Christian communities in the Middle East and North Africa have been celebrating the unchanging message of Easter this month against a backdrop of changing political tides and economic and environmental pressures. One of the largest displays of the region’s Christian presence was in the Nineveh plain of Iraq. There, tens of thousands processed through palm-decorated streets in the Christian town […]
The results of two recent elections – in Iran and Israel – are set to have a major impact on the future of the region. In Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the country’s judiciary, will become the next president in August. Presidential elections on 18 June saw the lowest turnout since the founding of the Republic in 1979. But […]
Sadly, the Middle East only seems to get the world’s attention when there are heartbreaking events to report. The last week has been no exception. Protests over the threatened evictions of Palestinians in Jerusalem and violence at the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary made for a febrile atmosphere over the Ramadan festival. This escalated with the firing of missiles at Israeli cities […]
With war coming ever closer to their home in Syria, Revd Wael Haddad and his wife, Maram Nafe Tahhan, turned to God for guidance and began seeking to migrate to the Gulf. But every door they tried suddenly closed, until God intervened at the eleventh hour. Wael and Maram told their story on a special edition of the SAT-7 […]
The turning of the year gives us two occasions to renew our hope for the world. Christmas, the first of these, reminds us that no matter what comes to pass, our hope is secure in Christ. New Year’s Eve, the second of these, is a moment to reflect on the year behind us and look forward to opportunities ahead. Just […]
“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 […]