Christian Middle East Broadcaster Awarded
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – A Christian broadcaster that claims to reach 25 million people in the Middle East and North Africa — has received a prestigious award from National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), the world’s largest association of Christian communicators.
SAT-7 (www.sat7usa.org) confirmed Wednesday it had got the NRB’s International Media Award for 2021. It is part of the annual Media and Special Service Awards presented to Christian organizations that the NRB claims excel in their field and spread the Gospel with the most significant effect.
“This is God’s season for the Middle East and North Africa,” said SAT-7 CEO Rita El-Mounayer, a native of Lebanon, in a statement obtained by Worthy News. The official heads the network’s programming, with up to 80% produced in the Middle East. SAT-7 uses local presenters speaking Arabic, Turkish and Farsi, the region’s three main languages.
“People across the region are intrigued to see that God really does care about them,” said El-Mounayer. “They’re asking: ‘Who is this Jesus?’ and our local Christian presenters and their guests make God’s love visible to them in ways they respond to.”
The network aims to encourage isolated Christians in countries such as Iran and Algeria, “where believers are not allowed to attend church, many don’t have a Bible, and some have never met another Christian in person.”
“SAT-7 is the church for the thousands of isolated believers across the Middle East and North Africa who have to worship alone in secret in their homes,” El-Mounayer said.
“One viewer in Iran told us, ‘when you pray on the screen, I pray with you; when you worship on the screen, I worship with you. One day I will pray and worship with you in person. And not just that — when I see you, I will kneel down and wash your feet and say thank you for what you did for the church in Iran.'”
The network, which marks its 25th year of broadcasting from studios in the Middle East, apparently saw a record number of viewers during the coronavirus pandemic. SAT-7, available free-of-charge, cited “a surge in viewers’ responses in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia and other nations in the volatile region.”
Its live programs — often focusing on social issues, family life, and health — and its social media channels attract viewers from different religious and cultural backgrounds. Viewers can ask the SAT-7 team questions on the phone or through online chat.
“When they see and hear local Christians in their language describe how Jesus has given them peace, hope, and love for others, many viewers are calling us and chatting with our team on social media, saying: ‘I want to experience that, too,'” stressed El-Mounayer, who began her career as an SAT-7 children’s presenter in the 1990s.
SAT-7 will be presented with the NRB’s International Media Award at the NRB convention in Grapevine, Texas, in June.
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