MENA (MNN) — The Middle East and North Africa, while united in the acronym MENA, represent a diversity of cultural, religious, and political landscapes. Ministries spanning this region often mirror that diversity in their engagement strategies.
Rita el-Mounayer with SAT-7, a Christian satellite television ministry in MENA, says in Egypt and Lebanon, for example, the Christian church is respected; and ministries like SAT-7 are relatively protected. But in other countries across the MENA region, the work of ministry must be carried out almost, if not entirely, underground.
In these situations, el-Mounayer says the goal is to protect underground Christians by reducing their exposure to potentially antagonistic people.
“This happened in Morocco,” she says. “One person took photos of all the underground people in the church and posted them on Facebook, and suddenly there was a big problem in Morocco and then the government wanted all the missionaries to go.”
Thus, across North African countries, SAT-7 ministry team members take the role of engaging spiritual seekers via social media while minimizing overt social networking.
“When it comes to the underground church, we’re very careful,” el-Mounayer says. “So what we do is let the church contact these people but not the people contact the church.”
Iran, on the other hand, is a different story entirely.
“In Iran, our only contacts are Iranian expatriates with Iranians inside the country. A lot of times we won’t have the privilege or opportunity to connect with the Christians in Iran,” el-Mounayer explains.
She says those from a Muslim background are especially hard to engage, as this group faces extreme backlash from the Iranian government and their own communities.
Still, untold numbers of Iranians are trading the fear of Islam for the love of Jesus. Even among young people who are not explicitly choosing to follow Christ, many are questioning their religious upbringing.
A 2020 survey of Iranians found the following:
“Approximately half of the population reported losing their religion . . . Around 6% of the population said they had converted from one religious orientation to another.”
Confusion around matters of religion presents the underground church and Iranian ministries with immense opportunity and responsibility.
As people across the MENA region continue their search for truth, would you pray that the Holy Spirit will lead them through His church to Jesus Christ?
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