Presbyterian Church in Ireland - Mission Overseas - CHRISTIAN TV: Sat-7 Celebrates 15 Years of Broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa

4th June 2011

On 31st May 2011, SAT-7 marked 15 years of Christian broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa, celebrating the unexpected success of an Arab Christian media presence in the region.

From its early single-channel format, to today's SAT-7 ARABIC, SAT-7 PARS, SAT-7 KIDS and SAT-7 TÜRK broadcast channels, SAT-7 reflects the reality, diversity, and living witness of the region's indigenous churches.

The culmination of a dream to mount a twenty-first century Arab Christian media platform, SAT-7's first transmission on 31st May 1996 encouraged and emboldened Arab Christians and their small but vibrant communities, who had previously avoided the media for fear of government reprisals. Today, SAT-7's ambitious scope, life-changing programming, and professional production values support five distinct channels and interactive websites in Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish, including the first and only 24-hour Christian channel exclusively for Arab children.

Rita El Mounayer, Executive Director for SAT-7's three Arabic channels, was a part of SAT-7's historic first broadcast. She sees a continuing hunger in the Middle East and North Africa for SAT-7's holistic and uplifting programming. Commenting on SAT-7's success, she says:

"We're very excited about our shows and the people making them - people who want to make a real difference in the lives of our viewers. And we can see how much our programmes are impacting people, especially those caught up in the current crisis."

As the Arab Spring sweeps across the Middle East and North Africa, SAT-7's local staff in Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Cyprus mark the network's 15th anniversary by producing bold, balanced coverage and providing new opportunities for Arab Christian communities to witness to their Lord, have a voice in the current debate over the future of their countries and encourage one another across the airwaves.

"I was recently very touched to see how Iraqis were, on-air, encouraging Egyptians during the recent unrest there," Ms. El Mounayer says. "Iraqis are going through so much themselves and yet they are calling in to our shows to pray for and encourage others! It's beautiful."

More about SAT-7

SAT-7 is a Christian satellite network made by and for the people of the Middle East and North Africa.

SAT-7 makes Christ's message of hope available to homes across the Middle East and North Africa.  It consists of five channels: SAT-7 ARABIC, SAT-7 PARS (Farsi), SAT-7 TÜRK (Turkish), SAT-7 KIDS (Arabic) and SAT-7 PLUS(Arabic).

SAT-7 supports Christians living in the Middle East and North Africa by providing a satellite platform through which they can strengthen their churches and witness to Christ.

To view SAT-7 live online or for more information go to www.sat7trust.org (English), www.sat7.com (Arabic), www.sat7turk.com, and www.sat7PARS.com (Farsi)

SAT-7 & its links with PCI

Events | News & Information | Give | Go | Pray | Deputation