SAT-7 is giving a voice to those who are often silenced across the Middle East and North Africa...
“Suddenly, a light appeared…”
For one believer in Iran, this was the moment that changed everything. Alone in a dark room, Yazdan was desperately praying for hope, help, and peace.
“An hour passed,” he said. “Then suddenly a light appeared. It illuminated the dark room for a whole minute. I couldn’t sleep from joy!”
Yazdan’s experience echoes another night: a hillside above Bethlehem, where weary shepherds kept watch beneath a darkened sky. A night when centuries of waiting were answered…
For some, Advent is merely a countdown to Christmas with calendars and commerce. For Christians, it is an invitation to watch, to wait, and to prepare for the coming of our Lord.
But for believers across the MENA, Advent is something more: it is a lifeline; a reminder that Christ will never abandon those plagued by fear, hardship, or sorrow.
In messages sent to SAT-7 from Iran, Egypt, Afghanistan, Türkiye, and beyond, believers describe encounters with God that mirror the themes of Advent: hope, peace, joy, and love. Like the candles we light each week, their testimonies illuminate God’s miracles in places where the darkness is deepest.
Hope is the first light: the flame that flickers in the cold, the courage to believe that God is already moving. For many across the region, that courage is born in suffering.
“My life was filled with pain,” writes Fereydoun from Iran. “But now I live in the open arms of Jesus Christ. His way is easy, and His yoke is light, even though it may sometimes appear difficult.”
Fardin, another believer from the MENA, speaks directly to those worn down by the uncertainty of regional conflict: “This is my message for those who have lost hope: God is still at work.”
In the journey of Advent, hope is our first step; just as it was for a simple woman from Nazareth who trusted in God.
Peace is the light that glows softly, steadily– a gentle quiet that steadies the soul.
Once, Pirouzheh, an Iranian mother, had it all: “Houses, a car, a kind spouse and sweet children. But inside, I felt emptiness.” Then a friend secretly gave her a book. And in those pages, she encountered the Word of God.
“At that moment, I found a deep peace in my heart,” she writes. “I spoke about the Word of God with my daughter and my spouse. Since we did not have a church in Iran, we went to Türkiye. We came to faith and got baptized.”
For Kia, another believer, peace appears in moments of prayer. Even when things are hard, she has learned to replace anger with love, placing her trust in the Lord. “I pray,” she says. “And I calm down and feel that my worries were unnecessary.”
At Advent, we remember that the peace of our Lord is not fragile. Rather, it is a constant strength.
Joy is the light that bursts into the dark, scattering our shadows.
For MENA believer Pouran, the Bible brought a joy that completely reshaped her life. “The more I read, the more interesting it became! I even shared the Word with my family. Many changes occurred in my life, and I learned a lot. In Christ, I was joyful.”
Joy multiplies in community: in prayer, in compassion, and in fellowship. Nikoo writes, “I become filled with joy whenever I pray for others. My energy increases, and when I see the results of my prayers, I truly feel exhilarated. I witness the glory of God’s name, and it feels as if all the gold, jewels, money, and wealth of the world belong to me.”
As Christ’s coming draws near, we too share our joy: bright, brave, and radiant.
Love is the final light, for the week that leads us to Christmas.
For Shervin, this love was highly emotional. “I began to pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the living Lord. Suddenly, I felt that our God is love, opposing all darkness.”
For Bahareh, the path to God’s love began with a simple discovery; her birthday fell on a day that Christians called “Christmas.”
“Over the following weeks, I dreamed of a man dressed in white who touched my head,” she said. “And then I met another man dressed in white in my room. Twice, they loudly declared to me that I was free.”
Today she writes: “I am only a six-month-old daughter of the King. But He had been watching over me for years. He was always there. I walk forward with my head held high towards the light and pure love of the Lord.”
For believers, Advent is a journey. It’s a time to pause, pray, rejoice, and reflect; it is a story that carries us from the hills above Bethlehem to a light-flooded room in Iran.
Through the four weeks of hope, peace, joy, and love, we remember the God who was born into our world. And, like the shepherds of old, we bear witness to the greatest miracle of all.
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