55 Years After Closure Turkish Protestant Church Reopens 50 Kilometers From IS Territory
February 2016Christians of all denominations have celebrated the reopening of a Protestant church only 50 kilometres from where churches have been bombed by so-called Islamic State (IS). Located just 30 kilometres from the Syrian border, the Protestant Church in Mardin, south-eastern Turkey, rang to the praises of a packed congregation some 55 years after persecution and migration forced its closure. Local […]
Remembering the Coptic Christians martyred in Libya
February 201615 February 2016 One year ago a video was released by so-called Islamic State showing the beheadings of 20 Egyptian Christians and one Ghanain believer. The following evening SAT-7 received a remarkable phone call of forgiveness from the brother of two of the slain men. In his tribute to the murdered men, Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox […]
Life on the edge – with Syrian refugees in Lebanon
February 2016More than two-thirds of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are living in extreme poverty, according to a United Nations study released in December. In the second of three articles, Lindsay Shaw from SAT-7 UK, describes visiting refugees in Zahle, Lebanon, where he saw their precarious existence on the margins of a society where 1 in 4 people is now a refugee. […]
Christians in Lebanon: living near a volcano
January 2016Beirut National Evangelical Church pastor Revd Dr Habib Badr tells Wazala why he sees “quality Christian presence” as the key to future peace and inclusion in a fragile and volatile country. A wall of coiled razor wire stands guard over the entrance to Evangelical Church Road in Central Beirut. It’s there not to protect the church but to control access […]
The exiled Syrians discovering the God of miracles
January 2016In the first of a series of articles from Lebanon, Lindsay Shaw from SAT-7 UK reports on how God is changing lives among Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley A soaring unfinished entrance wing announces a church in the midst of major expansion. But it is the hundreds of people the church is serving that reveal the real growth at […]
From fear to joy – a Saviour is born
January 2016The angels’ command to “Fear not” has never been more relevant, says Munther Isaac, Academic Dean of Bethlehem Bible College. But how does news of a Saviour drive out fear? “And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born […]
Iranian songs of fellowship
November 2015Newly returned from a marathon recording session in Finland of 44 Iranian worship songs, London-based worship leader Hovan Hovsepian-Mehr spoke to Wazala about the importance and nature of worship in the Iranian diaspora Church. In many ways Christian worship is in Hovan’s blood. His father, Edward, is one of the most respected leaders of the Iranian church and was for […]
Bridge building through art in Alexandria
Wazala profiles a pioneering cultural project that is bridging religious and social divisions in Egypt What does it take to unify a country? Five years ago it was a national hunger for political change that brought Egyptians of diverse creeds and backgrounds together. At that time they were calling for the end of the rule of President Hosni Mubarak. But […]