Making God’s Love Visible and Audible in Local Languages

Powered by local Christians, SAT-7 shares the Good News of Jesus in three main language groups – Arabic, Persian, and Turkish – while expanding programming in local variants and dialects. The variety of SAT-7’s programs provides opportunities to connect with different people groups across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

“SAT-7 is committed to making the Gospel available to everyone, everywhere across the Middle East and North Africa, and a big part of this is ensuring our broadcasts are available in as many dialects and languages of the region as possible,” says George Makeen, SAT-7 ARABIC’s Ministry Content Adviser.

Arabic is one of SAT-7’s main broadcast languages. It is spoken by around 400 million people, making it one of the five most spoken languages in the world. Arabic has a wide variety of distinct variants, not all of which are mutually intelligible. The programs from our Cairo studio are in Egyptian Arabic, while those filmed at our Beirut studio are in Lebanese Arabic (a variety of Levantine Arabic) – both of which are widely understood across the region.

Expanding North African Productions

SAT-7 is expanding programming for viewers across North Africa, building on productions made in Kabyle, a Berber language, predominantly spoken in northern Algeria. Current Kabyle programs include Home Church in Algeria, which is modeling a house church for local believers following the closure of most of the country’s Protestant churches. “We are seeing many people in the Kabyle region of Algeria coming to Christ, which is why it is vital we continue to produce faith-filled programs in the Kabyle dialect, to support the growth of the Algerian Church,” said George Makeen.

New programs are being produced this year from Tunisia and Morocco in local dialects spoken by people in those countries. Andrew Gamal, Audio Studio Manager for SAT-7 Egypt, has just returned from filming a special program in Tunisia to be broadcast during Ramadan to support Isolated Believers in North African.

He wants to support more locally-produced content: “We want a team from North Africa – not a team from the Arab World going there to shoot episodes – with different dialects from different countries. We want to teach them how to use the cameras and do the editing. They need more stories from their own people in their own dialects.”

Andrew produced three Christmas specials from North Africa, which included testimonies, worship, and prayers from Algerian, Tunisian, and Moroccan Christians.

Reaching Persian Audiences

The majority of SAT-7 PARS’ programming is in Iranian Persian (also known as Farsi), the main language of Iran, but the channel is continuing to develop new content for viewers in Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

“As a Persian language channel, we serve a diverse audience across Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan,” explains Panayiotis Keenan, SAT-7 PARS Executive Director. “Each country has its distinct culture, history, people, and variety of Persian, and it is crucial to us that our viewers can hear about God’s love in their own heart languages.”

SAT-7’s programs for Afghan viewers are in Dari, the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Upcoming Dari programs include the short daily devotional program Spiritual Mouthfuls and educational program Sun of Hope, adding to other Dari broadcasts, including Secret of Life and Ariana Church.  

The Tajik language is a variant of Persian which is spoken mostly in Tajikistan. Although sometimes seen as a Persian language, Tajik uses the Cyrillic alphabet and is often regarded as a separate language. SAT-7 PARS is currently broadcasting the channel’s first ever Tajik language program for isolated Christian women, In the World of Women’s Thoughts, following other Tajik discipleship programs.

Breaking Down Barriers

SAT7 TÜRK’s programs are mostly in Turkish, the national language of Türkiye, but the channel also broadcasts in Azerbaijani, or Azeri, a Turkic language spoken in Azerbaijan as well as parts of Türkiye and northern Iran.

Last year, SAT-7 TÜRK produced its first feature film, Yakamoz, to mark the centenary of the population exchange between Türkiye and Greece. The film highlights an important piece of Türkiye’s Christian heritage and promotes peaceful dialogue between people from different backgrounds and cultures. It features different Turkish dialects, as well as Greek and Ancient Greek, within a storyline that brings together two families of different religions and ancestry.

Nicole Thoma, Development and Communications Coordinator for SAT-7 TÜRK, explains how language has the power to break down barriers between people, and how learning Turkish changed her: “As a Greek Cypriot, it opened my mind and unlocked doors in my soul to accept all people, no matter their language or culture – whether they are Turks, Arabs, Iranians, or Cypriots.”