I’m Martin Thomas and it’s Wednesday 11th September 2024.
Welcome to the 7-Minute Briefing podcast
– your roundup of news and current affairs from the Middle East and North Africa... brought to you by SAT-7.
As the one-year anniversary of the current conflict in the Holy Land rapidly approaches, the suffering continues with no foreseeable end – and people in the wider region, particularly in Lebanon, live under the constant threat of further escalation.
Over the last month, patriarchs and church leaders in Jerusalem confronted the ongoing suffering by repeating their urgent call for an end to the war, including the release of captives, return of displaced people, and urgent aid.
Senior Evangelical leaders from across the region also made a notable appeal to Western Christians. They asked them to meet, “engage” and “unite” with them and bridge “a discernible missional gap” between East and West. Leaders from across the region, called on their western counterparts to “listen to our stories” and understand the “complex socio-political dynamics” of the region.
As the tiny Christian population in Gaza struggles for survival, Christians in the West Bank are also fearing for their future.
“If we focus too much on the political horizon, we will just pack up and leave,” said Sami el-Yousef of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem. “We have to think carefully about what we do in future, but I am sure the Christian presence will survive.”
The conflict on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon also remains with increased fears of all-out war. For Marianne Awaraji, SAT-7’s Audience Relations Manager in Lebanon, the only way to live is by relying on Jesus every day.
In a personal reflection, she shared:
“Perhaps God has placed all of us at SAT-7 for such a time as this, to be a voice for those who cannot speak, to bring the hope of Christ to a region that has lost hope for a better future.”
SAT-7’s Arabic channel aired a special episode of Voice of the Church, lifting up prayers from across the Middle East. Amongst the many guests praying was George Tassous who expressed his robust faith in God’s reign and presence. He prayed…
“Give us faith that You are still on Your throne. We have faith in Your sovereignty. We have faith that You are with us, Lord, even if we walk in the valley of the shadow of death. You are with us and among us, Lord.”
You’re listening to the 7-Minute Briefing podcast... brought to you by SAT-7.
Keep an eye out for Voices of the Middle East episodes, where you can reflect more deeply on stories of faith from our viewers in the region... and join with SAT-7 in prayer for the people of the Middle East and North Africa.
To other parts of the region now, where the conflict in Sudan continues.
A recent episode of SAT-7 ARABIC programme Different Angle, that you can hear now, revealed how, despite intense difficulties, the Church is helping.
“The situation is terrible and unbearable,” said Pastor Koko from the Anglican Church in Sudan. The conflict, which broke out in April 2023, has forced around nine million people from their homes. Schools are often used to shelter refugees, and in some cases, up to 80 people are housed in one classroom.
Different Angle also heard from Pastor Yasser Kalo from All Saints Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt. He shared how his church has been receiving refugees from Sudan and offering them an education.
“The people who pay the price of war are children,” he explained. “It is challenging for them to join schools. The church has supplied basic education for all children so they may not lose a year of schooling.”
To election news now, and whilst the world watches the pre-election build-up in the United States, two North African nations are also holding presidential elections.
Tunisians are due to go to the polls in a month’s time. In a nation that was seen as a beacon of hope for the region after it became the first “Arab Spring” country, the progress towards democracy has also stalled.
And a little surprisingly, Algeria went to the polls in early September, following President Tebboune’s decision to bring the election forward from December, so few were surprised that he won a landslide vote. According to Amnesty, "Algeria has experienced a steady erosion of human rights". For Christians, this has included the closure of all but eight of Algeria’s Evangelical churches.
See the link in the show notes where you can read a feature article on the Amazigh (AmaZiah) and the Church in Algeria in our latest Insight magazine.
And finally, three years after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, their restrictions on women have been tightened even further. On 21 August the Ministry for the ‘promotion of virtue and prevention of vice’ issued rules ordering women to cover their bodies completely if they leave the house, and forbidding them from singing or reading aloud in public, or letting their voices carry beyond the walls of their homes.
After failing to gain recognition from the international community, Afghanistan’s rulers have abandoned their early promises of allowing women a measure of the freedom they enjoyed for the previous two decades. Despite the harsh new rules, a number of courageous women have posted videos online of themselves singing in protest.
SAT-7’s Persian channel has also introduced a new Dari-language programme for the 3.7 million Afghan children out of school. Serving a country where only 23 per cent of women are literate, Sun of Hope will teach basic literacy skills as well as critical thinking.
Pray for this and for SAT-7’s other Dari-language programmes that will inspire and give tangible support to Afghan viewers and especially families in the coming season.
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