Christians from the Holy Land are sharing a powerful worship song as a prayer for their war-ravaged homeland. It was shown on SAT-7 ARABIC program Today not Tomorrow as part of a special episode about the conflict in the Holy Land, and it is being played on local radio stations there – giving hope to listeners of different religions.

SAT-7 PARS has launched Church4Kids, a new discipleship project for Persian-speaking children. Through live Instagram streams, worship and teaching material, and one-to-one encouragement, Church4Kids creates a safe space for children in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan to learn more about God.

“The Christians that live and worship here are so full of fire, so full of spirit!” shares SAT-7 TÜRK Executive Assistant Annamaria Cedolin enthusiastically in a heartfelt blog. Annamaria shares how her love for Turkey and its people, and her understanding of her country’s rich and colourful Christian history has grown since she began working with the channel, and how this fuels her desire to “reach even one life” with the message of the Gospel.

The new on-demand streaming service SAT-7 PLUS is thriving, nine months after it launched as the first Christian platform of its kind in the Middle East. Encouragingly, the platform’s most-watched program is As in Heaven, a new Arabic worship program created especially for the digital audience.

“You can seal our churches but you can’t seal our hearts” is the cry from Algeria as churches are being sealed shut despite Article 42 of the Algerian Constitution guaranteeing its citizens freedom to worship and the freedom to meet for a service. The 15 October closure of the largest of these – the 1,200-member Full Gospel Church of Tizi Ouzou (EPPETO) – has also halted live television broadcasts of the weekly services by Christian broadcaster SAT-7.

SAT-7 PARS’ live shows for children aim to teach young Persian-speakers Biblical principles in a fun and engaging way. Their success is often evidenced by the messages sent in from children watching the programs in Iran.

The world watched in horror in 2014 as ISIS rampaged through Iraq, driving hundreds of thousands of Christians from their historic homelands. Five years on, a SAT-7 documentary visits the liberated city of Qaraqosh, where believers are rebuilding – unbroken, and filled with hope.

Combining the power of storytelling and music, the second series of the popular SAT-7 PARS children’s show Stories and Songs enables young Persian-speakers to learn about Biblical characters they may have never heard of.