Dear Friends
“For several decades a spiritual awakening
among Algeria’s Berber or Amazigh people has been producing the fastest-growing
Christian community in the Arabic-speaking region. Since the network’s first broadcasts in 1996,
SAT-7 has resourced this vibrant Church, initially with our Arabic programmes
and, since 2012, with broadcasts in the Berber Kabyle dialect.”
This is a quotation from Sat-7’s magazine
published a year ago.
SAT-7 is a UK based charity dedicated
to growing Church in the Middle East and North Africa, serving the
community, and contributing to the good of society and culture.
Their aim is to provide the churches
and Christians of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) an opportunity to
witness to Jesus Christ through inspirational, informative, and educational
television services.
Algeria was one of the places I visited on
Wednesday 10th February 2021, via Zoom and courtesy of SAT-7. The Protestant Church of Algeria was first
registered in 1974 but had to wait till 2011 for legal recognition. Then in 2017 the gradual closure of churches
began – despite freedom of religion guaranteed by Algeria’s constitution. This movement to close churches continues. On
Wednesday, George Makeen, Programming Manager spoke of the church being strong
and growing but much in need of support.
Leaving Algeria I moved on to Lebanon and to
Beirut in particular. Lebanon has been
at peace for 30 years, but economic mismanagement and mass protests have put
its creaking political system under greater pressure than at any time since the
civil war. This is an area I have been interested in for a long time. It is now just six months since the terrible
explosion close to the port. The SAT-7
office and broadcasting centre was situated near the site of the explosion. Fortunately
none of the staff were injured, but they were out quickly, serving food to
rescue workers. The city has been badly
hit by the Covid 19 pandemic. Citizens
are being taken to hospital by frantic relatives trying to save lives. Many are dying in their cars before being
admitted to hospital and hospitals have run out of oxygen, yet oxygen is
available on the black market!
Next to Iran and the story of Dani a young man
who loved and worshipped God through his Muslim faith. He was a serious and honourable young man,
but, like many young people, he began to question his faith. He felt there was something missing. So he
tried various other routes to worship but remained dissatisfied. His Mother, concerned for her son, placed a
book on the table for him to consider.
The book was a copy of the New Testament. Through an interpreter, he talked about
how his life was changed. He has trained to take on leadership roles
and is working towards assisting other young people to find their way through
Christ.
This was quite a visit to the Middle East and
left me with many troublesome thoughts. But the most important thing I remember
is the amazing joyfulness evident in the lives of these young people, and I
would emphasise YOUNG. Despite all the
hardships they suffer every day of their lives, their love for and worship of
Jesus is so real. They were indeed
“lights of the world”.
It made me question why, in this country where
worshipping God is so easy, requires no effort and certainly no risk to life,
is there no joyfulness. Yes, we are
saddened by the closure of Churches, but even when they are open, I do not
detect the sort of joyful, light giving pleasure
and thankfulness seen among those for whom worship is a risk to life and limb.
We talk of “returning to normal” when we are
again free from current restrictions.
But I am not sure I want to return to “normal” as before. I want to be part of a Christian community
which expresses, through daily activities, the light of Christ in a darkened
world. And to show the joyful character
of those whose lives are changed.
June Foster
No comments:
Post a Comment