People living in different parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) face distinct challenges that have led many to become hopeless. An ambitious new multi-language project is aiming to address viewers’ needs in different contexts and help them find hope in Christ.
The Reconnecting the MENA to Hope project is a partnership between SAT‑7 and Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM), involving all three of SAT‑7’s channels for adults: SAT-7 ARABIC, SAT-7 TÜRK, and SAT-7 PARS.
Each channel has created a brand-new program powered by LHM’s Project Connect booklets, which cover a range of topics designed to introduce people to the Gospel by addressing the challenges of daily life with biblical truth.
“Jesus often connected with people at their point of need,” said Rita El‑Mounayer, SAT-7 Chief Executive Officer. “He was then able to introduce them to a spiritual truth that resonated with their situation and set them on a journey of faith. That is what we are aiming to do through this project.
“This is the first time that a cross-channel project like this has been launched, and we are very grateful for our partnership with LHM, without which this project would not have been possible.”
New Programs Tackle Challenges
Each channel is tailoring the project’s content to the unique language, culture, and needs of its audience, and pointing viewers to further resources to help them go deeper into the topics covered.
SAT-7 ARABIC’s innovative new program Heartbeat will explore foundational theological questions and the relevance of the Christian worldview in turbulent times. It will feature discussions and insights about how faith applies to everyday moral, ethical, and personal dilemmas, and examine the relationship between faith and contemporary issues like science, politics, artificial intelligence, and the environment. Presented by Pastor Nabil Habibi in a video podcast setting, Heartbeat is linked with a downloadable audiobook that features teaching from the Project Connect booklets.
Meanwhile, SAT-7 TÜRK’s new series Let’s Talk About This will discuss common challenges faced by people in Türkiye. Offering a biblical perspective on issues such as depression, suicide, emotional abuse, and dementia, the show will introduce viewers to a God who is present in their daily lives. Twelve different Project Connect booklets have been translated into Turkish as downloadable resources to help viewers go deeper into the series’ themes.
Over on SAT-7 PARS, the new program GPS addresses critical life and faith topics to help viewers in oppressive contexts navigate personal and regional challenges, as well as issues within the church community. Episode topics include, ‘Why Do Bad Things Happen?’, ‘Parenting with Purpose’, and ‘Journey Through Anxiety.’ QR codes are incorporated into each episode, directing viewers to additional downloadable resources that have been adapted from LHM’s Project Connect booklets.
The Power of Partnership
Like SAT-7, Lutheran Hour Ministries uses media to share the Gospel and strengthen the Church. Its name comes from a weekly national radio program that started broadcasting in the USA in 1930 and continues to this day. The ministry developed into using other forms of media and resources to introduce people all over the world to Jesus and His teaching.
Kurt Buchholz, LHM CEO and member of the SAT-7 International Council, said the partnership was beneficial for all involved: “We are coming together and creating projects that meet the needs of those who have not yet heard the Gospel within the MENA region, mutually meet the needs of SAT-7, and then meet the needs of LHM, in that we want to expand that Gospel proclamation throughout the world.
“This is a time for Christians to come together and find where one organization’s goals overlap with another’s. In that middle place, we partner together to expand everyone’s opportunities. Our partnership with SAT-7 has definitely been that for us.”
