The Big Watch is a stimulating film night in your home, church or other venue in which you and your friends watch and discuss Closure, a powerful film from Iran. It’s a great opportunity to learn together about the experiences of Christians in the Middle East and SAT-7’s ministry by and to them. Stourbridge-based couple Hannah and Charlie Pimm told […]
The Briefing – October 2016
The effects of unrelenting warfare on civilian populations continue to be felt from Syria to the Yemen. Only in Iraq does the fighting raise brighter hopes as so-called Islamic State are pushed out. Syria’s relentless war continues. A French draft resolution to the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire in Aleppo and a no-fly zone to end the […]
Malatya murderers convicted but Turkish Christians “still don’t feel safe”
SAT-7 TÜRK Broadcasting Manager Gökhan Talas spoke this week following the long-awaited conviction of five men for the 2007 murders of three staff of a Turkish Christian publishing house where Talas and his wife also worked. On 28 September the criminal court in Malatya sentenced five Turkish men to life imprisonment for the premeditated murders of Turkish Christians Necati Aydin […]
The Briefing – September 2016
A month of new political and military collaborations has produced a temporary ceasefire and some progress in Syria. Representatives of Middle East churches, meanwhile, gathered to consider their future in the region and heard calls for a Christian homeland in Iraq. The last few weeks have seen remarkable developments in Syria. It began with a rapprochement between Turkey and Russia […]
Reason to believe
There is a new phenomenon in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In a part of the world where religion traditionally shapes every area of life, there is a growth in religious doubt and questioning. Increasing numbers now call themselves atheists. Accurate figures are impossible to obtain in a region where non-belief could land you in jail. But one […]
The Briefing – August 2016
A shock coup attempt in Turkey and its aftermath was this month’s most seismic development. Egypt, meanwhile, saw further local attacks on Christians, while efforts to counter so-called Islamic State pressed ahead in Iraq . A night of madness and days of “cleansing” The latest turn of events in the region has pushed even seasoned experts into the “We don’t […]
Chance encounters on the Turkish-Syrian border
In the second part of a report from south-east Turkey, a team member of SAT-7 TÜRK wanders the ancient border town of Mardin. In this haven from surrounding conflict, she meets a Syrian refugee family who offer hospitality, a Chaldean Christian waiting in hope for his fiancée back in Syria, and an Aramaic-speaking priest who explains the city’s secret of […]
New opportunity for SAT-7 to share Christian hope in troubled Turkey
At a time of heightened anxiety in Turkey following the failed 15 July coup, Christian satellite TV broadcaster SAT-7 has been given a new opportunity to offer Turkish viewers words of hope and healing. Just days before the events that have plunged the country into crisis, SAT-7’s Turkish language channel announced it had begun broadcasting on the country’s D-Smart subscription […]
Youth Awakening in Turkey
Mardin, in south-east Turkey, has lately become a haven from surrounding conflict. A SAT-7 TÜRK team member joined the first national gathering of young Turkish Christians in the city – hearing their journeys of faith and meeting non-Christians curious to learn what it is that Christians believe. This is the first of a two-part report. Mardin is one of the […]
The Briefing – July 2016
Terror in Ramadan A spate of deadly bombings by so-called Islamic State sent shockwaves as Muslims marked Ramadan, the month of fasting. Meanwhile, in the UK the 6 July publication of the Chilcot report was a timely reminder of how the West is no distant spectator of events unfolding in the Middle East. Actions taken or avoided in the UK […]