I’m from Morocco and I'm 19 years old. Though many people surround me, I have no one to talk to. I am so grateful to the Lord for your help and advice. God bless you."
— Morocco
A SAT-7 youth program is helping young viewers navigate difficult questions and issues they face in life through authentic role models who share their experiences. A recent episode of Quality Time featured a teenage boy who explained his “journey towards forgiveness” after the breakdown of his relationship with his father.
Fredo shared how he and his father had always fought, but his mother used to help patch things up between them. Following her death, however, the arguments escalated to the point that Fredo’s father threw him out of the family home.
“It took me some time to calm down, remember all the things that my father did for me, and return and apologize to him,” Fredo said. “After a long time of estrangement, I called my father and apologized. I told him that I loved him and that I was grateful for his presence in my life.”
Forgiveness did not come easy for Fredo, though. He struggled in his faith after his mother’s death, and it was only after a period of prayer and reflection that he was able to reach out to his father.
“Forgiveness is hard and requires love and closeness to the Lord,” he said. “I lost precious things in my journey towards forgiveness such as time and opportunities.”
Fredo shared with Quality Time viewers what he learned through the experience: “God is love, and if I want to be an image of Him on earth, then I must show love. Love brings forgiveness. If I love you, then I will accept you and forgive you and continue to love you. This is what God did with us.”
A short clip of Fredo’s story posted on social media attracted 11,000 views and prompted numerous comments and questions from young viewers, who shared their own struggles in forgiving others.
Relevant Topics for Youth
Other young people like Fredo have shared their stories of personal growth on Quality Time to help viewers of the same age who may not have role models in their lives or a local Christian community to support them.
The live program, aimed at teenagers, returned for its third season in June. It explores topics that are relevant to their lives from a Christian perspective through Bible readings, worship, and discussions. It encourages youth to step away from the constant noise of social media and other activity to spend daily quality time with God. Quality Time also gives them the opportunity to express themselves and talk about their problems and the daily challenges they face.
“I’m extremely happy with the show and how the topics are so relevant to what we are living through and how real the subject matter is,” one viewer commented.
One of the program’s presenters, Youssef Sobhy, said that he draws on his own experience when preparing for and presenting Quality Time: “I have been through a lot in my life, a lot of pain… I know the questions and struggles young people are going through.”
He said that young people need role models and that it was a “big honor” for him to set an authentic example: “They love us because they saw this in us: a role model who can be a real person who has struggles and pain but who is fighting to get through it.”
