When girls are heardHow offering a safe space enables young voices to share their fears, questions and prayers

“You know exactly what we’re going through,” says Rawya, a young girl from Lebanon.

For Rawya, SAT-7 offers more than something to watch. It offers the reassurance that what she is experiencing is understood.

In Lebanon, violence, loss and displacement have left more than 770,000 children experiencing heightened distress. [1]

In these difficult times, young Rawya takes comfort from the SAT-7 KIDS program Jesus Our Strength: “You are the program that, whenever we feel upset or lonely, we just watch you and our energy returns because everything you say is truly real.”

On 11 October, the International Day of the Girl Child celebrates girls, amplifies their voices and advocates for their rights. [2]

Across the MENA, conflict, displacement, poverty and discrimination continue to restrict girls’ childhoods and futures. UNICEF estimates that at least 30 million children in the region are out of school, while nearly 40 million girls and women were married before the age of 18. [3]

But statistics cannot tell us what girls struggle to put into words.

“From our conversations with girls, we often see that they are carrying much more than they know how to express,” says Marianne Awaraji, SAT-7 Arabic Viewer Support Director.

“In our region, girls can grow up with strong expectations around how they should behave, what they should say, and what should remain private. Shame, guilt and fear of judgment can sometimes make it difficult to speak openly about emotions or struggles, and Christian families are not automatically free from these cultural pressures.”

Through its programs and Viewer Support teams, SAT-7 creates opportunities for girls to share their fears, questions, prayers and personal experiences.

“We are not only giving girls Christian content; we are creating safe opportunities for them to speak, ask questions, pray, express their feelings and know that someone is listening,” Marianne said. “And perhaps that is one of the most important things we can give a girl – not the promise that all her circumstances will immediately change, but a safe voice telling her, ‘You are not alone, and God has not forgotten you.’”

Depending on a girl’s needs, SAT-7’s Viewer Support teams can pray with her, offer encouragement and Christian resources, provide practical advice or direct her towards further help.

What girls share with SAT-7 frequently reveals that, even amid their own struggles, they are thinking about others.

Lily, a teenager in Egypt, speaks openly about her fear of death and losing someone close to her. But her concern reaches beyond herself: “I pray that my friend walks again and that the wars end peacefully,” she says.

When Pari, an Iranian teenager, discovered that a neighbour could not afford treatment for her daughter’s cancer, she gave the family some money. She then introduced the mother to her uncle, a philanthropist, who agreed to pay all the treatment expenses.

“Her mother cried with such joy,” Pari recalls. “At that moment, I understood what helping means. I had such a good feeling; it was as if I was growing wings. I wish we could all take part in such acts.”

On this International Day of the Girl Child, let’s celebrate the girls of the MENA, amplify their voices and pray for their flourishing in life and faith.

• That girls living through conflict, displacement and fear will know God’s protection, peace and presence.

• That girls who struggle to express their feelings will find safe people who respond without judgment.

• That SAT-7’s programs and Viewer Support teams will help girls feel seen, valued and loved by God.