8 minute read
CHANGING THE STORY FOR Women in the Middle East
Presbyterian Women’s Special Overseas Project for 2023/2024 will focus on the incredible work of SAT-7 and their work with women across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Julia Jolley from SAT-7 tells us more.
Heba*, from Algeria, was desperate. In an unhappy marriage and feeling suicidal, she felt she had nowhere to turn…
“I had no self-confidence and I became weaker and weaker. I even contemplated suicide,” said Heba, who was in despair over her husband’s drinking and adultery. One day, Heba was browsing Facebook when she came across SAT-7 through our Facebook Family page. Bravely, she reached out for help.
“That same day, Marianne arranged to call me,” said Heba. “She lovingly gave me her time, and I shared my struggles. Marianne gave me advice and prayed with me. I finally felt released from the trap of a deep well that had closed in on me.”
Marianne, SAT-7’s Arabic viewer support team manager, didn’t leave it there and connected Heba with an online discipleship group.
“Since then, my life has gone from misery to joy,” Heba said. “I learnt how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I can even see changes in my husband. I thank SAT-7 because it was the main reason for the change in my life.”
There are countless women like Heba in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Trapped, lonely and hopeless. But through SAT-7’s faith-filled programmes and digital media – and the vital follow-up provided by our viewer support team – many are finding the joy and freedom that comes from knowing Jesus.
Every year, over 700,000 girls are forced into child marriage. (UNICEF)
Şemsa Deniz Bakır, a presenter on SAT-7’s Turkish channel, said: “My biggest dream is to show that there is always hope with the living God. When we reach women, we reach other people too. Helping women means helping everyone.”
Rights and freedoms denied
It is so easy for us as women in the West to take for granted the everyday rights and freedoms we enjoy: the freedom to wear what we like and go wherever we want; pursue higher education and career opportunities; travel unaccompanied.
In the MENA, women’s rights and freedoms are denied to varying degrees in different countries, from being required to have a chaperone to travel, or having to work in the home instead of going to school – but this is notably severe in Afghanistan. “Since the Taliban takeover, girls in my homeland have been deprived of the most basic freedoms such as education and sport,” shares Mariam, a SAT-7 viewer from Afghanistan. Women, increasingly, are prisoners in their own homes. Women’s mental health is suffering and already high female suicide rates are increasing.
In neighbouring Iran, nationwide protests broke out last September following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the country’s morality police for not wearing the hijab properly. In the harsh crackdown that ensued, hundreds of women and girls were killed by the Iranian security forces.
The protests were seen as the biggest challenge to the regime since the 1979 revolution, but Iran’s leaders are not showing any signs of easing restrictions.
Other issues facing women and girls across the MENA include early and forced marriage; domestic violence; confinement to the home; and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
In this challenging and often brutal context, SAT-7’s programming on satellite television and digital media activities for women aims to:
help women and girls recognise their individual value in God’s eyes
give them a platform to make their voices heard
strengthen their families and communities
equip women to challenge negative social attitudes and effect positive change
Resistance
Popular live talk show Insiders, on SAT-7’s Persian channel, gives women a platform to discuss topics that are widely treated as taboo in Persian culture. Presenter Sally Momtazi said: “We have been standing with the Iranian people, raising awareness, hoping and praying for a free Iran where women, life and freedom are honoured.”
A recent episode explored how domestic violence, child marriages, and confinement to the home are on the rise. Guests discussed how in Iran alone there were 700,000 child mothers. Feedback from male viewers highlights their support for women and desire to see them treated with dignity and respect.
Kian, a male viewer, wrote: “Thank you for the topic you have selected – a discriminatory view of women is simply unacceptable in the modern era… They have effectively made women into objects for sale and there is nothing said about genuine love and faithfulness.”
Confidence
Women in Türkiye also face significant challenges, most notably gender-based violence: hundreds of women are murdered in the country each year, and astoundingly almost 40 per cent are subject to domestic violence.
SAT-7 TÜRK presenter Şemsa Deniz Bakır believes that women’s rights and conditions reflect the state of society. The channel is using Şemsa’s programme Homemade, among others, to serve the needs of Turkish women. The content is focused on inviting Turkish women to see themselves and their lives through the eyes of a loving God. As a result, women from diverse backgrounds are sharing their testimonies on screen. Many viewers begin following Christ as a result of these programmes, and the team collaborates with local churches to provide new believers with support.
A female viewer in Türkiye said: “The existence of ministries like SAT-7 in this country gives us confidence and makes us feel that we are not alone.”
I came across your programme on SAT-7 TÜRK. You were doing patchwork so I started watching. The next day, I turned on the TV again and you were saying something about Jesus; I was very curious. I really liked the programme. Finally, as a result of everything I learned from you and the channel, I started following Jesus.
Challenging beliefs, promoting freedom
Today Not Tomorrow is a new programme on SAT-7 that is helping women – and men – to challenge inherited beliefs in their culture that affect the treatment and behaviour of both sexes.
“In Middle Eastern countries, we are often not encouraged to think critically. It’s not embedded in our education or our societal communication. We are often told this is the way it is, this is the way it should be, and don’t ask questions,” said presenter, Caroline Nassif.
Today Not Tomorrow is produced in a mobile studio mounted on the back of a pick-up truck, which travels all over Egypt, creating spaces for conversation with women from rural villages as well as local experts. Producer Maggie Morgan says they “exemplify the breadth of how women and girls in Egypt and arguably, across the Middle East and North Africa, are living restricted lives, stemming from beliefs and practices that have never been examined and rarely challenged.”
The rare opportunity for communal discussion is empowering women and men from various towns and villages to think, share opinions, and present a case for social change. “When TV programmes show stories like ours, it is enlightening and opens up family discussion at home,” a viewer said.
One to one support for women
Heba and many women like her connect with SAT-7’s viewer support teams by messaging or phoning in response to SAT-7’s TV programmes and social media posts. These teams provide practical advice, 1-2-1 discipleship, prayer and provide biblical resources. They can introduce viewers to churches and online discipleship groups, and specialist teams provide counselling, which is incredibly difficult for many women struggling through the trauma of conflict, loss and violence to access.
A young mother called Mehrazar in Iran wrote after receiving support from the viewer support team, “Many thanks for your kindness my dear spiritual family in the Lord - I am grateful for your prayers and messages that strengthen and build us up”.
SAT-7’s programmes are free to view by millions across the Middle East. Christians in the Middle East and North Africa are among the least supported in the world. Despite living under intense pressures only a tiny proportion of donations for Christian causes go to ministries working in the Middle East.
We are so grateful to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland for partnering with SAT-7 in this work since our small beginnings, your prayers and support have made a tangible difference to SAT-7’s ministry enabling countless lives to encounter God’s redeeming love.
Sharing God’s love with women has always been a key part of this ministry and it’s a wonderful privilege to be Presbyterian Women Special Overseas Project for 2023/2024. Your support is transforming the lives of women like Heba, bringing freedom and hope. We hope that you will be blessed and encouraged by seeing the difference your support is making over the course of this year.
