As each day brings new headlines of war and suffering in the Middle East, we continue to trust in the power of God to answer our prayers for the people of the region. In recent weeks, we have been inspired and encouraged by the faith of our supporters – like Maretta, a child displaced from southern Lebanon, who shared with us:

“The Bible is our only comfort that gives us strength despite all the difficulties we face. In the Bible, the words ‘Fear Not’ are mentioned 365 times for all the days of the year. Jesus knew we would fear and reminds us not to fear despite all that we face. His message for us is to be strong and not fear but to pray.”

Like Maretta, let’s not give in to fear, but continue to turn to God in prayer.

Download your May Prayer Diary here.

Listen to the youth episode of the Around the Table podcast.

Support for parents facing grief and feat amid crisis:
https://www.sat7uk.org/support-for-parents-facing-grief-and-fear-amid-crisis/

Displaced children in Lebanon inspire with prayers and faith:
https://www.sat7uk.org/displaced-children-in-lebanon-inspire-with-prayers-and-faith/

School shootings highlight need to support youth in Türkiye:
https://www.sat7uk.org/school-shootings-highlight-need-to-support-youth-in-turkiye/

Sudan: The "senseless war" the world forgot:
https://www.sat7uk.org/sudan-the-senseless-war-the-world-forgot/

Being Young in the MENA: Youth, Identity, and Shaping the Future

In this episode of Around the Table, we explore what it really means to be young in the Middle East and North Africa today. With over half the region’s population under the age of 30, this is a generation shaping the present as much as the future—full of creativity, resilience, and potential, while also navigating significant challenges.

Together, we step beyond the headlines to hear a more nuanced story. From questions of identity and belonging to the realities of opportunity, uncertainty, and hope, this conversation offers insight into life through the eyes of young people across the region.

We also reflect on the role of media in this landscape—how it influences, informs, and connects young audiences, and why platforms like SAT-7 are vital in creating space for authentic stories, and the Good News of Jesus, to be shared.

This isn’t a conversation about easy answers. It’s about listening — to the challenges young people face, to the questions they’re asking, and to the hope they carry as they navigate a rapidly changing world and help shape its future.

Whether you’re listening on your favourite podcast platform or via the SAT-7 UK website, we’re glad you’ve joined us around the table.

SAT-7 UK: https://www.sat7uk.org/

SAT-7 UK Podcasts: https://www.sat7uk.org/pages/sat-7-uk-podcast/

Welcome to 7 Ways to Pray, a monthly podcast brought to you by SAT-7.

This month, we bring you 7 prayers from SAT-7 staff across the Middle East. Over the last month, we have all been left reeling by the sudden and largescale war in the Middle East that broke out at the beginning of March. You may have been wondering how to pray at this time of crisis. We hope these seven prayers will help guide you. Maybe you could share them with others – in your church, small group or prayer meeting?

Show Note Resources:

Read and pray about the ongoing crisis in the Middle East:
https://www.sat7uk.org/crisis

Download March Prayer Diary:
https://www.sat7uk.org/pray/

Join us for another impactful conversation Around the Table, SAT-7 UK’s podcast where voices from the UK, the Middle East, and North Africa come together for honest, faith-filled conversations that go deeper than the headlines.

In this special episode marking International Women’s Day, hosts Sophie Griffith, George Makeen and Martin Thomas are joined by best-selling author Karen Bartlett and distinguished TV producer and director Mikael Tunér. Together, they take part in a powerful and thought-provoking conversation about Afghanistan, exploring vital themes including women’s rights, justice, faith and the role of the media. While the discussion is not always easy, it is both necessary and deeply important — and one we hope you’ll find as insightful as it is compelling.

For many of us, Afghanistan filled the headlines in 2021, with images of chaos, desperation, and departure as Western forces completed their withdrawal from the country. Then, almost as suddenly, it slipped from view; but for the people of Afghanistan, the story didn’t simply end there.

So, in this episode, we take a deeper look at what life has been like since August 2021: the impact on women, on justice, on faith, and on the voices that are still finding ways to be heard, even under extreme pressure.

We would have loved to have included the voices of women from Afghanistan in this episode. Unfortunately, due to security concerns, this wasn’t possible. Instead, we draw on the insights of people who have worked closely with Afghan women and their stories. We hope that Karen’s experience interviewing many of the Afghan women judges for her book Escape from Kabul, combined with Mikael’s heart for women’s programming after growing up in Afghanistan, makes for a compelling and inspiring conversation.

This conversation is not about quick answers or simple conclusions. Rather it’s about listening — to stories of resilience, to the role of media and faith in closed spaces, and to the quiet hope that continues to exist even where freedom is severely restricted.

Whether you’re listening on your favourite podcast platform or via the SAT-7 UK website, we’re glad you’ve joined us around the table.

SAT-7 UK: https://www.sat7uk.org/

Check out:

Karen Bartlett’s Book: The Escape from Kabul: A True Story of Sisterhood and Defiance

SAT-7 UK Podcasts: https://www.sat7uk.org/pages/sat-7-uk-podcast/

Welcome to 7 Ways to Pray, a monthly podcast brought to you by SAT-7.

This month, let us lead you on a prayer-filled tour of seven of the countries and areas SAT-7 works in, taking in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Gulf, Syria, the UK and North Africa. We hope you’re encouraged to hear some of the amazing stories of God at work in the MENA through SAT-7, as well as challenged to intercede for those who are facing difficult times.

View a map of the region: Map

Show Note Resources:

Find out more about SAT-7’s continued support of Iranian viewers:
https://www.sat7uk.org/standing-in-the-gap-daily-prayer-for-iran/

Read more about Sun of Hope, which is bringing education to viewers in Afghanistan: https://www.sat7uk.org/dari-education-in-afghanistan/

Discover how Iraqi churches are being rebuilt against the odds:
https://www.sat7uk.org/restoring-churches-and-hope-for-iraqi-chritians/

Learn about SAT-7’s media training workshops in North Africa:
https://www.sat7uk.org/equipping-north-africans-to-tell-their-own-stories/

Read Insight magazine for more on stories from the Gulf, Syria and the UK:
https://www.sat7uk.org/for-you/sat-7-magazine/

Download March Prayer Diary:
https://www.sat7uk.org/pages/pray/

Prayer Points:

Dear God,

Lord, we bring all of these countries and places before you in prayer.

1. We pray that you will continue to comfort and encourage your people in Iran.
2. We thank you that against the odds, SAT-7 is bringing education to adults and children in Afghanistan.
3. We pray for continued restoration of your people and churches in Iraq.
4. We give you thanks that believers in North Africa are being empowered to share their own stories and reach their communities for Christ.
5. We thank you for breakthroughs in Saudi Arabia and Oman, and pray this will lead to even greater opportunities for your name.
6. We pray for your strength and comfort for believers in Syria, like Taim, who feel rejected and alone.
7. Finally, we pray your blessing on the plans of SAT-7 UK, especially as we look forward to Prom Praise.

In His name, Amen.

Join us for another powerful conversation Around the Table, SAT-7 UK’s podcast where voices from the UK, the Middle East, and North Africa come together for honest, faith-filled conversations that go deeper than the headlines.

In this episode, hosts Sophie Griffith and Martin Thomas are joined by Dr. Martin Accad and Dan Morrice for a thoughtful and timely conversation about peacebuilding.

Together, they explore how faith communities are actively fostering peace in divided contexts. From inspiring stories of reconciliation to courageous leadership across the region, this episode shines a light on the hope-filled work already underway. We also reflect on what it means for each of us to become peacemakers in our own everyday lives — wherever we are.

These are the conversations that remind us of the hope, courage, and creativity shaping lives across the Middle East and North Africa — and how we can all play a part in God’s bigger story of transformation.

If you care about justice, reconciliation, and real stories that challenge stereotypes and build bridges, this episode is for you.

Show Note Resources:

SAT-7 UK: https://www.sat7uk.org/

Check out:

Dan Morrice’s Book: Finding the Peacemakers: A Journey of Faith from the Mines of Chile to the Deserts of the Middle East

Martin Accad’s Book: Sacred Misinterpretation: Reaching Across the Christian- Muslim Divide

SAT-7 UK Podcasts: https://www.sat7uk.org/pages/sat-7-uk-podcast/

Welcome to Voices of the Middle East, a SAT-7 UK podcast. SAT-7 is an international Christian media ministry bringing life-changing joy to the people of the Middle East and North Africa. Last year we had over 103,000 one-to-one conversations with viewers, and through these conversations we are hearing constant stories of the ways God is at work in people’s lives. In this podcast, we’ll share some of their stories with you, and invite you to pray for SAT-7 and the people of the region.

Welcome to 7 Reasons to Pray for the Middle East, a special one-off podcast and church resource brought to you by SAT-7 UK.

If we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes we can wonder what the point is in praying for people we’ll never meet, or for global situations that feel too big to solve. When we’re overwhelmed by the challenges facing the Middle East, our prayers can seem small and insignificant.

Yet when we turn to the Bible, we see that God invites us to pray – not just to change the world, but to change our own hearts in the process. That’s why we’ve come up with 7 Reasons to Pray for the Middle East – a brand-new resource for you and your church, as well as this month’s podcast. We hope these seven Bible-based reasons inspire you to pray more regularly, more urgently, and more deeply for our brothers and sisters around the world.

Use today’s talk in your church or small group

Would your church, prayer meeting or small group enjoy this talk? We have recorded today’s podcast as a video version that can be shown in your own setting, followed by a time of prayer for the Middle East. To access the video and sign up for your church resources, click here.

7 Reasons to Pray for the Middle East

Let’s recap the 7 reasons to pray for the Middle East, along with the Bible references used:

1. We want to be more like Jesus. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” John 17:20-21
2. Our MENA brothers and sisters are asking us to. “But God has put the body together… its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:24-26:
3. It gives us a more global perspective. “[Stand] firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 1 Peter 5:8-10
4. To align our hearts with God’s heart. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10
5. As a biblical response to our worries. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6
6. It inspires us to praise God! “Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his surpassing greatness.” Psalm 150:2
7. God answers our prayers. “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16

Further prayer resources

To keep going in your prayers for the Middle East, visit sat7uk.org/pray where you’ll find links to our latest Prayer Diary, as well as recent episodes of 7 Ways to Pray, our monthly prayer podcast.