Mission Network News (Fri, 06 Mar 2026 - 4.5 min)

Thanks for joining me today on Mission Network News, I'm Steve O'Dell.

Renewed hostilities in Lebanon make Christian satellite TV discipleship even more of a

lifeline.

Then, a new U.S. report released this week with potential ramifications on religious

freedom around the world.

That story in just a few moments.

But first, tensions are rising in Lebanon as the government takes rare action against

Iran.

Members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Lebanon could soon face arrest and

deportation.

The move targets the IRGC's partnership with the Lebanese extremist group Hezbollah.

At the same time, Israeli strikes have hit southern Beirut and Israel has warned people

to evacuate.

John Cernelia, president of Sats 7 USA, says,

I was in a meeting this morning with colleagues who live in the region.

I have a colleague who lives in Beirut and he turned his phone out the window where he

is in Beirut and we were watching bombings happen.

Sats 7 has offices in Lebanon where they broadcast satellite television gospel programs.

For many in Lebanon, conflict is not a new reality.

When Sats 7 started 30 years ago, the Lebanese were fighting the Syrians in Lebanon.

And so I have got colleagues who have worked at Sats 7 for 30 years and they will tell you

worries all they have ever known.

Yet just because it's familiar doesn't mean it's not overwhelming.

Please pray.

I think in times of serious conflict like this or uncertainty or fear people to be tempted

to think the unthinkable about their own lives.

So just that God would protect people and give them hope.

Read more at missionnews.org.

Meanwhile Syria says its army has reinforced its deployments along the borders with Lebanon

and Iraq as a protective measure.

Yet as regional conflicts heat up, an old danger is rising within Syria itself, ISIS.

In January, government troops clashed heavily with Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria.

American intelligence agencies believe that during that campaign, 15 to 20,000 people

were freed from detention camps.

Many were affiliated with ISIS.

Dwayne Friesen with voice of the martyrs Canada says there is legitimate concern that we

are walking back into the same ISIS war that we left a few years ago.

And what will that mean for the Christian community?

What will it mean for the neighboring countries?

Most of new labels or badges that Syrian militant groups might take, Friesen says they seem

to run back to the same narrative.

And that is anyone who's not like me is somebody that's worth killing.

And anytime you're into that mindset, the story seems to always go the same way.

In the past year, Syria's Christian, alawight, and Druze minorities have endured episodes

of terrible violence.

The uncertainty under the new government continues, but so does the call to share the gospel.

Please watch and pray for courage for Syria's Christians under tremendous pressure.

And Syria joins perpetrators like Iran and China in a report released this week by the

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Dan Olishani of Open Dores International says the USERF report helps to highlight countries

where there are egregious violations or freedom of religion and belief.

They're the same countries where Christians suffer the most.

Religious freedom is a fundamental human right wherever it's not protected, Christians face

persecution.

Freedom of religion and belief coexist very comfortably with the quality of life.

If you can't choose where to worship, what to read, or who to congregate with, that's

a huge loss.

Mandated by Congress, the U.S.C.I.R.F report helps to inform State Department decisions.

Actions can range from individual sanctions to economic pressure.

It really becomes important when the U.S. government and other Western governments take this

report more seriously and apply pressure.

They could be positive pressure or pressure that actually hurts.

Then it starts to make a difference.

Olishani describes three ways to pray at missionnews.org.

Pray for those who are in authority.

Pray for our persecutors because the Lord is able to change our hearts too.

Pray that the understanding of the Bible will become more widespread.

The Bible is a foundation for freedom of religion and belief.

Thanks for listening to Mission Network News, a service of one-way ministries.

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And together the Great Commission happens.

Look for the links at missionnews.org.

I'm Steve Odell.