Mideast TV Programs Spread 'God's Love to Every Child', Offering Hope to Kids Caught in Wars

"By broadcasting free programs that bring God's love to every child, including those in places hostile to Christianity, we can give them real hope for the future — even in the midst of war."

COMMENTARY

Like the children living in the Holy Land right now, my life as a young girl was full of fear and uncertainty because of war.

Growing up in Syria, death and destruction surrounded me every day. The war in my homeland has claimed 350,000 lives, and still it isn't over.

As Christians, it's very hard to keep our faith strong when everything around us is falling apart.

But in the midst of war, there was a source of hope that brought comfort to me and my siblings . . . sound coming from the small television set that we huddled around each day in our crowded living room. That sound was a free channel called SAT-7 KIDS that we could pick up on our satellite dish.

The Arabic-speaking Christian presenters on those kids' programs whisked us away from our hopeless surroundings and gave us a little glimpse of heaven. Joy and peace shone out of them. The stories they shared from the Bible gave me hope to believe in a better tomorrow.

"If only I could step into the television set and escape to that place!" I'd say to myself.

'God Works In Mysterious Ways'

When I was only 14 years old, my dad — the most precious person in the world to me — died of cancer. I lost my faith in God and everyone else. But after my family moved to Lebanon to escape the war in Syria, God began to whisper to my heart again. Deep down, I knew all I ever needed was one more gathering around that television set.

They say God works in mysterious ways. SAT-7 KIDS was auditioning for new presenters for its "Challenge Accepted" show. I went along to try out. And guess what? I was hired!

Now, as wars continue to impact and devastate the lives of children across the Middle East, I find myself at age 21 on the "frontline" — bringing comfort and hope to kids, like me, crying out in fear and pain, wondering if God really cares.

Now in the show's third season, I share my experiences and my faith with young viewers, including those living in the Holy Land facing their own heartaches and, yes, the horrors of war. I reassure them their pain is understood and they are never alone.

I often think about little me, wishing to go into that television set in our living room in Syria, never knowing that it might actually come true one day.

My message to all the children living in the midst of war in the Middle East is this: "With Jesus, you have the strength to overcome life's storms."

Power of TV: Making God's Love Visible

Many people underestimate the power of satellite television, digital channels and social media to change lives for the better, to bring hope even when everything seems hopeless. Our vision at SAT-7 KIDS (www.sat7usa.org) is to make God's love visible to every child, in every nation across the Middle East and North Africa, and to share the wonderful truths of the Bible with them in their own language. To watch, click here.

We are proud to be Middle Easterners and North Africans, and to be followers of Jesus — Yesu — who is "one of us!"

The children of the Middle East and the Holy Land face many heart-wrenching moments right now. Their suffering marks the present. But they are also our future.

By broadcasting free programs that bring God's love to every child, including those in places hostile to Christianity, we can give them real hope for the future — even in the midst of war.

--- SAT-7 KIDS (www.sat7usa.org) presenter 21-year-old Christina Issa lives in the Middle East.