SAT-7 BRINGS CONFERENCES TO VIEWERS’ HOMES
SAT-7 ARABIC recently broadcast two large, inspirational Christian events from Egypt. The ‘Show Me Your Glory II’ leadership conference and ‘OneThing’, a long-running youth festival, brought thousands of believers together for teaching, worship, and prayer.
The events were also streamed live on social media, receiving many positive comments from viewers. The programs are a great encouragement for Egyptian Christians who cannot attend the conferences themselves. The faith of the participants, in what has been a traumatic year for the Church in Egypt, is also a powerful witness for other viewers across the Arab world.
“GOD WANTS YOU TO DO GREAT THINGS”
The ninth annual ‘OneThing’ conference was held on 21-23 September at Beit El Wadi (“House of the Valley”), a desert venue between Cairo and Alexandria. The youth event is run by Egypt’s largest evangelical congregation, Kasr el Dobara Evangelical Church, and this year carried the theme “Here I will dwell”.
The speakers encouraged and challenged the young worshippers with messages about God’s desire for relationship with humankind, the blessings found in Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, and prayer, among other topics. On the final day, Rev. Dr Sameh Maurice said:
“God wants you to do great things beyond your abilities. Why? Because He wants you to walk with Him and be a tool for His great work. He won’t work without you. He chose to use you to do His work.”
Thanking the security forces who helped organise the event, the church leader acknowledged that this is a difficult time for Egyptian Christians, who have been the target of several terrorist attacks this year, to gather together.
“LORD, OUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOUR PEACE”
The sense of seeking God’s blessing for a time of struggle was also strong at Show Me Your Glory II, the second annual gathering held by the Evangelical Church Synod to mark the 500-year anniversary of the Reformation.
The leadership event was held on 29 September at Deir Abou Henness in Minya governorate, the same region where 28 Christians were killed in a gun attack in May this year. Speaker Andrea Zaki, President of the Evangelical Churches in Egypt, used the story of Jesus calming the storm to address how believers should handle crises.
Several of the leaders also prayed movingly for Egypt. Pastor Atef Sidhom asked:
“Lord, our country needs your peace, our economy needs your peace, the growth of the Church needs your peace. That’s why we seek You, Lord, for You are the source of peace and the Prince of Peace… We pray that peace fills our country, our cities, and our homes.”
VIEWERS RESPOND
Both programs received an enthusiastic response from those watching at home. “The presence of God was fiery at [‘OneThing’],” wrote one social media user. Viewers of ‘Show Me Your Glory II’ shared their prayer requests, including one who asked God to touch the hearts of those who commit acts of terrorism, saying, “Show them your glory, for they do not know what they do.”
Many people thanked SAT-7 for broadcasting the events, including a female viewer who said, “It is a wonderful thing to praise the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. May the Lord bless the lives of all who broadcast this on SAT-7.” Their words were echoed by Rev Sameh Maurice at ‘Show Me Your Glory II’, who said,
“Special thanks to the station that the Lord uses for His service and glory… It is a station that serves the Middle East.”