Nashwan from Iraq owned a flourishing business and a house, but militants who overran his area threatened to kill him and his family. They all fled their home and later moved to Egypt, but Nashwan can neither obtain a work permit and find suitable employment, nor enroll his daughters in school.
Nashwan is one of numerous refugees and other migrants across the Middle East and North Africa who are supported by SAT-7 through our programs and projects. Millions of people were forced from their homes by the protracted conflicts in Iraq and Syria and have never returned. Hundreds of thousands have fled from Afghanistan following last year’s takeover by the Taliban, while others are trying to escape economic meltdown in Lebanon. Some countries in the region, such as Turkey, are struggling to accommodate massive migrant populations.
Many of these displaced people have desperate needs for spiritual support and practical help. Yet so often they are not crushed by their hardships, and even have impressive and inspiring stories to tell. This year SAT-7 is marking World Refugee Day on Monday, June 20th by sharing some of these stories in our INSIGHT magazine.
In the Bible, when God’s people are scattered among the nations, He acts as a sanctuary for them where they have gone (Ezekiel 11:16). Many of today’s migrants are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and this new edition of INSIGHT also shows how God has been using SAT-7’s ministry to transform their lives – and those of others too!
- Ashwaq, a young graduate from Sudan, who came to Egypt to work but can earn barely enough to support herself and her young son. She tells her story in a powerful new series of personal documentaries, Refugee Tales, that relates the struggles and showcases the resilience of refugees in Egypt.[1]
- Gilbert, whose family fled Iran after his father was murdered, and whose program Songwriting with Gilbert provides worship songs for suffering Iranian Christians. These are written in collaboration with refugees from Iran living in Turkey, all of whom have fled their homeland only recently.
- Refugee children in Lebanon who study at a HOPE school run by SAT-7’s partner Heart for Lebanon. The school uses our popular educational program My School to teach them Arabic, English and maths. Every class has improved in all three subjects, and the children are developing socially too!
Other stories come from projects to amplify refugees’ voices, including in crisis-hit Lebanon, to provide spiritual support and discipleship to Iranian refugees in Turkey, and to enable youth to work for greater social cohesion.
Please click here to download the magazine and read more! And please pray that in SAT-7’s programs our viewers will encounter this God who is a home for the homeless.
Prayer Points
- For all refugees in the Middle East and North Africa who are navigating the many challenging realities of displacement
- That God will use SAT-7 programs to encourage and bring hope to displaced viewers
- For SAT-7 viewer support teams as they journey alongside refugees who reach out
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[1] Part of a project funded by the Norwegian Mission Society to promote the rights of the marginalized.
