A new Seventh-day Adventist television channel in Beirut is expected to help spread the church's message of hope among Arabic-speaking communities in the Middle East, a region "rich in Biblical history," its director said last week.

(From left) Bertil Wiklander, Adventist Church president for Trans-Europe; Kjell Aune, church president in the Middle East; Amir Ghali, Al Waad director; and Brad Thorp, president of Hope Channel, unveil the church's new media center in Beirut. [photo: courtesy Al Waad Media Center]

Church leaders said the Al Waad Channel, launched along with the Al Waad Media Center February 13 at a packed Middle East Adventist University Church, will potentially reach an audience of more than 300 million Arabic speakers in the region.

The channel will "[share] hope with the Arab world and build bridges of understanding," said Kjell Aune, Adventist Church president for the Middle East.

The Al Waad Channel is the newest member of the global Hope Channel, the Adventist Church's official television network.

While the media center plans to include a radio and Internet presence as well, television is the team's current priority -- some 90 percent of the local community members watch television daily, while only 30 percent listen to the radio and just over 2 percent regularly use the Internet, church leaders said.

More than two weeks after the earthquake, relief agencies are fighting blocked roads and lack of centralized organization while attempting to distribute food and fresh water to Haitians around the capital of Port-au-Prince, workers said.

An ADRA motorbike driver uses his bike to power a mobile water filtration system from partner organization Global Medic. The system filters one gallon of water per minute, providing safe drinking water for more than 300 people a day. [photo: Matt Herzel/ADRA International]

"Once you find out where [supplies are] sitting at the airport, you have to figure out how to transport them and then you have to arrange for security," Weber said. "That means you have to have [United Nations] troops there to guard the convoy as you're getting it through."

Medical supplies from Adventist-run Florida Hospital and partner organization Harvest International arrived in Haiti last Thursday morning, Weber said, but ADRA workers were unable to deliver them to the hospital until Sunday night.

Seventh-day Adventists in the Middle Eastern Gulf region anticipate worshipping in their first permanent church building by year's end, local church officials said at a January 8 groundbreaking ceremony.

Builders break ground for the Gulf region's first Seventh-day Adventist Church January 8. The building will also serve as church headquarters for the United Arab Emirates and surrounding countries. [photos courtesy Roger Taer/MEU]

Victor Harewood, church leader for the United Arab Emirates and Oman, along with some 250 local members met on the plot in Ras Al Khaimah to unveil the building's cornerstone, officially opening the construction site.

Ras Al Khaimah is one of seven emirates in the UAE. Its crown prince and deputy ruler, Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, approved the building project in 2008.

"[The move] will give Adventists official registration, recognition ... and ability to have our own church building," said Rajee Mathew, building project manager.

Previously, Adventists met in church members' homes or rented worship spaces owned by other Christian denominations.

Church officials expect construction on the three-story building to wrap up in 8 months. The first level is slated to house a worship hall seating up to 500.