Nancy's Notebook

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Hope for the Women who need it Most!

Suppression, abuse, honor killings, suffering, despair. More than 250 million women in the Middle East and North Africa are desperate for hope. They seem a world away---an impossible world away. What could I possibly do?

That was my question. And the concern of my friend, Debbie Brink, SAT7 Senior VP. So we began talking and brainstorming and dreaming. 

We knew SAT7 Christian satellite television already reaches 15 million viewers with programs created by and for the people living in that region. We knew those programs already tell viewers about their God-given human rights, and individual dignity and worth in Christ.

But we knew that even more women and girls could be helped by more programs with a biblical view of womanhood, marriage, family, and society. The more women could hear the truth of how God sees them, and learn the hope and peace they have in Christ, the more their hopeless lives would be transformed. And when women are transformed, so is the family-and society.

There is hope for an entire region when women grasp their hope in Christ!

So we knew the need--more women's programming. we knew the solution---that when women here in the West see a need, we want to meet it. As they say--if you want something done, ask as woman!

So we've launched SAT7 Women of Hope, and already countless women around the US are coming on board to say, yes, I want to be a voice for women of the Middle East and North Africa!

Sharing their experiences - Siham   Daoud, Rita El Mounayer and  Samia Jallali Kessai

For our initial launch we brought three friends from the Middle East: Samia Jallali Kessai, worship leader, on-camera talent, theology graduate student, and producer of programs from Algeria, North Africa. Siham Daoud, concerned mom who grew up during war time in Lebanon (and is witnessing the threat of war mounting again in Lebanon) and volunteer with her church to serve the needs of the near half- million Syrian refugees--mostly women and children--who fled Syria with virtually nothing. And Rita El Mounayer, who also grew up during war-time in Lebanon, lost her mother to cancer as a             young child, and is today the Director of SAT7's three Arabic Channels-and did I mention that she is a WOMAN? Remarkable in the Middle East! 

Samia, Siham, and Rita shared about what it's like to live as a woman in that region of the world, the challenges and struggles. They shared their own testimonies. They shared horror stories of friends who suffered greatly for their faith AND shared hopeful stories of the faithful though persecuted church. They shared God's powerful move of the Holy Spirit through dreams and visions, and the consistent presence of SAT7 bringing teaching, hope, and healing to all who watch 24/7, in the privacy of their own homes in every single house through a satellite dish–that cannot easily be jammed or censored. Truly technology for such a time as this!

We were humbled and overwhelmed that in all four launch cities----Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Gettysburg PA and Easton MD--- women (and a few men, to our delight!) had their hearts stirred, and responded with great interest and passion to help bring the hope of Christ to these hurting women.

They say they want to DO something. They want to pray for women in the region. They want to travel there to meet, engage, and support the women who live there. They want to learn more, to use the small group materials we're creating to help better understand the issues and concerns of women. They want to give, they want to discover creative ways individually and in their own small groups---to be part of the solution: to help raise funds to make more women's programming possible. 

                                              

'The Team' on the road-Rita, Debbie Brink, Samia, Siham, and Nancy

May I ask you to join us?

Here's how:
1) Most importantly, PRAY!!!
2) Sign up to join us--receive more information: It's free! 
SAT7 Women of HOPE
3) Invite us to your city! Host a SAT7 Women of Hope event in your church or community. You provide the audience, we'll bring the presentation and get you started with resource materials.  Contact Debbie Brink at:  debbiebrink@sat7.org

And travel with us to the Middle East!  Our first Holy Land Tour is to Israel and Palestine October 18-26, 2013.  Enjoy a trip with Christian women and a Christian tour guide who lives in the region. It will be a trip of a lifetime!   For more info–and to learn about future trips-- contact Debbie Brink: debbiebrink@sat7.org  or call 866-744-7287   Download the trip Brochure.  Let's travel together!

Will you join me? It's an exciting time!  Click here to join the ministry of SAT7 Women of HOPE.  Together we can reach across the globe and connect our hearts and hands with the serious spiritual and practical needs of our Middle Eastern and North African sisters to produce real change and real hope in Christ! 

By Nancy Stafford--Article first appeared in Point North † Tidings Volume 10, Number 2
Subscribe to Tidings here:  Point North Tidings Quarterly
 

 

posted by Nancy Stafford  # Thursday, July 11, 2013

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