When Iranians meet, the time we spend greeting and exchanging polite pleasantries can seem excessive – especially to someone from a European culture. Then when we are saying goodbye on the doorstep the whole process repeats itself and whole new conversations on brand new topics are enjoyed well into the night. I write as one born in the “old country” […]
From soap star to Christian talk show host
Soap operas are hugely popular in Turkey. But former soap actor Şemsa Deniz Tolunay reckons she has landed an even better role as host of the first live Christian women’s show available on Turkey’s national TV satellite platform. Homemade is a daily weekday show on SAT-7 TÜRK, the Turkish language channel of SAT-7. Since January 2015, the 50 million subscribers […]
From robber to TV pastor of Tajik church
Poverty after his father’s murder drove Rustam to robbery before a Damascus-style conversion brought him to Christ. Now a pastor who has served in both Tajikistan and Afghanistan, he recently recorded SAT-7’s first discipleship series for Tajik viewers. Growing up with 10 siblings in one of the poorest countries of the former Soviet Union meant that life for Rustam Begaliev […]
The Briefing – August 2018
Trade wars and new political tensions this month added to the challenges already faced by a region still blighted by warfare in Yemen and Syria. The nosedive of the Turkish lira that began in April accelerated this month as the US announced 50 per cent and 20 per cent taxes respectively on Turkish steel and aluminium products. Since the start […]
Bridging the generation gap
“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today.” The grumpy words of Hesiod, a Greek poet of the 8th century BC, show that the generation gap is nothing new and, most likely, belongs to all cultures. But in the Arab cultures of the Middle East and North Africa, where […]
The Briefing – July 2018
While voters in Turkey conferred sweeping new powers on President Erdogan, populations that feel left behind in Iraq and Morocco are demanding more attention from their political rulers A new chapter has begun in Turkey after President Erdogan won an historic presidential election with more than 52 per cent of the votes. Thanks to an alliance with the Nationalist Movement […]
Economic boom expands Christian witness in Gulf states
“I have no doubt in my mind that in the Arabian peninsula there’s easily ten million Christians,” says Venerable Bill Schwartz, OBE, Anglican Archdeacon in the Gulf and Chaplain of Qatar. Speaking at SAT-7’s NETWORK conference in April 2018, Schwartz spelt out some of the astonishing results of the region’s meteoric economic development, driven by oil wealth. Most notable is how […]
New leadership for Evangelical churches in Turkey
The Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey (TEK) has chosen a new president and board of directors, reports SAT-7’s Turkish channel, SAT-7 TÜRK. Following voting by other pastors, Mr Ali Kalkandelen, the pastor of Life Family Church, Istanbul, was elected as the new president of TEK. The association, which began informally in the 1980s and was formally established in 2009, […]
THE BRIEFING – JUNE 2018
As World Cup fever lightens the mood in many Middle East nations, Turkey races towards historic elections and Yemen faces a new crisis, but Algerian Christians are giving thanks after several churches closed in a government crackdown were reopened. In Turkey, the nation is in the last week of campaigning before historic elections on 24 June. Citizens will vote both […]
ALGERIAN CHURCH REOPENS AFTER POLICE CLOSURE
PRAYERS ANSWERED! After seven months of closure, in June 2018, the authorities finally opened the church in Aïn Turk! Praise the Lord! SAT-7 friends and producers in Algeria had asked for prayer after their church was closed by the local authorities. The church in Aïn Turk, near the north-western town of Oran, was sealed off in late 2017 by police, […]