A remarkable gathering of over 10,000 young Christians in Egypt went ahead from 26 to 28 September despite Egypt’s continuing precarious security and a wave of unprecedented violence against the Christian community a month before. And Middle East Christian broadcaster SAT-7 transmitted the three days of prayer, teaching and high-energy worship to millions more via live satellite TV, Youtube and web streaming.
In spite of the risks and challenges of transporting thousands of people to the One Thing 2013 conference in Wadi Natroun, Egypt, organisers at Cairo’s Kasr El Dobara Evangelical Church (KEDC) believed God was calling them to continue.
After the recent attacks on Christians in which many lost homes and churches, KEDC leaders believed the need to envision young believers through the annual One Thing event was more important than ever.
Getting to the conference was a logistical challenge because security threats have meant the train system has been suspended and curfews have been in place since mid-August. Many did not leave the conference at night but slept on the floor.
Despite these difficulties, for three days attendees participated in extended times of prayer, joined in worship and responded enthusiastically to preaching on 1 John 1:1 – with its message of life and incarnation.
Pastor Sameh Maurice of KEDC gave five messages on the “True Love” embodied in Christ. Attendees were called to unite in rejecting all intolerance, apathy and division. Together they prayed for God to rebuild damaged churches and wounded congregations as places and people which will have a much wider influence and that people will stream to them from different places and backgrounds.
Thanks to innovative use of technology by SAT-7, many millions of viewers across the Arabic speaking world experienced the conference live via satellite TV or YouTube.
SAT-7 Operations Manager Albert Fawzi led the team using several 3G mobile phones to connect to the Internet on-location in Wadi Natroun. SAT-7 then aired One Thing 2013 on television, web streaming, and iOS and Android phone apps.
Viewers posted messages of appreciation on SAT-7 ARABIC’s YouTube channel. Bishoy from Egypt commented, “Thank you very much for posting the entire episode. We have high school exams and we don’t know how we would have attended.” Another YouTube viewer commented, “It was truly three awe-inspiring days, in spite of the fact that I joined the conference from home…I sensed beautiful feelings and of course, as usual, worship was a sensational time.”
Through its live broadcast and YouTube uploads, SAT-7 carried the One Thing 2013 conference from a small town in troubled Egypt across the world, proclaiming “Jesus is the Word of Life.”
Ends.