Through one family’s story of desperation, a special SAT-7 KIDS program raises awareness of the hardships of poverty and lone parenting while teaching compassion, spreading hope, and encouraging young viewers to help those around them.

SAT-7 viewers will enjoy a hope-filled slate of Christmas programs in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian this week. From programs sharing gifts and Bibles with isolated villagers, children in an orphanage, and impoverished families, to live church services and special episodes, the joyful message of Christ’s birth will fill screens across the region.

16-year-old Tia presents Chato, a comedy and drama programme on SAT-7’s children’s channel. She attends Kasr El-Dobara, a thriving evangelical church in Cairo’s city centre. Here, she shares her heart for SAT-7’s young viewers – that as they watch, they will truly understand Jesus’ love for them:

SAT-7 KIDS is introducing a raft of exciting and engaging new content for its young Arabic-speaking audiences, along with updated graphics and the news that programs will now be available in high definition (HD) on the on-demand service SAT-7 PLUS and all Arabic social media platforms.

Jad*, a 17-year-old Syrian boy, called in to SAT-7 KIDS to tell his favourite presenter how much the channel’s programs mean to him. When he was displaced and kidnapped by militants in 2015, Jad says, recalling songs from a sing-along worship show brought him comfort.

With families anticipating an isolated Christmas at the end of a difficult year, SAT-7 Audience Relations staff have prepared a series of virtual “gifts” to encourage and support viewers across the Arabic-speaking world at this time when they need to feel the love of Emmanuel, God with us.

As Christians wait with anticipation to celebrate the birth of the Light of the world, the SAT-7 KIDS program Family of Jesus teaches children how to be like their Saviour – a light amid darkness, preparing the way for His kingdom in their own small world.

“I strongly felt the presence of Jesus with me during my long days in self-isolation, after I fell ill with COVID-19. I felt His care for me as if I were sleeping in His arms,” Presenter Karen Khoury recently shared her story on SAT-7 KIDS, to encourage viewers and counter a message many encounter – that contracting the virus is cause of shame.