New! Promotional DVD about AV
Although new changes may happen quickly in the Arab world, causing our new promo to be outdated soon again, we launched our new 7 minutes video on the Arab world and the ministry of Arab Vision. You can watch it here and download it. Please feel free to use it to share our ministry with your friends, family and your church. To cover the cost of the production of this promo, your (small) donation is welcome!
Missiology for Arabs
Arab Vision is the owner of a webzine for missiological thinking in the Arab World, called St Francis Magazine. You may want to go there regularly for the great articles that we publish. This magazine is a project that we share with Interserve.
Unofficial 'morality police' launches in Egypt
Ahram Online, Friday 1 Mar 2013
Self-proclaimed Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice launches in Cairo, vows to use non-violent methods to promote 'Islamic morality'
An unofficial Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice announced its existence at a press conference in Cairo on Thursday.
Founder Hisham El-Ashri said the committee would seek to implement Islamic Sharia law without resorting to violence.
The committee has no intention of copying the aggressive approaches of such committees in other countries, El-Ashri said.
"We have absolutely no relationship with the 'morality' committees in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Somalia or Nigeria," he claimed. "We will only offer advice to those who want to listen.
"We shall have no business with people who refuse to listen to us," El-Ashri added.
Many violent incidents in Egypt have been attributed to self-proclaimed Islamic morality committees since Egypt's revolution in 2011.
In March 2011, a group of alleged Salafists in Qena, Upper Egypt severed the ear of a Coptic Christian man and set his car ablaze for allegedly renting an apartment to two Muslim women, who they claimed were prostitutes.
In July 2012, 20-year-old engineering student Ahmed Said was stabbed to death by bearded men in the Suez Canal city of Suez while walking with his fiancée.
Such crimes, El-Ashri said, have nothing to do with his committee.
Supreme Constitutional Court rules on FGM
Rana Muhammad Taha - February 3, 2013 - Daily News Egypt
The Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) turned down on Sunday a lawsuit which called for the law which criminalises female genital mutilation (FGM) to be scrapped.
Islamist lawyers Hamed Seddik and Youssef Al-Badry had filed a lawsuit to the Administrative Court in 2008 demanding the cancellation of Law 242 of the Penal Code, which criminalises FGM. Seddik and Al-Badry stated that the law breaches the 1971 constitution, which was valid back then.
The administrative court referred the suit to the SCC in 2008.
Head of the Medical Syndicate Hamdy Al-Sayed and Director of the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) Khaled Ali had intervened in the suit, calling for its dismissal.
New studio and new series of TV programs
From our July newsletter - Arab Vision has a new studio and we are all excited about it! Even though the place is not large, we are able to shoot professional HD-format programs in this place.Our first series of programs shot in this new studio was finished last week; in 15 programs of 25 minutes each, we treated the subject of salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are people not as perfect as they like to be? Has God made us so imperfect? What happened? The programs start at the Genesis-story of Adam and Eve. We show how people have tried to create their own solutions to the problem of sin; all of our prayers, good deeds, fasting, repentance before God, are well intended, but they are just as useless as the fig leaves Adam and Eve created.
The cosmic impact of the disobedience of mankind needs a cosmic solution. God himself offered the answer to our problem of sin and separation from Him, through the death of his Son Jesus Christ.
While we were shooting these programs, it was over 40 degrees outside; our air conditioners still had a few problems; the electricity also proved problematic; some of the decorations were damaged in transport. But our team was so excited to shoot in our new studio that they worked well together and they praised God for his salvation – and for these beautiful new TV programs.
Read the complete newsletter
Our faith influenced by Early Church History?
Our books on church history have a tendency to focus on Europe in regard to the beginnings of our history. After looking at the history of the early church in the bible itself, we often quickly jump to ‘Rome’ as if that is where our history began. Are we aware at all of the deep influence of the African theologians on our church history and on our Christian beliefs today?
Arab Vision is planning the production of a TV program series in the Arabic languages of Libya and Tunisia, presenting major church leaders who originated in those countries. North-Africa, now predominantly Islamic, can be proud of its Christian heritage. This has deeply influenced the
theology of the whole Christian church. The apostle Mark was born in Libya; just like the heretical Arius by the way. St Augustine was from Tunisia; Tertullian and bishop Cyprian were from Carthage, Tunisia as well.
By presenting the history and ideas of these and other church leaders, we have a great opportunity to present the Gospel to the Arab world. Major themes like original sin, Trinity, redemption through Jesus Christ, can be explained to the audiences in a very natural way, in the context of presenting the objective history of the North African church. Not only will we be able to present the Gospel naturally and clearly to the audience, but we can also show how these countries flourished while still being Christian nations, and that Tunisians, Algerians and Libyans can be proud of their own Christian history.
What we are working on
One of our goals for 2011 is to begin production of a series of programs concerning democracy and human rights issues in the context of the political revolution taking place across the Arab World. One of the countries which we are looking to facilitate democracy and human rights is in Egypt. We have been in communication with many NGOs and civil organizations within Egypt who seek to add a balanced perspective to the discussion of freedom and true democracy. Our hope to partner with these groups have been under threat by this statement, “Egyptian public opinion rejects such funding, as it is considered interference in Egyptian domestic affairs,” made by Faiza Abou el-Naga, the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, as he also directed the ministry of justice to form a commission to examine direct foreign funding of civil society projects in Egypt.
Testimony: A present day Hannah
Our TV producer Amir has been passionately working with Arab Vision for over ten years now. He is often deeply moved by the testimonies he hears from people he meets in his work. This year he is producing the fourth season of a series for Arab women. When asked whether he could share a story from the programs now being produced, he tells: “About this season of women programs, we did a lot of great stories; they are all impressive, but the one that I have been touched by the most, is Soher’s story from Egypt.
Updated Broadcaster Information
We have updated our broadcaster list to reflect recent broadcast changes and the addition of internet broadcasters. Please click on the image to open a pdf version of the list which you can share with others.
Please continue to pray for the work of delivering the Gospel to the Arab World as we work with the different broadcasters to produce an impacting method of communicating the truths of the Gospel to those who are in bondage to fear, lies, and confusion.
Programming on behalf of the Kurdish Church
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Earlier this summer, our production team had a very productive trip to Iraq for filming two programs on behalf of the Kurdish church. Our producer said, "Our time was blessed yet the people are still very concerned for their safety and speaking out regarding their faith." Our production team then headed to Europe to interview more Kurdish refugees and document their testimonies. Even those who are far from their troubled home land are very concerned to discuss their faith openly. The producer said, "I was surprised that even now living in Europe, the fear of speaking out is still evident amongst the Kurdish people." Please pray for the further development of this series and the safety and encouragement of the Kurdish believers.
Prayer
Please pray for sufficient and timely donations we need to produce a series of evangelistic Christmas programs.
You make the difference!
Your decision makes a difference in the Arab World. Your financial support for our ministry impacts Arab Muslims. How to do this? You can find all necessary information HERE
New book: Godly Leadership
What is lacking in many leaders is spiritual depth, writes Dr. David P. Teague. He has forty years of experience as a pastoral and mission leader. Very valuable book! Read more...