Back to school? As every school child knows, September is the month when the sun finally sets on the summer holidays and a new school year gusts in! But over 13.4 million children in the Middle East and North Africa will have no school place to go to this autumn. That’s due to conflict, poverty or discrimination. And many refugee […]
As the military war against so-called Islamic State enters a new phase, on the Church front, Christian leaders made bridge-building visits to the region’s beleaguered church communities. The Syrian civil war entered a new phase this week, with the decision of President Trump to arm the Kurdish-led Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) with heavy weapons in preparations for the campaign to […]
The Church of England’s only Syrian-born clergyman, Dr Nadim Nassar, is also Director of the London-based Awareness Foundation, a charity that provides peace-making education in Syria and Iraq and builds understanding between faiths in the UK. SAT-7 UK’s Press and Communications Officer, Lindsay Shaw, spoke to him just after he returned from Beirut where, among other things, he had filmed […]
With all the changes rocking the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and indeed the wider world, it is not only a sense of chaos that is increasingly causing hopelessness and desperation. A lack of quality role models, of leaders or authorities who can be trusted, is also a very important contributor to the crisis. People need order and […]
A church in Egypt that was targeted in one of the worst-ever attacks against the country’s Christian minority has testified to God’s grace and blessing in the years since the bombing. The infamous attack on Al-Qeddesine Church in Alexandria struck worshippers as they were leaving midnight mass on New Year’s Eve in 2011; 24 people were killed, scores injured […]
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 […]
Rachid describes the long and surprising course of his journey to faith. I am Pastor Rachid from Morocco. I lead a Church here and serve Christ in several parts of the country through discipleship training, education, church planting and media. My journey to faith in Jesus Christ and service in Morocco has involved many twists and turns, but my life […]
The heartfelt plea of a pastor in Lebanon The leader of a Lebanese church which has been sharing the love of Christ with refugees from Syria wrote this letter to churches in the West. Dear pastors in Europe, Greetings in Christ. We are at a very critical period of time concerning the refugees flooding into your countries. You have a […]
At German railway stations last autumn, cheering crowds welcomed trainloads of refugees after its government opened the doors to hundreds of thousands of migrants who had become stranded in Eastern Europe. The public mood may have shifted since then, but one German pastor who won’t be withdrawing his support is Revd Hanna Yeshou. Yeshou, who was the subject of a […]
Life in Lebanon is “like living near a volcano”, says Revd Dr Habib Badr, but SAT-7 gives him hope for a region in turmoil. As Senior Pastor of the oldest Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the Middle East, Revd Dr Habib Badr knows well the volatility of the region and the fragility of Lebanon, his homeland. The National Evangelical Church of […]