First Afghan Christian TV Channel Begins Satellite Broadcasts Despite Taliban Rule
Mozhda TV airs in Dari and Pashto and is aimed at a country where Christian materials are banned and believers meet in secret.
See where this is ›AFGHANISTAN —
A new Christian television channel made by Afghans for Afghans began satellite broadcasts on Oct. 24, according to Christian Daily International, in a report republished by The Christian Post. Its founders call Mozhda TV the first Afghan Christian television channel. It also streams online.
See where this is ›The channel airs in Dari and Pashto and plans programs in Hazaragi, Uzbek, Turkmen and Baluchi. Programs for women, including health and education series, are a main focus, the report said.
Masoud Ghorbani, Mozhda TV's executive director, preached at the launch from Mark 6:34 and John 10:11. He argued that satellite broadcasts are harder for the Taliban to control than other media. Shoaib Ebadi, executive director of the Afghanistan Bible Society, sent a recorded message.
Producer Mikael Tunér, who spent nearly 20 years with the Persian-language Christian channel SAT-7 PARS, said several thousand Christians live in Afghanistan, many of them in underground churches. Harun Ibrahim, founder of Al Hayat Ministries, traced the vision for the channel back to a 1986 youth camp near Tampere, Finland.
Since the Taliban took power in 2021, most Christian workers have left Afghanistan, Christian materials have been banned and destroyed, and internet access has been cut at times, the report said. The channel's website lists free satellite reception across Afghanistan, Central Asia and among Afghans abroad.
