January, the authorities in Egypt returned all confiscated equipment (in good condition) to the SAT-7 studio in Cairo, more than three months after its seizure by the country’s Censorship Police.

The authorities came to the SAT-7 offices with a search warrant on 10 October 2015 and removed much of the studio’s production equipment. SAT-7’s Director Farid Samir was temporarily detained, facing charges associated with licensing issues, but was released after six hours.

An 11-year-old Iraqi refugee, whose video message of forgiveness for Islamic State (IS) went viral worldwide in December 2014, shared a new message for world leaders in December 2015.

In December 2014, Christian satellite television channel SAT-7 KIDS first filmed and aired an interview with Myriam in a Christmas special from Northern Iraq. When the station then published the clip of her interview on the internet and social media, millions of viewers around the globe were inspired by her faith and forgiveness.

The sixth annual OneThing festival in Wadi el Natroun took place from 1–3 October with around 7,000 people attending each day.

The Christian youth festival was so packed that people were ‘squashed in the aisles’, but that did not deter the spiritually hungry crowd!

On Saturday 10 October, officers from Egypt’s Censorship Department came to the SAT-7 studios with a search warrant and removed items of equipment, including cameras and computers used for editing.

The office director, Mr Farid Samir, was detained for six hours, but then released. He faces four charges relating to operating a satellite TV channel without the necessary licences, although the SAT-7 Egypt office is a programme production facility and not a satellite broadcast centre for any of the SAT-7 channels.

Now in its third year of broadcast, ‘My Church’ in Algeria is reaching thousands of remote communities across North Africa, it was reported in early August.

A secluded Protestant church in the Algerian mountains has quickly grown to over 1,600 members. Daughter churches are now meeting to accommodate numbers.

Syrian church leaders welcomed and endorsed the call of Pope Francis for a day of prayer and fasting for Syria on September 7.

The call was also welcomed by other religious leaders, including the Grand Mufti of Syria.