Middle East Christian TV station celebrates 18 years broadcasting

On Saturday, 31 May, SAT-7 celebrates 18 years of Christian broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa. The station began in 1996 transmitting just two hours a week from a rented studio in Beirut. Today, SAT-7 broadcasts 800 hours a week of programming for over 15 million viewers from Morocco to Afghanistan. The network broadcasts 24/7 in Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish languages to the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and North America.

SAT-7 CEO Dr Terence Ascott said: "Each anniversary causes me to reflect on the way God has led us since we started. Then, we had six staff... today we have 170 worldwide from 22 nations! This growth is beyond the wildest dreams we had in 1996! We Praise God for all His blessings, and for bringing into the ministry the national staff and financial support to make this a reality."

Studio staff and independent producers of SAT-7 programmes are Christians of different denominations from countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. This keeps the network in touch with the needs and cultural sensitivities of its audiences. SAT-7 programmes give the region's Christians a mass media presence to speak to their own societies.

The network aired church services from the beleaguered cities of Baghdad, Iraq and Damascus, Syria. It also increased its programs from countries with sparse Christian populations, such as Turkey and Algeria.

In response to a thousand-fold rise in its YouTube views, SAT-7 will further promote apps for mobile devices and live Internet streaming. These goals reinforce the ethos of SAT-7- to serve all the churches in the Middle East and North Africa and present a united witness to a divided region.

For a taste of SAT-7, watch this short Easter flashmob film from Beirut, Lebanon: www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6kwo97_4k4

For more information go to: www.sat7uk.org