It’s not often you see young people sharing honestly to the point of tears on video but that is what happened during a recent filming session of KidsHubTV in South Africa. Cherise the Producer tells the story:
We were looking at stories of faith, and the children were discussing the story of Jairus’ daughter in the Bible. We asked the KidsHub presenters if they had a personal story in their own lives, where they really had to have faith and trust God for something. We reminded them that their stories of faith might help their friends across Africa. We asked them to spend the day praying about what they wanted to share. When the time came for us to film that scene of real stories, the children spoke from the heart, and almost the entire crew were in tears.
One presenter Kegan, shared about his dad who was diagnosed with cancer. The family prayed and prayed, and it turned out that he was misdiagnosed. Another Narissa, told us how her mum had to go for routine tests. The doctors discovered that she had a very aggressive form of cancer. Narissa shared how she had to have faith because she didn’t know if she would see her mum again. The presenters reminded the KidsHub Friends of the importance of faith.
It was such an honest, unscripted time, and the children called it “a one take wonder”. We loved how they shared from their hearts, about difficult situations they faced in their families. Before releasing the promo and episodes, we sent them to the parents, to make sure they were okay to have their personal stories shared in such an open way. Each of the parents approved and one remarked to me in a message: “It’s amazing to see how God is using what the devil meant for our family’s destruction, and turning it around for His good!”
You can watch a short clip of part of these testimonies here. The full episode is available here.
KidsHubTV South Africa has now finished filming and all 13 episodes will be available for online viewing by mid October. Cherise said, “we are so thankful to see how God has grown these young presenters, and to see their lives changed.”
There are plans to film the series in Afrikaans (South Africa’s third largest language group) in March 2017. Currently the team are working to see KidsHub groups formed in schools, and tracking their progress. Let’s pray with the KidsHubTV team that the presenters and the many who will watch the videos and be part of KidsHubs will be challenged and inspired to ‘keep it real’ with each other and with God.
