Live Coverage of GDOP Brought to Millions in N. Africa, Middle East
SAT-7 transmitted live coverage of the Global Day of Prayer, and added coverage from a special event held in the Cairo Cave Church.
As Christians living in North Africa and the Middle East joined the worldwide Body of Christ in prayer on Sunday, a Cyprus-based broadcast ministry transmitted live coverage of the Global Day of Prayer, and added coverage from a special event held in the Cairo Cave Church.
SAT-7, whose broadcast was one of several live broadcasts made worldwide on behalf of the Global Day of Prayer, accepted the challenge of helping to unite local viewers in prayer with churches and Christian individuals in all corners of the earth.
“This was a wonderful opportunity for the world to see Arabic speaking Christians in a different light, not as a distant minority but as equal participants and prayer partners in the global Body of Christ,” noted Terence Ascott, SAT-7 International CEO. “Many people view Christians in our region as distant cousins. This SAT-7 broadcast was a strategic way to live out the ministry’s vision and mission statements, presenting Christianity as a core component of Middle Eastern society and affirming the Church as a legitimate partner in shaping the future of this troubled region.”
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According to SAT-7, the ministry’s own broadcast schedule included three hours of programming from Cairo, focusing on a live prayer service from the Cave Church in Mokattam. SAT-7 reported taht camera crews, technicians, and control room staff had to overcome numerous technical and logistical obstacles to bring the Christians of North Africa and the Middle East into the spiritual mainstream of the worldwide body of Christ. It says the prayer service in Cairo was an integral part of the worldwide prayer effort, which took place in more than 200 countries, seeking to mobilize Christians to pray with one voice.
Event organizers also staged a massive Prayer Rally at Campidoglio Square in Rome, which accepted satellite feeds and special reports from prayer partners worldwide. SAT-7‘s live broadcast was picked up in Rome, displayed on jumbo television screens placed throughout the square, and also broadcast to an audience of millions of viewers worldwide.
SAT-7’s Sunday broadcasts also included a 90-minute special commemorating May 15 as the official United Nations International Day of the Family.
Prior to the live broadcast, SAT-7 aired a special program on the history of the Global Day of Prayer movement, featuring Arab Christian leaders from numerous denominations commentating on the need for the Day of Prayer and identifying ways in which Arab Christians could respond to the initiative.
SAT-7 says its feed from the celebration at the Cave Church in Egypt added a unique Middle Eastern flavor to the worldwide event that involved more than 20 million Christians participating in hundreds of simultaneous prayer services around the world.
SAT-7's broadcast from Cave Church was the first ever such live broadcast from Egypt.
