Family Matters: How our media is transforming family life

Our Kingdom Platform has surprised us in many ways since its launch on YouTube in September 2021. Despite not investing in any paid advertsing, our biblically-inspired video content attracted an impressive 1 million views in its first 12 months. Another surprise was the demographic that the content was attracting: our analysis revealed social media accounts primarily belonging to adults in their 20s and 30s, though our target had been teenagers. It turned out these accounts didn’t belong to the audience themselves, but to the parents of younger children watching our videos.

Following a survey among Arab parents on Facebook, Kingdom Platform has been evolving as a media ministry. Parents shared their need for advice on navigating the challenges faced within family life and understanding their children’s needs as they grow up in a technology-saturated world. Therefore, we have recently set up a Facebook page specifically for parents to provide support and encouragement to them, and provide resources to help them make informed choices about family matters. This page also helps us to get a clearer picture of the kinds of videos children are watching the most, so that we can create new content that appeals to them. Our team’s next step is to work on a series of daily stories on the day-to-day challenges of family life, which will be implemented through a popular mobile game for children.

Life in the Desert (LITD), our 3D animation series for children affected by trauma, is another of our productions that has been bringing hope to whole families. Following the journey of 8-year-old Farah, LITD and its accompanying workshops are designed to help children process their difficult experiences. It is taken on-the-ground into refugee camps and children’s homes by our partner organisations. We so often see that the impact of LITD is far greater than its target audience of 5-14 year olds. Not only has it helped many a caregiver and aid worker to process their own life difficulties and better support the children under their care, but the series has been working in the hearts of parents, too.

Our partner in Lebanon reports specifically on one family they visited in which the father was initially incredibly hostile to the idea of a Christian organisation. However, gradually, his heart began to change as his wife and children watched through the LITD episodes together and discussed them in his presence. Seeing how much the children loved the biblical messages they were encountering, the father’s heart began to soften. We have since heard that he has opened his heart and his home to the Lord Jesus. Praise Him!

“It’s truly amazing how God has been working in the lives of these families.”

OUR PARTNER IN LEBANON